Adventure: Nong Kiaw and onwards to Sam Neua

So, this is going to be my first blog entry. I am currently traveling with a friend through Southeast Asia (Thailand, Laos, Indonesia). We both just graduated from high school, so this is our first big trip. We will be on the road for a total of 4 months. Blog entries have always helped us a lot, so we decided to write one ourselves, as we found little information on the route from Nong Kiaw to Sam Neua on the Internet. It turned into a little adventure.

Our plan was to explore northern Laos a bit. For this, we wanted to go to Nong Kiaw, and from there continue to Vieng Xai. However, since there is no direct route to Vieng Xai, one has to first go to Sam Neua. As soon as we arrived in Nong Kiaw, we asked at the bus station for a bus to Vieng Xai. The man simply looked at us questioningly and shook his head. "No Vieng Xai. Sam Neua better," he repeated. But we didn't want to go to Sam Neua and to be honest, I had no idea where that was exactly. Help was near. A tourist who also wanted to go to Vieng Xai explained to us that we had to first go to Sam Neua in order to get to Vieng Xai from there. Alright, it can't be that difficult. But then he also explained to us that he had been waiting for the bus there for 3 hours and no one could tell him exactly when the bus was coming. Well, great, we thought, but we didn't worry about it further because we wanted to spend some time in Nong Kiaw anyway.

At the bus station, we were driven to the hostel by a tuk-tuk for 5,000 kip per person. The town was small, so we could have walked the distance. We stayed at Nam Houn Riverside (120,000 kip for a bungalow). We stayed in a bungalow with a river view (highly recommended!). We had to pay 10,000 kip more per night than stated on booking.com, and the Wi-Fi in the bungalow hardly worked, but the view from the terrace made up for it. You might also come across a cockroach or two there. When we arrived, it was only 15 degrees Celsius. It got quite cold in the bungalows in the evenings. We quickly bought fleece jackets and warm sweatpants because we weren't prepared for these temperatures. The weather warmed up the next few days, and we decided to stay a little longer. It was great to read and write in the hammock. The food in Nong Kiaw was delicious as well. There were many vegetarian and vegan options. Two very tasty Indian restaurants were right down the street. But why were there two almost identical ones right next to each other???

We decided against taking a tour because our backpacker budget was pretty much exhausted. Instead, we tried to do it on our own. We rented bicycles and rode along the only road that went through the village. The stretch along the river was beautiful, but there wasn't much to see afterwards. We passed by smaller villages and, as always, were stared at by people. Despite that, the bike ride was great for us, as we love riding bikes, especially with mountain bikes.

On another day, we went to the viewpoint. About 1 hour hike uphill. Our thighs burned a few times. The view was worth it. Beautiful landscape, as long as Asian groups of people don't stand in the way taking a complete photo shoot.

When the weather improved again, we decided to rent kayaks and see where they would take us. We had met two other Germans our age and decided to do the tour together. We decided to paddle against the current first so that the return journey would be easier. In the other direction, there was apparently a cave to visit, but we weren't really interested in that. The nature along the river became more and more beautiful. There were small beaches on the side where we could take a quick swim, if they weren't occupied by water buffalos or pigs. It was a peaceful ride. Occasionally, boats of locals or tourists passed by us. They didn't bother us much. That day, the sun was scorching and it formed a beautiful T-shirt pattern on my arms. By the way, a two-person kayak cost 80,000 kip for a day, while a tour (of course with other extras) would have cost at least 180,000 kip.

