Goodbye Thailand, Hello Laos

As you can guess from the title we have reached an important intermediate goal: The Thai - Laos border. We covered 775 km in Thailand, walked across 10 provinces and were blessed with easily enough experiences to fill a book. I cannot possibly share all of them with you because a) we would not have any time left for walking and b) I like to keep posts short and digestible. But this seems to be a good moment to look back a bit and share a few Thailand moments in no particular order. 

We had some very different experiences with the local police. There was the drunk officer, clinging on to a 'no drink driving' sign for his sheer two legged life, stuttering that if we ever need help we could call him. This was in the morning and I am sure he didn't walk to the police station... Needless to say that we wouldn't have contacted him because most likely he would have ran us over on the way to assist... In Nan we were stopped by two men in uniforms full of shiny emblems, not knowing what we did wrong. It turned out that they just wanted to take a picture with us, ceremonially handing over their number in case we run into trouble.

Our buddies from the police

Our favourite 'party trick' in Thailand (also works beautifully in Laos) was making random people lift my 25 kg backpack when they came to talk to us. Some of them couldn't even get it off the ground, some nearly flipped over forwards whilst attempting to do so. The noise they made during and especially after lifting, accompanied by clapping hands and grimaces, was (and still is) a joy to watch.

The night before leaving Thailand we had to camp although locals strongly advised us not to do so because of armed drug smuggling gangs. To add to the 'excitement' we also encountered our first UXO. We knew this was coming, did not expect it to be in Thailand though. Since this was the only place to hide from the possible contrabandists we pitched the tent right next to it nonetheless. Let's just say that we had an interesting time until dawn broke...

Lovely last night in Thailand...

Although Laos and Thailand are neighbouring countries, there are huge differences between the two. First of all the nature in large areas of Thailand is (unfortunately) all but intact. In Laos there are vast areas with native jungle, untouched and unspoilt, hosting a huge number of wildlife - pure magic. Also very easily noticeable is the glaring difference in wealth. Whilst all people we met in Thailand had running water of some sort, this seems to be the exception in rural Laos. Water is kept in large buckets behind the house, fetched from a river or the central well in the village. The children usually wear well used clothes, more often dirty than not. Toilets next to the bamboo huts are a rare sight. But despite all this (or maybe because of it) they and their parents seem to lead a happier life than many people back home...

Butterfly and misty morning in Laos. Bottom: wild, native jungle

As you will have guessed, the luxury of Thailand with frequent and well stocked shops, restaurants, houses to sleep in and hotels is now over. We rely on carrying our supplies and sleeping in our tent. This means heavier backpacks and nights with 2 - 4 hours of sleep (due to the heat) in very mountainous terrain. This higher physical strain is accompanied by a psychological one due to the possible presence of UXO. Moving away from the road is essential in order to find a place to sleep. Preferably well hidden in case the odd nutcase (which you will find in every country) happens to be around. This means treading softly, keeping our eyes wide open and avoiding too thick undergrowth. Inching the tent pegs carefully into the ground feels a bit like playing russian roulette. If it contacts something solid retracting it and trying our luck elsewhere is the only option. Hitting the peg onto a possible underground bombie could trigger a lethal explosion. For the first time we can truly understand the mental burden caused by UXO. With a very important difference: If the situation is too dangerous we have the means and funds to move to safer terrain. The residents do not.

Rice field in morning light and our well hidden camp

To sum up: so far Laos is a truly marvellous place. Hiking has become tougher but so have we over the past six weeks. In four days of walking we have covered 125 km and 4000 metres of altitude. We are enjoying the fresh set of challenges and looking forward to exploring this new culture and country. 

Outlook from one of the very numerous passes...

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We are walking 5000 km through southeast Asia to raise money for MAG (Mines Advisory Group) to help clear mines in Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. If you like this project please share the blog with your friends and colleagues. Donations can be made via JustGiving or bank transfer (IBAN CH79 0900 0000 2513 1893 4, PC account 25-131893-4). Your help is greatly appreciated! 

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