Hong Kong via Thailand, Laos & Vietnam and
Southern China … Almost all Overland!
Train and Bus legs in Red, Flights in Blue
A journey by Louise Taylor (author of article) and Merrin Pearse
Wednesday 28 March 2012 – Hong Kong to Bangkok
Merrin set off as usual for on the 8:05 ferry with the one difference from a normal work day being he had packed a small backpack ready to embark on our next Asian adventure holiday (with a few business meetings thrown in) at the end of the day. I set off later in the day on the 3M Bus from Mui Wo to Tung Chung then on the S1 bus to the airport for our Air Asia flight to Bangkok leaving at 8:50pm. Once again our flight was delayed. Air Asia may have good discounted fares (US$265) but in our experience delayed departures also seem to be a feature of this airline. We arrived in Bangkok at 1:30am local time and managed to locate the meet and greet people for our hotel transfer, which was very quick as the hotel we were staying at the “Thong Ta Resort” http://www.thongtaresortbangkok.com is very near the airport. Although the name says “resort” the reality of the situation is that it’s a good basic hotel that one could get to easily on the late arriving budget airline flights. Cost per night US$30 (booked via www.agoda.com).
Thursday 29 March 2012 – Bangkok to Vientiane
After enjoying the hotel breakfast of eggs, bread and fruit plus a flouro coloured orange “juice” the van from Sirivatana Interprint Company arrived to drive us to the first business meeting of the trip. I have been working with Odyssey Publications on a series of maps of the Mekong River. The first map produced was of Laos on one side, the second with Myanmar and the third an overarching strip map of the Mekong River. All maps in the series have a map of the whole Mekong Basin on the reverse side. I was keen to meet the rep that I have been working with from Sirivatana. After a quick meeting with Khun Cherdsak we set off for a tour of the factory. The place is vast with hundreds of people employed on the various printing machines, cutting, folding, collating magazines, books (including pop up books) and of course our large format maps. Following the factory tour Cherdsak and his wife, who also works in the factory management group took us for a delicious traditional Thai lunch at a riverside restaurant.
We were then driven from the factory, which is about an hour southeast of Bangkok to the next business meeting with the CEO of Asian Trails, a tour company operating widely in South East Asia. True to form we were held up in traffic trying to get off the expressway into downtown Bangkok, but Luzi and his colleague Claudio were obviously not too worried that we were a little late as they were happy to purchase 3000 copies of a customised map.
Following that meeting we set off on the Sky Train to the river and did a boat trip up to the Royal Palace. Wandered around for a bit and then negotiated a tuk-tuk ride for 100฿ (US$3.20) to the train station. (The first driver we asked wanted 300฿)! We had booked 2nd class tickets 1530฿ (US$49 for 2) on the Internet for the overnight train from Bangkok to Nong Khai which is just south of the border of Laos near Vientiane. 1st class tickets did not seem to be available on the Internet however thankfully we were able to upgrade at the station for an additional ฿1118 US$35. The Thai trains were not quite up to the standard of some of the overnight Chinese trains that we have travelled on so we were pleased to have been able to upgrade to the first class compartment. This was a private compartment for two with a seat that folded to form the bottom bunk, the top bunk also folding down to create two comfortable but not flash beds and bedding. The conductor came around after the train got going and made the beds up. It was all very civilised! If you are travelling with family there is a door to the adjoining compartment that can be opened to form a 4 berth cabin.
Friday 30 March 2012 – Vientiane
As the train was a late leaving Bangkok we were didn’t arrive in Nong Khai until 9:30 the next morning. We bought tickets for a little local train (40฿ US$1.25) that takes you from across the Mekong and into Laos. Before boarding the train you go through Thai customs at the train station then on alighting at Thanaleng station on the Laos side of the border you go through the Lao customs at the station. We had already arranged Lao Visa’s in Hong Kong so only had to fill in the entry form but it was also possible to pay for Visa’s on entry. All very laid back and easy. There were taxi and tuk-tuk touts at the station offering their services to drive you into Vientiane (about 20 minutes). We took the taxi van option and shared the 400฿ (US$12.65) with a fellow traveller. All up the cost overland from Bangkok to Vientiane was US$96 for both of us versus over US$500 if we had flown!
