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Another challenging bus journey yesterday to Luang Namtha which is in the far north of Laos and close to the Chinese border. The road was very windy and had to go over about 3 mountain passes with long stretches of the road unsealed. The minibus had 3 spare seats at a point where the driver stopped to pick up a family of 7, inlcuding a babe in arms plus their two chickens. You couldn't make it up! Things were going fine until the mum started feeling very travel sick and everyone had to move round so she could sit in the front with her baby and a plastic bag. Journeys in Laos always take longer than they say by about 2 hours and this was no exception and we finally got into town about 6.30 pm after a 9 and a half hour trip.
Luang Namtha feels a bit like a frontier town and most people come for the trekking or visits to the hill tribes. We had planned to book some kayaking for today but what with the late arrival we couldn't find an available trip so what with it being quite chilly we whimped out, opting for hiring a bike instead and drove quite a way round the area through the villages.
Wednesday - took the bus to Huay Xai, our last stop in Laos and an easy place to cross the border into Thailand, if not such an easy place to get to. We were happy in the end with our choice of bumpy buses over two days via Luang Namtha but we could have taken a boat from Luang Prabang. The fast boat option takes about 6-7 hours, is very bumpy on hard, cramped seats, with no shade and a poor safety record. The slow boat takes two days, does have shade but is reportedly very uncomfortable and with dreadful accommodation options at the nights stop.
Huay Xai is a tiny place with not much to do other than wait for your boat. The most sold item is cushions for people taking the boat to Luang Prabang!
- comments
James bragg Sounds really exciting, I went back to work today it was s***, happy new year have fun in Thailand!
glenda what an adventure. Would rather endure an eventful 9 hour journey in the sun taking in the beautiful landscape than be snowed in like we are here. Keep on having fun!