Up at 6.30am to catch a bus to Chiang Khong. This is one of the land border crossings into Laos. The bus driver took us through lovely villages and countryside at a very sedate pace. He even helped us with where to get off. There used to be a boat to catch but this is currently not running, so he showed us where to catch a tuk tuk on his little hand drawn map!
The tuk tuk dropped us at the border where we filled out the relevant forms for our visa on arrival. A fairly easy process and $35 each, saw us through immigration. On the other side, there was not much! Everyone else was on package tours getting into their buses, we were told to take a tuk tuk, but couldn't see any. We enquired at the information desk and were told two other people were heading to the same place, so we should share their taxi. So we did!
We waited at the bus station for about an hour and then caught the local bus to the north, to Luang Nam Tha. The bus didn't look too great, a little rickety but it took us through lots of pretty villages and we arrived in good time. On the way we saw ladies weaving on old looms and a lorry that had cornered too quickly, lying on its side!
The bus station was miles away from the centre. We caught a little open mini bus with 10 others and 15 minutes later we'd arrived. We booked into a guesthouse and went to see what was in town. Not a lot, one street full of guesthouses, trekking companies and restaurants. There was a small market area selling food and local ladies in their tribal clothes selling bracelets. We spotted something unusual to eat, so sat down and enjoyed what looked like a spinach parcel with a peanut flavoured soup. Really good. We also tried some local sweets and finished off with hot soya milk, which was great!
It was starting to get dark and cold, so we headed back to our guest house which seems to have a 10pm curfew....!
The tuk tuk dropped us at the border where we filled out the relevant forms for our visa on arrival. A fairly easy process and $35 each, saw us through immigration. On the other side, there was not much! Everyone else was on package tours getting into their buses, we were told to take a tuk tuk, but couldn't see any. We enquired at the information desk and were told two other people were heading to the same place, so we should share their taxi. So we did!
We waited at the bus station for about an hour and then caught the local bus to the north, to Luang Nam Tha. The bus didn't look too great, a little rickety but it took us through lots of pretty villages and we arrived in good time. On the way we saw ladies weaving on old looms and a lorry that had cornered too quickly, lying on its side!
The bus station was miles away from the centre. We caught a little open mini bus with 10 others and 15 minutes later we'd arrived. We booked into a guesthouse and went to see what was in town. Not a lot, one street full of guesthouses, trekking companies and restaurants. There was a small market area selling food and local ladies in their tribal clothes selling bracelets. We spotted something unusual to eat, so sat down and enjoyed what looked like a spinach parcel with a peanut flavoured soup. Really good. We also tried some local sweets and finished off with hot soya milk, which was great!
It was starting to get dark and cold, so we headed back to our guest house which seems to have a 10pm curfew....!
