Laos-Cambodia border corruption
After leaving Don Det and the 4000 islands in Laos we wanted to head to Siem Reap, Cambodia. We hopped on a bus and headed for the Dom Kralor border crossing. The corruption on the border is far worse than expected. We expected to pay US$20 for the Cambodia visa with a "processing fee" of US$1-2. This is WAY off!
We arrived at the Laos border and were requested to pay US$2 per passport to stamp out. A little more than we would have liked to pay for the bribe but there wasn't much choice (although we did short change the guy and gave about US$3 for both of our passports).
We then enter Cambodia and are required to pass through a health inspection. To get our passports back we had to pay US$1 per passport. Again, we cheated and I slipped the guy only US$1 for both passports and walked away quickly.
Next to get our visa. Again, it is known that the Cambodian visa costs only US$20. On this border crossing they wanted US$23 per visa. We were a large group of people and we started to argue the price difference. The border officials then started bargaining with us and offered US$22! We laughed at them and the price was immediately raised back to US$23.
A few of us decided to stand our ground and pay only the official price. We were just ignored! In the end we had to cave-in and pay their "special" price. Gadi and I got away with paying US$45 for both passports so we saved an additional dollar. A small defeat.
You'd think that it was all over, but no. Once we got the visa we stood in another line-up to get the visa stamped. Guess what? They wanted another US$1 per passport! At this point I said I had no more money left. I whipped out my wallet and showed them the empty folds. They agreed to do it for free for me. Another small defeat and another US$2 saved.
Finally got our Cambodian visa
After the whole ordeal we boarded the bus again. We looked out the window at the health inspector just in time to catch him pocketing the cash. It is just infuriating!
In the end, the visa which should cost only US$20 turned out to cost much more. If you payed all the requested bribes the Cambodian visa costs US$27! Be prepared to have extra cash and it is best to bring US dollar bills.
I wish you all the strength and patience!
Laos, more than just tubing
We have quickly realized that our time was coming short. We had to decide on how much to see in Laos and if we were heading for Vietnam and/or Cambodia. We settled for cutting out Vietnam from our planned itinerary and visit Seam Reap in Cambodia. Sorry if we have upset anybody for our choice but we had to make sacrifices. I guess it gives us a good excuse to come back some other time.
After our odyssey on the two day slow boat we arrived in the old Laotian capital, Luang Prabang. Luang Prabang is a town located where the Khan and Mekong Rivers meet and has the privilege of being part of the World Heritage of UNESCO. The presence of temples and specially monks is a common sight. We only stayed in town for a couple of day so we visited some of the main temples. To tell you the truth, I am a little templed out. You see one it's great, you see three it's pretty nice, you see fifty and I get the point. The only bad part of this town is that they charge you for every temple you see so this helped us out on selecting a minimum number of them to visit. The one we do recommend was the Phu Si (no I didn't make it up). You should get there for sunset because this temple is located on the top of the hill and you get a nice view of the city.
How many monks can you fit on the back of a trunk?
While walking through town we came upon a man selling a very strange looking concoction. There was a large glass jar containing all kinds of snakes, scorpions and giant centipedes. When we asked the man about it he said it was Lao Whiskey or better known as Cobra Whiskey. Honestly, it looked more like a witch's potion. Once again i had to prove my manhood and give the alcohol a try. After all, when in Lao we should do like Laotians do and I drank it. It really wasn't too bad!
Cobra Whiskey: Scorpions, snakes and other things
Our next stop in Laos was Vang Vieng. This town is known by travelers as a party town. We thought the place would be touristy but not to this extent. Here you will find a handful of restaurants playing back to back to back Friends and Family Guy episodes and a tour agency in every corner. The main reason people come here is for the infamous tubing experience.
We didn't know what to expect about tubing but let me say it, it was awesome. You start your day by renting the tube from one of the two shops in town. They take you on a tuk-tuk up the river and this is where the fun begins. Lined up on the river there are bar after bar. The music is pumping and the drinks are flowing. You get the chance to swing and slide from some questionable swings, ziplines and water slides but at that state you don't care too much about your well-being. Ah, you can't forget to stop for some mud wrestling and mud volleyball! One catch about the tube rental is that you have to be back by 6 pm if you want your full deposit back. Be careful not to get stuck in the bars because it takes a good amount of time to get back, I am speaking from experience.
Vang Viang and it's surroundings do have things to offer including some caves and not too far off some almost untouched villages. We rented scooters to explore. When we pulled over by a small village, all the children came out to meet us. They were excited and scared, as if they've never seen a white person before. One baby even burst into tears as I waved hello.
Village children
For our next destination we wanted to mix it up a bit with our transportation method. We opted to take a kayak tour to get to the city of Vientiane. It was very nice but I wish we were in the wet season so that the river would have more rapids.
Truthfully, Vientiane was my least favorite city in Laos. For a big city there was no night life. There is a curfew and everything closes at 11:30 at night, I think it got something to do with the communist regime.The highlight of our time there was when we visited the Buddha Park. This place as the name suggests is where a bunch of Buddhist and Hindu sculptures are laid out in a park. The sculptures are said to have been made by unskilled artists under the direction of the designer.
The famous leaning Buddha in Buddha Park
After hopping from place to place we were ready to relax in the 4000 islands. The tiny island of Don Det is very chill place. We got a tiny bungalow overlooking the river which contained a bed, mosquito net and two hammocks. There wasn't even electricity in our room but that didn't matter since electricity is only turned on between six and ten at night. We had some down time and caught up on our reading while swinging in our hammocks. It was paradise.
A Lao Sunset