Still no news on the job-front, the idea of leaving this country becomes more and more appealing. Doing business with Kiwis has been no fun so far. How different Asia is in that regard, here’s my collected know-how on getting good deals in SEA. Everybody knows that in Asian countries bargaining is common and locals often try to charge foreigners ridiculously high prices. So how do you bargain successfully, how do you get a price you know is not completely hilarious?

Something you can learn in developing countries is that no matter how many western woes you have, you’re still far better of than most people on earth. All pictures taken near Luang Prabang, Laos. The country has a GDP per capita of USD 1,204 (Germany: 44,558), making it number 144 on the current IMF list (Germany: 19).

Still no news on the job front. The agency apparently had a bit of trouble and I had to call them twice to get things going. By now all my referees have replied to them and hopefully they’ll provide some feedback to the company early next week. Can’t stand this waiting around without anything to do. The job is so attractive that I’m not seriously interested in applying for other offers and thus there’s not much to do other than wait.

Getting into Thailand from Houay Xai was dead easy. We walked down to the ‘immigration checkpoint’, got stamped out and took the ‘ferry’ over to Chiang Khong. A seven hours bus ride brought us into Chiang Mai. That town feels a bit like home by now, after all that travelling it’s nice to come to a place where I now the hotels and eateries. I had a bit of time to catch up with Samart and Palm and then it was already time to go again.

The culinary offerings in Pakbeng made me dislike the place even more. The noodle soup I had for breakfast was total and utter crap and the sandwiches we picked up for late breakfast were plain disappointing. The local market shed a bit of light on the situation, here we got ourselves some sticky rice and various dishes in small plastic bags for lunch. The eggplant/chilly paste was a clear winner for me.

The northern part of Laos is still largely undeveloped and the road network reflects that. Going from Luang Prabang to the Thai border at Houay Xai by bus would mean 14 hours on dirt roads in a vehicle that is old twenty years ago. A more pleasant alternative is to travel on the Mekong. Every day slow boats leave for the two-day trip that requires an overnight stay in Pakbeng. The boats are basically as dodgy as the buses but they are definitely more comfortable and if something goes awfully wrong, the river bank is never far away.

Back in Thailand after two days on the boat and one day on the bus. More details later.

Getting to sleep the other night proved a bit difficult. There was a lot of unfamiliar noises from the pigs and dogs around the house and in addition the villagers had a bar playing music till the early night. The village has a water-powered generator that provides a bit of light after sunset but they still try to utilize as much of the daylight as possible. Thus they get up early, the roosters start their concert before the sun is even up.

The meal was good and the rain had stopped, so everybody was ready to tackle the second half of the day. Back into the jungle. Walking got considerably harder. The path was still muddy and now constantly lead up and down, sometimes just inches from a slope down to the river. The guides were doing fine, one of them even in flip-flops, but the American couple was on hands and feet more than once.

In Thailand the usual treks to hill tribe villages go along a well beaten path. The country sees a massive amount of visitors and the locals have adjusted to that. Far fewer people visit Laos and even fewer take it on them to walk for hours through the jungle to reach a remote village. We were among these few. Our group was completed by Phil and Christy from California and our two Lao guides.

One of the main attractions around Luang Prabang is the Kwang Si waterfall, about 45 minutes out of town. We joined forces with a couple of other travellers from the guest house to get a transport out there. The tuk-tuks here are a bit bigger and fit eight people quite comfortably. As much as sitting on benches in the back of a truck can be called comfortable. Arriving at the waterfall we found out that there is a 20,000 kip entrance fee to pay, the driver must have forgotten to tell us about that when we made our deal with him.

Luang Prabang is probably the most laid-back SEA city I’ve seen so far. It’s quiet, even has a curfew at midnight, and being propped between two rivers, there is nature and beautiful views just minutes from the centre of town. After dusk a night market opens, similar to that in Chiang Mai but much smaller. It’s the spot where everybody grabs souvenirs and the side-alleys cater for the hungry. Several shops offer a buffet where one can load a plate full of food for just over a dollar.

Escaping the overpriced unattractiveness that is Vientiane, Hiro and I got on a northbound bus Friday morning. It usually takes about ten hours to get to Luang Prabang but we were up for an early delay. Not even two hours into the trip, our bus suddenly came of the road and stopped. A quick look at the front wheels revealed a broken steering. Not something to be fixed quickly at the roadside.

There isn’t really anything to see or do in Vientiane. Except for temples but I had my fair share of these. Thus I haven’t been doing much, just sitting at the Mekong, drinking cold Beerlao (quite good) and watching the sun set. Hiro arrived yesterday and in the next days we want to head up north to see rural Laos.

The weather in Vientiane is sunny with temperatures in the low 30s. Much better than Hanoi where overcast days and morning temperatures of 20° made the locals bring out their coats and jackets. It really was a bit chilly there. With the temperatures back in a comfortable range, I decided to get my head a bit of fresh air and went to the hairdresser around the corner. Now I’ve met a fair share of gay hairdressers in my life but none of them wore bras and see-through shirts.

Once again, time to get up early. My taxi was to pick me up at 6:30 and I needed some time to enjoy one of these Vietnamese coffees. The ride to the airport was shorter than expected and I arrived half an hour before check-in opened. That’s something new for a change, usually I queue up half an hour before they close. There was still a million and a half VND floating around in my wallet so I utilised the time to have a look for an exchange booth.