Our Travels » Goodbye to Thailand; Hello to Laos

What we didn’t post about was our experience on the drive back from Phu Chee Fah to Chang Khong. We had stopped off at a viewpoint to take a couple of pictures of the river and, just as we were leaving, a truck full of Thais pulled up. They all jumped out, laden down with beer and whisky and food and headed to where we had just come from. They absolutely insisted that we join them for “one drink”. We thought, “what the hell, sure”, and I’m so glad we did because it was such a cool experience. We sat and drank and ate with them in a little bamboo hut on the bank of the Mekong. They all spoke very limited to no English and we, of course, speak very little Thai, but for some reason that made it all the more fun.

This is us in the “getting to know eachother” stage.

This is us after a bottle of whisky and several bottles of beer.

We headed back to Chiang Khong and the next morning crossed into Laos.

In Huey Xai, Laos, we sat down at a tiny restraunt on the side of the Mekong. There we met Reudy; a well traveled Swiss man who had just turned 50. He spoke Thai, and since its similar, some Laos (also English, German, French, and Chinese, maybe more) . He helped us talk to the waiter and from there we started just talking about travel. He had been traveling in SE Asia for about 20 years, and had so much good knowledge to pass on. We found out that he was on the same boat as us the next day, and proceeded to spend most of our boat ride talking. We traveled with Ruedy while in Laung Prabang as well, though when we headed south for Vientiane and he was heading North, we parted ways. We hope to meet him again. This our last view of Thailand from Laos, taken from the little restraunt while talking to Ruedy, the night before we set off down the river.

One Response to “Goodbye to Thailand; Hello to Laos”

I decided to take a wee break from this course design work and sneak another look at these photos (don’t tell…). Those temples and waterfalls…just awesome. It struck me how strikingly different it must feel to you, after living in the hustle bustle of Boston for years. The serenity could become addictive, no? Then again, you have the beeping, shouting, blaring crowds in those cities, so maybe it evens out. Hey, remember my story about Yugoslavia? Your photos of the impromptu party reminded me of that long ago gathering. Hmmm. I wonder if Hanoi will seem any different to you, Megan. I’ll come back to this again tomorrow…hope you’re still safe and well, eating good food, meeting good people, and breathing good air. Love xo Mum
posted by Mum on November 9th, 2006 at 6:29 pm

One Response to “Goodbye to Thailand; Hello to Laos”

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