Hey Hey and a Big G'Day toya,

After several weeks of trying to find proof of a 'done deal’ border crossing;
We decided to just head to the border and see what happened.

After searching the interwebs for god knows how many hours trying to find that I could actually just arrive, fill out some forms, pay some money and cross over into Laos I actually found nothing that told me so. What I did find was that I HAD TO complete the process in Kunming at the Lao Embassy that had the wrong phone number and address on its website.

Even stranger was that one month prior, Chinese Tina’s visa was granted upon mail and Emmanuelle’s was sent back to him informing him that they could not deal with the paperwork. So several days ago Emmanuelle and I spent the morning searching for the ‘non-existent Lao Embassy’ to find that it did exist about an hour’s taxi ride way out in the ‘suburbs’. While in line a guy came out wondering why we where there because we could be granted a one month VISA upon arrival at the border.

Needless to say we grabbed a cab, packed and grabbed the next bus down to Mohan.

We questioned staying the night on the Chinese side because no one could tell us what time the Lao Border side closed so we did what any normal traveller would do, we headed to the border, thankfully made it half an hour prior to its closure and off we went. We then grabbed a mini-van fifty six kilometers to Luang Nam Tha town which is where everything became really strange.

I’ve been travelling China for over a decade and the only place I’ve ever been right ‘amongst’ many foreigners has been in Yangshuo. Luang Nam Tha might as well not be in Asia at all, it was foreigners wall to wall and I struggled to find any actual local Lao People apart from those catering to us foreigners. After grabbing two rooms at a Guest House, three bus tickets down to Luang Prabang the following day we headed to the Night Market for dinner and;

All was well with the world and there was much rejoicing…Yeah! Yeah!
Yes, Monty Pythons ‘Holy Grail’ was watched the night prior.

The bus from Luang Nam Tha took around nine to ten hours and was no different than many I have taken in China. Besides that, what you have to remember is that this ONE road is the only main road that goes from northern Laos to Southern Laos. So smelly, dusty armpits for us it was and the fact that maintenance on the road began last year and they will continue for the following year or two to widen the road and make it more  ‘convenient’ (safer) for two way traffic from north to south, or south to north whichever way you are heading.

Luang Nam Tha

Best known as a stopover point on the backpacker trail from China to Laos and as an alternative to the long and cramped boat journey between Huay Xai and Luang Prabang, Luang Namtha has become increasingly popular as a starting point for hill tribe treks, especially those into the Luang NamTha NPA - National Protected Area. While short on jaw dropping sights, it's a compact and fairly pleasant little town, albeit one divided in two distinct parts: the "old" or original town near the airport (bombed out in the 1970's war), and the "new" or replacement town to the north where the trekking companies and most guesthouses can be found. The two are about 6 km apart. The "old" town sits aside Highway 3 - the modernised route from China to Thailand, the "new" town is located along highway 17A which serves to connect Muang Sing.

Beers N Noodles toya…..shane
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The soundtrack to this entry was by Steve Vai
The album was ‘Passion & Warfare’
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