Costs in Laos

Better late then never. Here is a rundown of my expenses in Laos. It was definitely cheaper in Laos even as I started to add the odd cocktail and a few beers to my menu. I averaged 225,000 Kip or NZ$ 36 per day this includes the cost for my Laos visa at US$ 36

The breakdown of the major daily items was:

Accommodation 48,000 Kip/Day
Food 102,000 Kip/Day
Transport 42,000 Kip/Day

I spend almost no money on entrance fees but even if you were to visit every attraction around you still are unlikely to incur more then a dollar per day.

Accommodation: It rained a lot which kept the temperature down and all but once I stayed in fan cooled rooms. In Muang Ngoi Neua I got a bungalow with attached bathroom and a hammock out in front for 20,000 Kip per night!

Food: Three meals a day, plenty of coffee and some alcohol every now and then. One of my plans for this trip was to limit drinking in the hope that combined with a bit more exercise it would help me lose some weight. However when at the end of the day you are lying in your hammock and a woman half your age comes up to you and asks you to come for a drink you're fool to say no.

Transport: Lots of travel by boat including the two day trip from the Thai border to Luang Prabang. the rest a combination of mini and regular buses. The rest by Shanks Pony.

Miscellaneous: The usual Internet access, toiletries and two umbrellas, obviously quality wasn't their strong point.

Rules and Regulations

Rule 5
Do not.....bring both women and man which is not your own husband or wife in to the room for making love.

Click on the picture to get the full Accommodation Regulation

Muang Ngoi Neua

The minivan that was supposed to pick me up from the hotel wasn't there of course and after a while I got the hotel owner to ring him up another thirty minutes later he arrived, picked up some passengers and dropped us at the mini bus station where I got in a van with four others and we started for Nong Khiaw.

It's starting to rain again.

The four other passengers are a couple from Melbourne, Nina from Germany and Alex from Virginia. We have a chat and while the rain gets heavier we weave our way through the mountains, there are a few minor landslides but the road is generally in good nick and we arrive just after lunch.
The main street in Nong Kiaw is a slippery mud slide and we slip and slide our way across, most of the hotels look quite drab, cheap but no atmosphere, the continuing rain doesn't help either. The Australians eventually decide on a cottage with a river view and I suggest to Nina and Alex that we have a look and see if their is a boat to Muang Ngoi Neua. In spit of the weather it's a fantastic trip, green mountains on both sides of the boat, serious water flow and rapids to go against.
On Muang Ngoi Neua things move at the slowest pace possible, we have bungalows overlooking the Pak Ou river and a few hammocks strung out in front.
This place is well of the beaten track the only way in or out is by boat, there is no Internet and electricity from six to nine thirty in the evening.
I think I am going to like it here.

Be careful what you wish for.

A few days ago I wrote about the lack of rain so far on this trip. Well my message must have gotten through to the Buddha of the rain.

It started to rain the evening that I arrived in Luang Prabang and hasn't stopped since, 36 hours and counting. It is not your European drizzle or New Zealand squalls but torrential monsoon rain all day longs as if someone has opened up a fire hydrant and aimed it at the city.

The Mekong is a mass of floating debris and big churning water. it's also steadily rising. Last night just before dark I grabbed my umbrella and walked to the boat landing to see what the skippers of the long boats were doing. Quite tellingly they were all busy moving there mooring ropes as high up the bank as they could,and the water looks indeed like it's rising.

At least another ten vertical meters to go before it hits the road though and there is a hill in the middle of town that goes up another two hundred odd meters so now worries about washing away anytime soon.

Note: Just when I was about to post this the power failed. Now 24 hours later it rains again but it was dry for a while yesterday afternoon and I went for a walk. The places along the river bank have suffered quite a bit of erosion with banana plantations and vegetable gardens just slipping away in the river. The cause for the power outage became clear too. An enormous tree had lost it's footing on the hillside and crashed across the power lines leading to a small transformer. It was eight in the evening before the lights came back on.

Slow Boat to Luang Prabang

It's early in the morning and I am up and ready to take the boat to Luang Prabang. This is a two day trip with an overnight stop in Pak Beng. Our scheduled departure time is 9am and I am ready well before then.

9am arrives and departs I ask the skipper when we are going to do the same. "maybe 10am" OK what's an hour amongst friends. Meanwhile people keep on trickling down and the boat starts to fill up, by 10am all seats are taken and still more people are arriving by 11am they have crammed every available space with people and there are still twenty or so back packers on the quay side.

Midday, after a lot more waving of arms and frantic phone calls, a number of the locals is unloaded and the tourists, who pay higher fares, are put on in their place. We are on our way!

The country side changes quickly to hills and jungle with the occasional open patch with a village in it.

From time to time we make a stop to let someone on or off but mostly we steadily travel down river. Most people gasp at the first large set of rapids but the captain negotiates them without a hitch, and after five and half hours we arrive in the Pak Beng a village whose only reason for existence seems to be to put travelers in rooms, sell them some food and get them on their way again.

A young man whispers "you want to buy opium?" I decline he goes off in search of other customers. It slowly starts to rain.

The next morning it's absolutely pouring down we get back on board. Three English guys who took the drug dealer up on his offer almost didn't make it in time and end up sitting all day in the engine compartment. the only space left on board. We do depart on time. it rains most of the morning and the pattern of yesterday repeats itself.

Two young monks sit stoically through it all and try not to touch any of the women, difficult given how crammed it is on board.

A young girl, initially shy ends up playing peek a boo with the tourists and is given plenty of attention, lots of sweets,and even a toy, funny what some people have in their backpacks.

The rain stops by midday we roll up the tarpaulins that have been keeping the worst out of the boat. It does stay quite overcast but that's all right with me, keeps it from getting hot. Then all of a sudden we are there it has taken almost nine hours today and my body feels sore from all the odd angles I have been sitting in. I stretch out, get my pack, avoid most of the touts and go in search of a hotel.

Laos

After a mad dash across the countryside I made together with Kelly an American traveller. We got into Laos about a minute after they closed the border. Luckily the immigration officials were having a beer around the back of the place and processed our visas out there.
Tonight I have a room that overlooks the Mekong river and tomorrow Ill set off for a two day boat trip to Luang Prabang.
Any further news will have to wait until then.

Vietnam Visa

My visa for Vietnam arrived this afternoon as promised and tomorrow I'll be moving on again.
Probably Chiang Rai tomorrow and the border with Laos on Monday. I anticipate to be about two weeks in Laos before going to China.

Watch this space!

I am currently waiting for my flight to Bankok where I expect to be for a few days to sort out a visa for China. Then it will be north to the ancient monuments of early Thailand, east to Laos then north again to China. After a loop through southern China I hope to return to Bangkok via Vietnam and Cambodia. This first part of my trip should take about three months.
After that I'll fly to Nepal for some trekking before heading back to New Zealand for some rest and relaxation and undoubtedly some work.