DAY 50 - CHANG KONG TO LUANG NAMTHA

CRAZYJOURNEY ARRIVES IN LAOS

The Hummer touches down on Laos soil.

We were up early to catch the first river barge across the Mekong which acts as the border into Laos. After another ordeal with customs and emigration officials over the Carnet, we finally boarded a river barge and ten minutes later we were in Laos. After driving for about 5 minutes, Dave finally realized that he was driving on the wrong side of the road when a girl on moped was coming straight at him. The historic French influence on Laos means that we now drive on the right hand side which suits the Hummer's left hand drive orientation perfectly.

Before we could go anywhere we had to check in with immigration. There were absolutely no formalities with the Hummer which was a nice change from the usual red tape so all we had to do was get our own personal visas. On the way back to the Hummer in search of water we found one of the local shops selling an interesting concoction of dead cobras bottled in alcohol. Red Bull eat your heart out!

Two Laos woman carrying firewood pass the car

Hitting the road towards Luang Namtha, we immediately recognized a contrast in the standard of living between Laos and Thailand and we really felt we were in a third world country. We passed through villages containing nothing but wooden huts. The roads were the worst we've come across by a long way and coming towards villages they were strewn with pigs, cows, hens and wandering semi-clothed children. We had to reduce our speed to avoid them as well as the random holes on the road. In fact, our average speed has plummeted from 120-130kmph in Australia, 90-100kmph in Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand to between 60 and 70kmph in Laos. However, infrastructural development is evident in the construction of a new main road to Luang Nam Tha.

Local makeshift car in Laos. There were hundreds of these!

About a halfway into the 5 hour drive to Luang Namtha, we started ascending into a mountain range with windy roads. Towards the top of the ascent we stopped the car and took in the spectacular sunset.

Sunset over the Laotian Hills

We arrived into Luang Namtha quite late and luckily found a place to stay at the Boat Landing Hostel which was recommended to us by John from Anantara for the eco-tours and hill treks it runs. Before we went to bed Dave, Fintan, Rhys and Walshy booked a hill trek for the next morning. Chuck opted out of the trek since he has already done one and fancied a day of solid Internet use instead.

DAY 50 ROUTE MAP