And now on to the adventure tour to Sam Neua; We already knew that we couldn't go directly to Vieng Xai. There was apparently a night bus and another one that was supposed to leave between 10-12 o'clock. The daytime bus was not recommended to us, as we would arrive in Sam Neua in the middle of the night. So the night bus it was. We couldn't get any help directly at the bus station, so we went to tourist stands that could book the bus for us. The first one we asked (the one behind the bridge on the corner where you turn right) said it wasn't a problem, we should come back 1-2 days before departure. The bus would cost us 160,000 kip and it would all be very easy. We stood there again 2 days before departure. The guy who was there this time had no idea about the buses and told us to come back tomorrow when his colleague would be there. So we went back one day later. The third person we spoke to just told us that we'd better not book the bus through their tourist organization. Instead, he suggested we put ourselves by the road at the bridge and wait in a small bamboo hut. The bus would pick us up. It would be cheaper for us (only 140,000 kip per person) and he wouldn't have the stress if the bus was already full (this apparently happened to him 3 times already). So we were supposed to stand there at 8 p.m. and wait. Since this statement seemed a bit vague to us, we asked another tourist organization on the other side of the bridge. Here it would cost 180,000 kip per person. They would call the bus in advance because it apparently didn't always stop and they would arrange everything with the bus drivers. We booked with them because we felt more secure with the organization. We were supposed to be there at 6 p.m the next day and then relax and have something to eat. They would pick us up when the bus arrives. The bus apparently always arrives between 6 and 8 p.m. So 8 p.m. would be too late, as we were told in the other tourist office. Well then. At 6 p.m. we were there with hungry stomachs, ready to go eat. We wanted to leave our backpacks and let them know that we were eating across the street, so they could pick us up for sure. Now we were told that the bus would definitely arrive in 15 minutes. That made our eating time tight, and we quickly got rice to eat with tomatoes, avocado, and peanuts (and if necessary, even on the bus). But then the bus didn't arrive until 7 p.m., so we could have eaten calmly. The bus was a local bus, just as we had expected. To make sure the bus stops, they simply placed a chair with a sign by the road. It worked! The bus was quite crowded, but a double seat was made available for us and fortunately our backpacks were placed in the aisle, where we could always keep an eye on them. We had put them in a bag beforehand. That was worth it because otherwise they would have gotten really dirty. When we got on the bus, all the other passengers stared at us. They also kept turning around to look at us, apparently not used to seeing blonde tourists. We felt more than uncomfortable. The guy from the tourist office briefly spoke to the bus driver and off we went. It was unclear how long the journey would last (somewhere between 9 and 12 hours). The seats were quite comfortable. So we put on our headphones and tried to survive the next 10 hours somehow. There were 3 small children on the bus. The first one was about 4 years old. Very quiet. The second one was maximum 1 year old. It was coughing the whole time. It didn't sound good at all. I only noticed the third one when we got off the bus. So, listening to music didn't work out after all, because they turned on the radio quite loudly. The music actually sounded the same for the next 10 hours and put us in a kind of trance. After 30 minutes of driving (we were about to fall asleep), the lights came on and the door opened. Everyone rushed out. We later found out it was a pee break. An hour later, the same thing happened again. This time we also got out. But there were no toilets. It was easy for the men, but more difficult for us because there were no bushes or anything like that. The break was shorter than expected. Just one minute and then everyone was honking to tell us to come back together. 5 minutes later, another break. Lights on. Doors open. What was happening now? Everyone was loudly discussing with each other. We didn't understand a word. They were hectically counting. Did we forget someone? Apparently not, because we just continued driving. It was quite cold on the bus. Fortunately, I had my sleeping bag within reach. The roads were bad and winding. Every now and then, we let people out in small villages. Since we had no idea where we had to get off, it was a surprise when we arrived at 5 a.m. The bus driver got off, but didn't say anything. Outside, we couldn't see any signs or anything to recognize exactly where we were. The other passengers seemed confused too. The door opened, and 5 Laotians squeezed their heads into the bus and shouted all at once, "TAXI TAXI TAXI???" We, completely overwhelmed by the situation at that moment and just woke up, tried to ask people if we were already in Sam Neua. Even the bus driver didn't understand us, even though we used our simplest English: "Here Sam Neua??!" Then the rescue came: one of the taxi drivers understood English and explained to us that Sam Neua was still 3 kilometers away and that he could drive us to a guesthouse there. We paid 30,000 kip for the ride. We didn't care at that moment. It was dark, we were cold, and we had lost all sense of direction. The taxi driver called a guesthouse for us and a small man in a bathrobe came out and simply handed us a key. When I asked about the Wi-Fi, he also gave it to us somewhat annoyed. I wanted to at least be able to Google where exactly we were so that I could sleep peacefully. The room was nice, and now it was time to sleep.

On the next day, we took a look at the small town we ended up in for the first time. For breakfast, we had the cereal that we still had with us. For lunch, we went in search of food. It wasn't easy to find a restaurant. We found exactly two. By chance, we decided to go to one because there was no such thing as a menu. So we simply asked for typical Laotian dishes. Our server didn't seem to understand what we said, but our noodle soup still came. Unfortunately, there was meat in it for us vegetarians and vegans, but at least we had something to eat. On the way back to the hostel, we discovered a restaurant right next to our hostel. It was the only one with an English menu. We decided to try it out tonight. By the way, we also encountered the only other tourists here in Sam Neua. And tomorrow we're going to Vieng Xai...

Best regards from Charlotte & Pia

**to mom: if you're reading this, sorry for my spelling**