We had again pre booked our hotel via Agoda so on our arrival in downtown Vientiane we checked in to Vayakorn Guesthouse http://www.vayakorn.com/ (US$33.60) per night, which is a good basic hotel situated in the centre of the city. We checked with the reception staff to find the locations of the 3 business meetings planned for this afternoon. The first of which was at the Mekong River Commission. Their headquarters are in a stunning new Lao style building (which the Lao government provided for their use) overlooking the Mekong River. We ate a lunch of local Lao food at an elevated restaurant with views over the rather dry Mekong River then went next door to meet with the Mekong River Commission CEO to talk maps.
We ended up walking for about 30 minutes (in the heat) to the next meeting at LANITH - the Lao National Institute of Tourism Hospitality then went upstairs to LNTA - Lao National Tourism Administration, to catch up with the person whom I had been in direct contact with when producing the Laos map. After concluding the business end of our trip we set off sightseeing in Vientiane. It is a reasonably low- rise city with quite a few colonial buildings. We visited Putaxai Monument, which sits in the middle of a large roundabout. Unfortunately it was too late in the day to go up to the top for the view. Poked around an interesting Stuppa on the way back to our hotel also forming a roundabout in the middle of a not so busy road.
The main attraction in Vientiane for us has to be the influence the French have had on the food. As we were walking around we stumbled upon amazing wine shops selling wines from all over the world at very reasonable prices but the real highlight of our short stay in Vientiane had to be dining in French cafes and bistros. That evening we met a friend at a Bistro, La Terrasse just down the street from our hotel and enjoyed the wonderful French cuisine and wine for just US$25 for both.
Sat 31 March 2012 Vientiane – Luang Prabang
Continuing on from the fine dining of last night we started our day with a wonderful breakfast of fresh butter croissants and jam sitting at outside tables of a really cool French café called La Barasson, again just down the road from our hotel. The croissants were so good that we were forced to buy takeaway almond croissants and pain au chocolate to enjoy later in the day!
After a leisurely breakfast it was back to the hotel for a final pack then a taxi (US$7) to the airport. Our original plan was to skip Vientiane and fly into Luang Prabang from Bangkok but when the business meetings became part of the trip I negotiated an airfare between Vientiane and Luang Prabang to be included as part of the payment. We caught the 45-minute flight (US$174.40 for 2) from Vientiane to Luang Prabang arriving at our pre booked (via Agoda 2 nights US112) guesthouse, My Dream Resort, www.mydreamresort.com, which had been recommended to us by a friend who had recently stayed there around lunchtime. A lovely new guesthouse just across the Nam Khan River so not in the middle of town but close enough, 5 minutes by bike back across the cycle and motorcycle bridge or about 10 minutes via the bamboo walking bridge that is erected during the dry season only. The bamboo bridge only operates in the dry season, as the river is too high in the wet season. Consequently it is rebuilt each year so there is a small charge to cross covering its upkeep.
We settled in and then chose a
couple of bikes (available for free at the resort) to set off on our first
exploratory mission around town. Luang
Prabang is a lovely small town with a blend of traditional Lao architecture and
French colonial style. We found a Lao
riverside restaurant and had a lovely lunch overlooking the mud brown Mekong
River. There are caves and waterfalls
that you can visit near by Luang Prabang and of course river trips can be
booked from one of the many travel agencies around town, but we chose to just
relax and soak up the atmosphere.
