Ni Dieu Ni Maitre

“One of the most exciting travel developments in Laos in recent years is the Laos–China Railway. It has genuinely changed how travellers think about this route. By combining a private minivan from Huay Xai to Nateuy station with a train ride south to Luang Prabang, you cover the full journey in around five to six hours. Moreover, you do it in real comfort.” online guide.

SAYING SO LONG TO MY 24 HOUR A DAY HOTEL KEEPER…

This is what I read, and having seen the popular slow boats, made the decision to go the mini van to fast train route instead. The train and its railway construction was entirely done by the Chinese, raising the question of how much Chinese influence there is here in Laos from their massive northern neighbor.

A SLOW BOAT… THE USUAL WAY TO THE ‘BIG CITY’

Well, it was up at 6AM to get ready for a 7 o’clock pick up, and off for what turned out to be a long and extraordinarily uncomfortable van ride. Things started well as we went back to the Freedom Bridge border crossing to pick up more passengers and headed off on Route A3, a major road. At the border crossing it was impossible to miss the dozens and dozens of huge Chinese trucks all lined up to get through customs and cross over the bridge to Thailand.

Surprisingly, we then headed dead northeast to Luang Namtha near the Chinese border to get the train… Luang Prabang, the second largest city in Laos is located southeast of our starting point, and we covered about two-thirds of the distance to LP heading off in the wrong direction, just to take the train south.

LAST SUNSET IN HUAY XAI… THE ONE I DIDN’T BOTHER TO GO OUT TO WATCH.

The road meandered up and down steep hills hour after hour as the road surface deteriorated, causing frequent slowdowns as we bumped across the bad spots. I felt motion sickness coming on from all the twisty-turny up and down riding but eventually things leveled out a bit. We hit Luang Namtha around noon, but this was not our destination. Turns out the railroad station was another hour and a half away on an unbelievably rutted and bumpy, dusty dirt road.

We had been passed sporadically all day by Chinese semis heading south to the Freedom Bridge to Thailand, and there were loads of them slowly moving along this horrible dirt road, throwing up loads of dusty dirt as they lumbered along. At one point, we passengers were bounced out of our seats by a horrific bump, as we crawled along.

TOOK NO PICS ON THIS JOURNEY. THIS IS BIKE TOURING IN THE LAHAUL VALLEY, INSIDE THE FIRST RANGE OF THE HIMALAYAS, 2011. GOTTA HAVE PICS!

Finally, exhausted, we made it to the train station after 7 hours. I had been wondering, as we vanned along, how it would be possible to get a train line across this incredibly mountainous country. This was quickly answered as the rudimentary, cramped and uncomfortable train entered into an interminable series of tunnels, sometimes passing from one into the next in a matter of seconds.

Well, at least the train ride was short, just a few hours. Passed the time talking with a young Pakistani guy, now living in Laos. He tried and tried to convince me to visit Pakistan. ‘The people are really friendly there’, he said. I’m unconvinced as an American. In any event, on arrival I staggered out, totally exhausted and bunged up physically, grabbed the first robber taxi driver who had as much of a clue where my hotel was as I did, but eventually we found it using my phone map. Time for a few days recuperation.