Backpacker’s Mission Crossing the Mighty Mekong River – Thailand to Laos

Backpacking from Chiang Khong in Thailand to Huay Xai in Laos:

• Leaving Chiang Rai
• Leaving Chiang Khong – Thailand border checkpoint
• Crossing the border
• Arriving into Huay Xai – Laos border checkpoint
• Settling into Huay Xai for the evening

I awoke from my slumber with a slight headache from the bottle of Chiang I drank last night, however I got packing immediately to get ready to leave Chiang Rai – it was going to be a long day ahead.

I have just eaten an all “American Breakfast” from the guesthouse kitchen – bacon, sausages, eggs, toast with jam and butter, fruit and orange juice all for 120BHT.

I feel so much better after eating a proper healthy meal and I now feel re-energized to take on the trip to Luang Prabang, Laos. The bus trip to Chiang Khong took much longer than the expected 4 hours and when I arrived I had approximately 15 minutes to get my way across the muddy yet fabulous Mekong River over to the mainland of Laos and its border check in at Huay Xai. Luckily I just made it through the border crossing of Thailand since I was intent on getting into Laos before the sun went down.

I got off the bus with a few other backpackers and I grabbed the closest tuk-tuk to take me only about 1km down the road to the actual border checkpoint. The other backpackers didn’t think that we would make the checkpoint in time so they gave in and decided to look for somewhere to stay for the night in Chiang Khong – the Thailand border town. I however was on a mission, I wanted to sleep in Laos tonight. It was all very exciting and stressful at the same time. After getting to the checkpoint which was situated on the banks of the Mighty Mekong River it was a delight to look only a short distance across the river to the mainland of Laos. I got to the checkpoint as the last person to be processed and they told me to hurry down to the banks of the river. It appeared as though the last boat was leaving for the day to transport people over to the Laos border town of Huay Xai.

The border checkpoint and processing office were ever so basic and undeveloped, the boat to transport me over the Mekong River to the Laotian checkpoint was a rickety old skinny long boat. I was the only foreigner around in amongst a group of locals who were transporting fruit, rice and other local commodities.

I was the only backpacker who decided to cross over to Laos I guess it was just to hard and to much of a gamble for the others, but I had nothing to lose. I got onto the little boat which looked a little shaky and as if it may struggle with me and my backpack needless to say the thought of the boat sinking half way across the river and swimming the rest of the way there was an ever present thought on my mind. The boat did not sink however, and I was stepping onto the shores of Laos within 5 to 10 minutes of leaving Thailand. I then had to be processed through the Laotian border checkpoint where I was also able to exchange some of my Baht into Kip.

Mission complete – now to get on an overnight bus to Luang Prabang. However, a major barrier appeared before me as the locals at Huay Xai kept telling me that only 2 buses left from Huay Xai each day.

Since it was about 5:30pm I decided to take my Lonely Planet guide out to view its accommodation recommendations especially since I had not planned on staying here for the night in Huay Xai. Arimid guesthouse sounded ok to me for a cool 80,000 Kip (approximately $8USD) – I have to start getting used to the Laotian currency difference. I believe there is about 10,000 Kip = $1 USD, so I will be walking around with millions of Kip in my pocket. WOW I’m finally a millionaire and I am a backpacker, the two usually just don’t go hand in hand very well – hold on no wait a Kip Millionaire not quite as prosperous unfortunately.

The Arimid guesthouse was very clean and was full of individual wooden huts just like the traditional Laotion huts that the locals live in out in the villages. It was located about 400 meters along the main road north of the border checkpoint. I had a wooden hut to myself with a basic bathroom, fan and double size bed however there was no electricity. I was very content with this accommodation in this highly undeveloped town.

I settled in and left the lodge as soon as possible in search for Beer Lao. I have heard so much about this beer and my brother some years ago had even given me a Beer Lao t-shirt, which is a bit of a cult piece of clothing for the seasoned backpacker. Might I add that Beer Lao is not a bad drop, especially when it is about 35 degrees Celsius and as humid as hell.

Being in Laos and in particular Huay Xai I really got the feeling that I was finally out of the “system”. The system which many people back home are controlled by and the system which prevent people from venturing out side of their comfort zone – I was really feeling that I was very far from home and that if something went wrong then I could only rely on myself and no back ups or provisions would be place to protect me. I must have definitely been out of my comfort zone to have these waves of sensations and feelings coming over me.

For the first time I was experiencing a true sense of independence – I have finally achieved exactly what I have set out to achieve ‘true freedom’. This is one of the main reasons for taking my backpacking trip around South East Asia so I definitely felt a sense of accomplishment as well.

Next priority I guess I had better eat – I was really unsure of what to think about Huay Xai especially considering it was a tiny town and electricity appeared to be quite limited to only shops and eateries. I wanted to find a place to eat that was quite busy so that I didn’t get sick for off food. I should have probably been more worried about whether it was chicken or cat that I was about to consume.

I found a place and immediately ordered another Beer Lao a tall one this time and dish of fried chicken and noodles one of my favourite Asian dishes. It was delicious and whilst eating and drinking I studied my travel guide for more ideas to fill my time in the cities and towns I intended on visiting in the coming days, weeks and months.

The walk from the restaurant to the Aramid guesthouse was about 300 meters and it was quite daunting as there was little to no light due to lack of electricity and I kept walking pasts houses, well actually shanties, with feral dogs out the front that were barking like crazy and tended to stalk, not follow, me about 30 meters down the road until I had past from their territory. This continued on for ages and after a number of K9 stalkings I was pretty glad top get back to the guest house. All I could think about was getting bitten by one of these angry dogs and contracting RABBIES. With the lack of hospitals or medical supplies around this was more cause for concern, so I quickly scurried my way to the guesthouse and retired to bed.

I guess the best memory that I can take away from Huay Xai is the sense of true freedom that I gain from crossing the border from Thailand into the highly undeveloped country of Laos. I was very excited for the the journey ahead through Laos.

Josh Boorman

Editor-in-chief

Backpacking Addictz

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Backpacking Addictz is a website set up by backpackers for the use of backpackers. On this site you will find a lot of very valuable information surrounding different destinations around the world and tips and advice on budget travel and backpacking. You will also find an enthusiastic and insightful backpacking blog which is regularly updated with new posts and article.

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Joshua Boorman

Founder & Editor in Chief at Backpacking Addictz

Come with me on a journey with me to various destinations throughout the world. We discuss all things Backpacking, Lifestyle Design & Online Business to help you achieve new found freedom and create a life of meaningful fulfillment.

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