We had a beer by the pool sheltering from a tropical downpour, which fortunately moved away before we set off on our bikes to have diner at Tamarind Restaurant. As we hadn’t booked at this popular fine dining restaurant we sat across the road with a view down to the Nam Khan River. The set meal of traditional Lao food was fantastic. On our way back to the guesthouse we cycled past the colourful night market which was in full swing on a closed off road offering traditional Lao handcrafts and edible treats.
Sun 1 April 2012 – Luang Prabang
We had checked out Tam Nak Lao yesterday, a traditional Lao restaurant that is owned by friends of our friend Chris Seabrook, to see if we could book in for their famous cooking classes. Unfortunately, being Sunday the cooking school was not running so we decided to book in for dinner instead.
We crossed the Mekong River today … absolutely had to be done. Were going to catch one of the river taxis but a local convinced us to let him take us in his long boat. So in we jump to this narrow very low boat with a small diesel engine manned by dad and chief bailer his 3 year old son (probably a bit older than that but he was very small). Of course this is one of the things that we had been warned not to do on the Mekong but all went well. We arrived on the other side unscathed and paid our 20,000 Kip (US$2.5) for the privilege. A bit over priced but hey!!!
Set off walking along the “road” which was little more than a track, between the rows of village houses eventually coming to Chompheth Temple. There was a ceremony with locals praying with monks inside the temple so we stood at the door and discreetly watched. We had entered the village from the back entrance. On approaching the square beside the temple itself we were hailed by a group of local kids selling entry tickets, which they said included a cave tour. We dully paid the 10,000 Kip (US$1.25) each and set off with our guides several small boys and girls armed with torches for inside the cave. It was really interesting … several caverns with sleeping quarters for some monks. After climbing up to Buddha shrines inside the cave and poking about with the kids we followed them back to the cavern entrance … kids running ahead and pretending to lock us in thinking that was a great joke!!! We set off back down the road we had come and crossed back over the river this time on a local car ferry. Lunched at another riverside restaurant then set off on the bikes for Phosy Market, a local market selling everything … meat, veggies, clothing, electronics etc. Poked around this for a bit then cycled to Ock Pop Tok www.ockpoptok.com a weaving centre and café. Did the free tour of the weaving centre and enjoyed a fruit juice at the café then headed back to the guesthouse. In the afternoon went for a cycle down the guesthouse road in the opposite direction from town and found local woodworking shops, weavers and paper makers. On the way back we stumbled on a dirt track that ended at the junction of the Mekong and Nam Khan Rivers. There we were surprised to find a “bar” … a bamboo shack selling Beer Lao, outside of which were log seats and tables so we sat there and enjoyed a beer while watching the sun set over the Mekong.
Set off for dinner at Tam Nak Lao. Chris had unbeknown to us informed the owners that we would be dining there. Sinthana and his lovely wife ended up joining us for dinner and as well as adding some Lao delicacies to our chosen meal they insisted we not pay for the meal. Totally unexpected! We decided in lieu of paying we would donate US$50 to the charity that Chris and restaurant owners support. www.lao-kids.org
Mon 2 April 2012 – Luang Prabang to Phonsavanh
The Guesthouse had organised a taxi to the bus station. On arrival we were dismayed to see that rather than the “VIP Tourist” bus we had been expecting our bus was very much in the local transportation category. We managed to secure the front seats booked by our hotel, but occupied by a local when we first got on the bus. The fare cost us 95,000 Kip each (US$12) but would have been 15,000 Kip cheaper if we had purchased our own tickets from the bus station. While waiting for departure we chatted to Aussie’s Robert (retired dad) and Kane (30 something son) who were also heading to The Plain of Jars. Finally the bus set off … once the conductor had closed the door by wedging a knotted bit of rope to hold it semi closed. The bus chugged at about naught kilometres per hour up the first hill … this didn’t bode well for the rest of the trip!!!
