Border Crossing to Laos

In both Thailand and Laos there's a form of public transport called a songthaew, which literally means "two rows". It's a covered vehicle with two benches in the back, usually either a large pickup or small minivan type vehicle. They operate like a cross between a bus and a taxi - you can flag them down from anywhere along the road, share them with other passengers and the driver will take what he considers to be the best route that links all the desired stops. They tend to be cheaper than taxis or tuk tuks, the price varying depending on the number of passengers and the distance to your stop.

The songthaew we took to the Chiang Mai bus station took a rather circuituous route. We intended to take a bus from Chiang Mai to Chiang Khong, site of the main border crossing between Northern Thailand and Laos. By the time we reached the bus station the coach we wanted was full. Rather than wait four hours for the next one, we elected to take a coach to Chiang Rai and get a local bus further on to Chiang Khong.



The journey on the comfy coach passed uneventfully - nice seats, aircon, stops along the way for food and wees. The last leg on the local bus, leaking profusely in the torrential rain and bumping over potholes, was a bit more real. One of my fellow passengers caught his head on a sharp bit of metal protruding from one of the window paynes. He mentioned it to the driver, who produced a hammer and pounded it flat. A traveller type sitting behind me lit a cigarette and pulled on it frantically. He managed to smoke it pretty much to the filter in the ten seconds or so that it took the conductor to sniff it out and shout at him. Don't mess with a man holding a hammer.

Chiang Khong itself looked to be no more than a main road lined with eateries and guest houses. We were dropped off by the bus and rode a tuk tuk through the town to the border crossing. On the road down to immigration, there were stalls offering currency exchange, free "advice", and Laos visas. We walked past them, went through immigration, got our exit stamp and moved on to the ferry crossing.

Friendly boatmen hang around just past the immigration office, waiting for passengers to ferry across the Mekong. The crossing to the far bank takes about a minute in a long boat with an outboard motor.

Across the Mekong river was Huoay Xai, the Laos equivalent of Chiang Khong. We went through the visa processing without incident and wandered around in the blazing heat looking for a cheap guest house to shelter us for the night.

It is HOT in Laos, with the temperature seeming to rise by several degrees just over the river. After a couple of pricey places, we found one with a nice big room on the top floor for a couple of quid each. Penthouse suite.

After a rest and much needed wash, we ventured out into Laos to find somewhere to eat. A brief search along the river and we found it - the only DIY BBQ place in Houay Xai! A plate of meat and a Beerlao on the banks of the Mekong: after six hours on a bus, it doesn't get much better.

Omnom...