Luang Prabang - Jan 6-10
Catch overnight train to Laos border and tuktuk to bus station in Vientiane, the capital. Buy ticket to that night's overnight bus to Luang Prabang (will explore Vientiane on my way back south). Have lunch and walk around for the 6 hours i have until my bus leaves. If the capital of a country is to give the impression of what that country will be like, then Laos is likely to be small scale, relaxed, friendly and in heritage condition.
The overnight bus travel its second half through continuous turns between large hills. The locals aren't used to travelling long distances and windy roads. 5 hours of them causes quite a few throw ups. I get to Luang Prabang at 5am, catch a tuktuk into town just as the sun starts to rise. I expect the streets to be empty, but more and more people are coming onto the main street. There are at least 100 tourists lining the street. I think - is this the kind of reception the give every new tourist who arrives. This is a relaxed friendly country. I ask someone what's going on. They say that at 6am every morning, the monks from the temples (there are dozens of temples and hundreds of monks) make a procession down the main street with their wicker baskets. People line the street and make donations into their baskets of food. That is what they get to eat that day. If the donations weren't made, they wouldn't get to eat. I watch for an hour as males from 6-80 walk past in the same bright orange robes with differenent coloured sashes, receiving their alms.
I find a guesthouse on the river and spend the day walking the town, which is made up of 3 long streets and many cross streets intersecting them. It hasnt changed much in enough years for UNESCO to make it a World Heritage town, which means no-one can do anything to change the way the town looks, and it looks like no-one has for a long time, except to keep it incredibly well mainyained. The buildings look almost new. There's not much here except for cafes, restaurants, guesthouses, bookshops, temples and tour offices. I go to one of the bookshops which shows movies every night upstairs. The floors are polished wood and, as is normal in Asia, shoes are left at the door. I am wearing shoes and socks rather than the usual sandals. When coming down the stairs, I slip, and slide to the bottom of the stairs on my heels shoulder and back. I feel OK, but don't get moer than 20 steps from the shop when I start to shake from shock and my foot and shoulder start to hurt unbearably.
I return to the shop, get some ice in a bag and ice my foot for 20 minutes. I get into a tuktuk and ask him to take me to my room, and due to the state I'm in, I make the error of not asking how much it will be first (the only way of not getting ripped off, or at least minimising how much you are getting ripped off. This has to be the least enjoyable part of travelling in India and Asia - knowing 20 times a day you are paying 10 times too much for everything, even if you bargain). When we get there, he says 10,000 kip. We travelled 3 blocks. It was only 10,000 kip to go the 3km from the bus station to town. It is obvious that I am injured but that plays no part when the opportunity for making money comes in. After an argument I give him the 10,000, remembering that there is no room for empathy or pity on these travels for us, only from us.
I fall into bed shaking and sleep for 2 hours, and wake at about 6pm feeling better and hungry - very sore but not shaking. Limp to main street, get dinner from neareast street stall - can't go much further, go back to room and sleep. Wake the next morning with a swollen, very sore foot. I hobble to the main street and make a walking stick for myself out of a discarded lump of wood used for street repairs. I make it to the hospital in town but they don't speak English and send me to the one about 6km recently built and donated by the Chinese. I catch a tuktuk, limp in and sit ignored by the nurses (but still pointed and laughed at) for half an hour. I hear a visitor for a patient talking English and ask if he can ask the nurses to check me out and get an X-Ray done on my foot. They grudgingly agree, and after checking out my foot, disappear. 5 minutes later, a Chinese doctor walks in speaking perfect English. I am pretty pissed off that they let me sit there for half an hour in pain when there was an English speaking doctor available. He gets X-Rays, finds that I haven't broken anything, but have bruised the bones in the sole and side of my foot, and pulled the tissue in my ankle where my foot and leg meet. He gives me an ointment, a bandage and advice to stay off my foot.
I spend most of the next 3 days in bed, going out for food and when I can't stand being in there any longer. I am still using the lump of wood to support myself. Have great conversations at the communal night market food stall tables with tourists from France, Canada, UK, USA, Belgium and Australia. These sustain me through my days in bed knowing that even though I can't get to the many sights and day trips around the town, the nights will be interesting. I decide to head back to Vientiane and buy a bus ticket for Tuesday night 10 Jan. Haven't been able to get in touch with Beck and only occasionally with Jett. This, if anything, has been the most painful part of being unable to get around.
The bus pulls out from the station, and stops around the corner. We wait for 10 inutes until a truck pulls up, and 8 men, 2 wearing army helmets and 2 with machine guns, get on the bus filling the storage area and the aisles with bags. They talk loudly with the driver and conductor, who are obviously involved in whatever these men are doing. This area is known for insurgents hijacking buses. I don't know if these are the army here to protect us, the army smuggling things out of town, rebels smuggling things out of town or smugglers smuggling things out of town. All I know is, everyone else on the bus is very, very quiet. I have a sleepless night to Vientiane - sore foot, unknown gun-toting men and Laos throwing up. Luang Prabang is lovely. A charming old world sleepy town on the join of two rivers with great food and lots to see around it. Unfortunately I was unable to participate in any of it. I guess I have a reason to come back. Things can only get better in Vientiane.
posted by flamethrower77 at 3:59 AM
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