The first stop was on the side of the road for everyone to clamber off to find a tree to squat under. Yep, no such thing as a toilet on board! Most of the trip was mountainous with the bus cruising up and down and along high ridgelines then dropping way down into river valleys. There would have been spectacular views however because it is the dry season and there is a lot of slash and burn agriculture, the air is very hazy. Actually for our whole time in Laos the air was extremely smoky from this constant burning of the bush on the mountainsides. We stopped for lunch at a village down in a river valley where we ate soup, veggies and rice in a local restaurant about 5 hours into the trip.
Arrived in Phonsavanh after about 8 hours on the road. Robert and Kane were also planning a trip out to The Plain of Jars tomorrow so we shared a taxi into the town and all checked in to the rather large Soviet style Xiengkhouang Hotel. (It was actually Vietnamese built and owned). Phonsavanh is a rather uninspiring town, really only a stepping off point for tours to The Plain of Jars sights that are open to tourists. We wandered around the local fresh market then found a café to hang out in until dinner.
Tue 3 April 2012 – Phonsavanh
Today the four of us set off in our minivan complete with driver and guide for a tour to the three main plains sites that are open to the public. There are actually about 25 sights where these huge stone jars are found randomly scattered but only about 6 sights are open to the public owing to the huge number of UXO (Unexploded Ordinance) still buried in the surrounding farms, relics from the Vietnam War (locally referred to as the American War). Sadly in Laos about three people per day are still killed or maimed by UXO’s. Ordinance clearing is carried out by organisations such as http://www.maginternational.org/. NZAid provided funds for the clearance of the three Jar sites that we visited.
First stop was Site 1 which as we had got to relatively early had only a couple of other tourists poking around the up to 2m high jars made of stone quarried about 25km away. Nobody quite knows the why the jars are scattered over this area or exactly the reason they were made. One theory is that they were used as burial jars but nobody knows for sure. Drove a further 20km on a dirt road to Site 3, which is on a small hill in the middle of a farm. The jars are on the top of the hill so there are nice views of the surrounding farmland from this site. Our lunch stop (choice of noodles or rice) was at a local restaurant just down the road then it was off to Site 2 another hill location with great views out over the valley. Last stop of the tour was to the ruins of a 700 year old Buddha and to a Stuppa on a hill.
Wed 4 April 2012 – Phonsavanh to Viengxay
Arrived at the Phonsavanh bus station and to our dismay the bus situation had deteriorated significantly with todays transport being a “real” local bus – 260,000 Kip (US$32 for 2). This was a 20 seater complete with slatted vinyl seats and seat backs (fortunately some padding on them) both front and back door back open throughout the journey and of course the other natural air conditioning feature, open windows. We set off a little after 8am in a relatively empty bus with three other Westerners but soon it filled to overflowing with people sitting on produce sacks in the aisle and squashed into every available seat. At about 8:20 we pulled into the local square back in Phonsavanh (basically next to the hotel) where the top of the bus was loaded up with veggies etc … no goats but later there were live chickens in little oval chicken sized baskets, added to the cargo on the roof. Merrin helped one of the ladies loading her goods on the roof of the bus and for his efforts was given some green mangoes … very yummy! Finally left town at 9am and trundled off up, up, up and down those mountains again. Merrin spent most of the trip literally hanging out the front or back door … and loving every minute of it! After 9 hours we arrived in Sam Neua just in time for the heavens to open. The five of us Westerners negotiated a Tuk Tuk 50,000 Kip each (US$12) to take us the 30km extra distance to Viengxay where we checked in to a local guesthouse just across the road from The Vienxay Caves office, the aim being to head there the next morning for a tour of the Vienxay Caves (cost 60,000 Kip plus bike hire of 15,000 kip each (US$9).
Thu 5 April 2012 – Viengxay
The Viengxay area is a limestone karst landscape with lots of pretty humpy hills rising up from the plains. The reason this area is famous is because the natural caves (also enhanced with concrete structures) which, were used by the Pathet Lao political group and locals (about 23,000 people) during the American War. They were helping the Vietcong with supplies in and out of Vietnam (the border being only about 50km away) hence the heavy bombardment of Loas by the American during the war.
