Huay Xai was the relaxing stop trying to dry my shit after the heavy storm border crossing. Little hostel was cosy at 4 beds per room and only two rooms. The girl tending the dorm Amor, was a nice and cute Philippine girl which I thought was local at first. Beautiful smile and very helpful and I learn the trick from her to buy beer lao from the convenient stall just 10m away and bringing it back to the hostel to drink at the porch looking out to the main road watching people.
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| Huay Xai - Mekong River Ferry Boat to Luang Prabang |
The most awkward part would be on the last day as I was about to leave, I purchase the sim card for Laos from Amor. Setting up the sim card, she had to check if the internet was working and the first word she typed into google was Philippine but under search history all the recent search under “P” was not something I wanted a random girl to see ... I knew when she had to search something it was bound to happen ... my phone is a filth .... oh well .. boys will be boys .... lucky it was the last day and I left but I caught the sly smile hidden in that beautiful smile.
Day trip to the golden triangle on the Laotian side was interesting. Around 50km from Huay Xai and the roads were more flat compared to Thailand with gradual climbs instead of sharp angles at crazy inclines. If this was the condition of roads in Laos, I would be just fine and pretty happy too. Roads had not many vehicles and the occasional vehicles were friendly enough with occasional beeps but not hostile. Pot holes were everywhere .... some gravel roads but all in all pretty nice.
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| The Road from Huay Xai to The Golden Triangle Laos |
I got to the golden triangle and it felt like China. Looking for food there was only Chinese restaurant establishment. I found a Chinese noodle shop, menu was written in Chinese which i could not read. Walking up to the lady asking what there was to eat, she pointed at the menu on the wall and asked me to choose. Telling her I cannot read got me a mumble to herself complaining on how the f*ck i cant read Chinese when I was speaking it to her.
With reluctance she ask me if I wanted noodle, barely gave me any other choice on the menu and I surrendered to whatever she cooked since hunger always trump pride. Noodle was done and I was yelled to come collect it myself. Weird .... I saw them serving all the other customer.
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| Chinese Restaurant Everywhere at The Golden Triangle - Laos |
Finish eating my lunch and it was time to pay. Walk up and I was quoted 10 RMB. China money.
Strange ... did I cross the border without knowing?
I don't have RMB I told them, and more mumble grumble on their part saying they only accept RMB. I only have Lak, I told them ... how much ... by this time I have eaten my food so I was no longer that humble, when the mumble grumble came, I mumble grumble too but in English and I could clearly see the annoyance on their face for not understanding.
The lady looked up on the internet for the exchange rate and quoted me 13000 kips. I gave her 20000 kips waiting for change which proved to be impossible. They were now a group scratching their head together figuring out how to return change to me. I felt the need to leave as soon as possible and re-checking my wallet manage to scrape out the exact amount of 13000 kip, paid them and hit the road as fast as I could.
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| Donexao Island - From Thailand side of the Golden Triangle, tourist can take a boat to visit this part of Laos for a day-trip shopping. No visa required but not allowed to travel onward in Laos and must return to the Thailand side by the end of the day. |
Riding around the Golden Triangle it was filled with Chinese people from China community. Suddenly the roads were more dangerous too with the cars somehow never stopping at junctions. I went around the port where tourist from the Thailand side of the golden triangle is ferried over for a day trip shopping. The shopping area seamed to be filled with trinkets made in China and this place got weirder the more I explored it.
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| Golden Triangle View from the Laos side. |
There was also one casino in the Golden triangle Laos. Yes the casino did form a major part of why I wanted to explore the golden triangle on the Laotian side. Entering it, the casino was purely catered for the China tourist community. I could barely understand the games, all rules and notices were in Chinese.
This ill literate banana could not decipher anything significant in the casino and watching the punters gamble after a while, I knew the games were mostly based on luck and no complex decision is need other than to place a bet like a flip of a coin.
It was time to leave but thinking back on the experience it reaffirm my gut feeling for a long time. I am still afraid of China .... China scares me .... traveling wise.
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| Big Projects at the Golden Triangle Laos |
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| Countryside Road back to Huay Xai |
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| The open road in Laos |
Traveled on: Jan 2019
#huayxai #goldentrianglelaos
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