We set off for breakfast at the local market. A cute old lady took a liking to me and proceeded to grab me by the hips and pinch my bumJ Breakfast consisted of some very good sugar doughnuts and the last of the green mangoes. Our cave tour was from 9am–12pm. The sites are quite widespread so we jumped on our old hired bicycles and cycled off in pursuit of our guide for the morning, a young Lao girl. She didn’t speak much English, just pointed us in the right direction and told us which number we were at so we could listen to the history of each part of the caves that we were in on the audio equipment we were given. The caves housed a school, a hospital, bakeries, shops and even a large theatre/entertainment area so all in all they were very interesting to visit. In the afternoon we said goodbye to our travelling companions and went for a walk around the area eventually hanging out at a lakeside café drinking beer Lao and watching the sunset behind the limestone hills.
Fri 6 April 2012 – Vienxay to Hanoi
The guesthouse owner had arranged for the bus across into Vietnam to come to the Guesthouse to pick us up. This was supposed to arrive anytime after 8:30am. At 7:30 we headed up the road to stock up on more sugar doughnuts for breaky. Took them back to the guesthouse to eat and drink with complimentary tea and ate while we waited for the bus. At about 9:15am we were getting a bit jittery, as the bus had not arrived … needn’t have bothered being nervous as it trundled along on Lao time at about 9:30. Our intention was to travel to Thanh Hoa on the coast and about 200km south of Hanoi but when the bus arrived it had Hanoi as a destination so we paid the driver to go all the way to Hanoi and cost 600,000 Kip for both of us (US$80). The buses we have travelled on for this trip were getting progressively more local. This one was an 18 seater, was quite roomy to start with a couple of seats each but as the journey progressed it became a 25 seater.
We set off and travelled the 50km to the border of Vietnam at Nam Soi, and crossed with no issues even though we were a day later than our prepaid Visa allowed. Visas for Vietnam have to be prearranged, especially for entry at remote border crossings. (although you can get an Internet permit to purchase Visa’s on arrival when flying into major Vietnamese cities). Just over on the Vietnamese side of the border we lunched at a café with locals and the other bus passengers most of whom seemed to be Vietnamese returning home from whatever business they had in Laos. We wended our way around more limestone hills following a large river, which at one point had huge wooden waterwheels no doubt used for farming purposes. The countryside on the Vietnamese side of the border was stunning – much greener than in Laos. We soon came off a high plateau travelling down beside terraced rice paddies and bamboo groves finally getting down to lower more plain like farmland.
Our next stop was a tea stop for the driver and a toilet stop for us … in a concrete bunker like structure with no roof and just a trough at one end in which to hover over … sharing the experience with other bus passengers!!! After 10 hours of travelling we arrived in Thanh Hoa and got off the bus for what we thought was a rest … but no we were shunted on to the back seats of a second bus, which was heading to Hanoi. This vehicle seemed a much better deal with real aircon and plush fabric covered seats. It wasn’t long before our feelings of security in this plush interior gave way to ones of terror as our mad bus driver proceeded to overtake, undertake and generally take on all of the oncoming traffic as if he ruled the highway. It didn’t matter that the highway was chocka block with traffic in both directions. Our driver was hell bent on being in front of all vehicles travelling to Hanoi. Being in the back seat meant we were frequently airborne and only narrowly missed having our heads pummelled against the roof!!! We stopped for dinner at a roadside café and even with this half hour stop we managed the approx. 200km journey in about 2.5 hours. We were literally dumped on the side of the highway about 5km outside Hanoi city centre and were immediately set upon by motorcycle and taxi touts. Once we had worked out where we were we took the taxi option in what turned out to be one of the rip off cabs. We insisted he use the meter, which he did however the meter proceeded to click over at an alarming rate so that the fare ended up being an exorbitant 500,000 Dong (US$24). We had got to where we wanted to be, in the old town near Hoan Kiem Lake so off we wandered checking out a few hotels and finally settling on the Green Mango, which we booked for two nights 2,541,000 Dong (US$120). www.greenmango.vn
Sat 7 April 2012 – Hanoi
After a good nights sleep (finally having got to bed at about 11:30pm) we had a late start with a cooked breakfast (included in the room price) sitting at a table at the front of the hotel where we could look out at the goings on in the street outside. It was raining and a bit cool when we set off to explore the city. We headed off around the Lake and ended up at the upstairs Café L’etage with a view out over the southern end of the lake. The owners were lovely and helpfully gave us some good information about buses from Hanoi to the border with China. From there we wandered the streets checking out the shops. Picked up a double hooded rain cape for my sister and brother in-law to wear when they go out on their Harley in the rain, complete with clear plastic for the headlightJ Had lunch at a roadside café then went back to the hotel to organise our bus to China tomorrow. Set off and found Fanny’s Ice Cream parlour (which had just opened when we last visited Hanoi 18 years ago) and indulged in one of their monstrous ice creams! After more walking (necessary after the ice cream) and sightseeing we found an upstairs balcony bar and drank a nostalgic 333 beer then headed back to the hotel for dinner. Yep, Hanoi was all about food and beverages!
Sun 8 April 2012 – Hanoi – Pingxiang
Had breakfast at the hotel then headed out on foot for further exploration. Found the bustling indoor market selling everything from clothing to fresh fruit, vegetables and meat. Got back to the hotel in time to check out and wait for our bus, which arrived right on time to pick us up at 12:30pm, 240,000 Dong (US$12) for both. This bus journey was far more relaxed and roomy, just a 15 seater with about 10 passengers … luxuryJ. The countryside was beautiful, first flat land with rice paddies then for the last 60 or so km we were back into the limestone pop up hill landscape. Fruit trees and corn were planted on the steep sides and in order for the villagers to get produce from the top there was a steel cable pulley system down to homes at the bottom of the hills. We arrived at the Dong Dang border crossing at about 4pm. One of our fellow passengers was going directly on the sleeper bus to Guangzhou so we decided to do the same. From the border we shared a taxi to Pingxiang the Chinese town nearest the border and with her help purchased tickets for the bus ¥440 (US$70) for both. Went off and found a restaurant for dinner then back to the bus for 7:30 departure. The sleeper buses have upper and lower bunks in three rows. They are of course built for Chinese people so were narrow and not long enough for either Merrin or I but do come equipped with pillows and blankets. Can’t say that either of us overly enjoyed the experience but it had to be done … once!
Mon 9 April 2012 Guangzhou – Lantau Island
We arrived at a bus station somewhere in Guangzhou! The third person we spoke to understood enough English to give directions on how we could get to the metro, which was about a 15 minute walk away. Once we found the metro we easily found our way to Guangzhou East railway station and by just after 8am we were on a train to Shenzhen arriving at 9:30am … far too early for shopping! The Mani-Pedi shop opened at 10:00am so we both indulged. Picked up Anna’s clothes from the tailor and went for lunch at “Melissa’s” Dim Sum restaurant. Can’t remember the actual name of the restaurant but Melissa is a waitress/usher at the restaurant and every time we have been to this restaurant she is there with her friendly smile and good English skills to help with our choices from the Dim Sum menu.
After
lunch we went to the massage place on the 8th floor of the
immigration building. This spa is ok …
décor a little tired but massages ok.
Both had a foot and a shoulder/head massage. That was enough for the day. Headed back to Lo Wu shopping centre to pick
up some headphones ordered from a friend in NZ and while there bought a handbag
and a belt … as you do. Crossed back
into Hong Kong and caught the MTR then ferry to Lantau arriving home from a
great holiday adventure at about 5pm.
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