SOUTH THROUGH CHINA & LAOS

 

We roll down the huge mountainside and into the fertile plains of Shangri-La. It is reminiscent of Kazakhstan with horses, haystacks and green paddocks. Then weave our way through the modern city to find the Hotel where Echo is staying and where we can camp in the carpark. After spending time plotting and planning our route we head into the Old Town to share a meal of rice noodles before wandering the streets. It does look lovely all lite up for night. We head to the square, admire the dancing and then walk up to the Golden Temples and ginormous gold prayer wheel. All very stunning and packed with Chinese tourists.  Certainly, a lovely town, but not really” paradise on earth” for us anyway.

Our destination today is the famous Tiger Leaping Gorge driving over mountains and through valleys to the stunning gorge. We stop at numerous lookouts before we reach the most famous spot where the tiger apparently leapt! Conveniently there are 3 escalators to the bottom and even better 3 going back up. We cannot get over how packed the place is, and it is off season! The carpark is crazy. On leaving we follow the river until we reach the stunning toll road that runs high above the valley and consists mainly of viaducts and tunnels. The cost is minimal compared to the convenience. We head on to the city of Lijiang where we hunt down our carpark conveniently located near the Old Town. It is not much more than an alley beside a large car charging station, but it’s flat & quiet. At least our truck will be OK.  The riot police arrive, park in front of us and head out in full gear. We wander into town for dinner and admire the lights. We stop at a tea shop and get talked into a tea ceremony. Goodness me the tea is “washed” three times before it can be drunk. It is the fermented Pu’er type and not to our taste at all.

The next morning, we head off to explore the amazing Old Town and spend a happy few hours just wandering all the cobbled streets. It is all very touristy but still full of charm. Waterways run through the cobbled streets and everywhere flowers are blooming. We stop to try their local flower cakes… delicious. I will have to try making them at home.  Back at camp we meet with Echo and walk to the Black Dragon Pond before heading out of town to the tourist area of Snow Mountain where there are lots of activities including scenic train rides, gondola rides, walking, dressing up for selfies and the famous Lijiang Show that we are here for.  When we reach the car park and loop around to find a spot we spy hundreds of buses. The place is packed (it is Sunday after all) but we eventually make it to seats for our show.  The huge open-air stage uses the mighty snowy peaks as a backdrop and there are well over two hundred performers in ethnic dress singing and dancing. The whole performance is incredible. My favorite part is all the horses that gallop across the top of the stage. Later we take the shuttle bus out to Jade Dragon Snow Mountain Lake to wander around and admire the snowcapped peaks. What a busy day. We end up camping in a small village beside Echo’s Hotel in the countryside.

In the morning it’s another big drive to Dali. We visited here on our very first trip across China in 2005 and we remember it as a cute little place full of locals in their ethnic dress and a smattering of shops and restaurants. We skirt the city of Lijiang via the excellent ring road and find ourselves on narrow congested roads. Crazy! We head to the toll road again for a more pleasant drive. The Chinese have invested in a huge tree planting program making the roads look lovely but leaving very few chances to snap a pic! We head south to the huge Erhai Lake and hunt down the little town of Shaping. Today is supposed to be market day, and sure enough we find it. No handicrafts, but lots of locals selling fruit & veges.  Then on to the Three Pagodas that we visited years ago. It is all very busy with tourists now and apart from the actual pagodas it is unrecognizable. Then on to the now busy town of Dali. I’m in the back as Echo directs us to her Hotel & carpark. When we take a side road I’m muttering “No, no, no” to myself in the back. And sure enough the road narrows and there are heaps of those nasty overhanging wires. We squeeze under a few but I do see one go down. There is nowhere to turn (although John does try!) so we will have to reverse out. Back down the road I find a spot to turn and then the careful job of reversing starts. Echo climbs on the roof to lift the cables away from us, while a helpful local and I direct and get rid of oncoming cars! Phew, we are out. Just down the road Echo and I pop out to find a carpark and Hotel in another side street. This one is perfect and just over the road we can see the walled town of Old Dali. Later we head in to explore and find it has become a tourist trap full of food stalls and shops and hundreds of tourists. They do say never go back!!!

Now it is time to hit the road. We only have a few days left in China and lots of driving to do. We find the toll road for faster driving, but there is a new thudding noise we stop to investigate. It looks as if the tyres we want to get home on are wearing out fast and a bit unevenly thus making thudding noises. A tyre shop confirms John’s diagnosis. Not much we can do except continue our drive. There are now miles of tea and coffee plantations. By the end of the day we reach the city of Jingjong. Echo’s hotel only has street parking so she heads off on the back of a scooter to find a spot. In the end she finds a massive bus carpark behind the city. There are even a few other Chinese motorhomes there. Later Echo collects us in a taxi and we go to the Night Markets to wander and find dinner. We are blown away by the markets all lit up like Disneyland and full of Chinese tourists.  The food choices are huge, but we stick to the freshly cooked skewers of meat and veges.  We really don’t fancy the skewers of bugs, insects and other weird items.

Today is our last day in China as we head to the border with Laos at Boten. Many years ago we crossed here when it was a small town, now it is massive and bursting with people and trucks. We expect a smooth border crossing as we have help, but they really don’t want to stamp us out. No reason! Just Chinese craziness. Finally stamped out they let GR2 go without any checks and we even get to keep our Chinese no plate & licence. A quick goodbye to Echo and we are set to tackle the Laos side. It is chaotic but we can get insurance, sim and visa all in the one spot. Then carnet stamped and we are in. Pretty easy really, it just takes time. Now to tackle the Laos roads. The first 2kms are gorgeous concrete road, but that gives way to narrow broken road with dust, potholes and thousands of overloaded trucks. It is appalling! After rocking and rolling for what seems like hours I suggest we pull over in a gravel pit. It has been a long tedious day.

We head off early before it gets too hot and continue our slow drive passing countless little villages. By midafternoon we reach the city of Luang Prabang and head through congested streets to the riverfront. We find a spot to park and stay there the night. It’s a bit hot and noisy but works OK and gives us a chance to explore town. Apparently, there are 32 wats/temples in town and we do pop in to look at a few, enjoy the old French houses and love the croissants. In the evening we head out on a river cruise to watch the sunset. A perfect way to end the day. The next morning we watch the monks walking through town with their bowels collecting gifts, then stroll through the Markets dodging all the Chinese tourists. There is a fast train from China all the way through Laos (built by the Chinese of course!) bringing in tourists and goods. After wandering through the Palace grounds, we head out of town. The road continues to be bad, and we see all the trucks turning and going on what looks like a back road on our maps, instead of winding over the mountains, so we follow them. Of course it is not a good road, in fact it is downright appalling, but apparently the better of the two.  We drive for what seems like hours up and over a huge mountain. The road is frequently at a 12% incline so the trucks are crawling and we are continually trying to get past them. Coming down is even worse, the road has been worn to shreds with potholes big enough to lose cars in. The dust is thick and slippery, and it would be even worse in the wet. Finally, down the mountain we turn off and head down a disgusting little track to the Vang Vien Ecolodge set on the river. We are thrilled to see a magic grassy campspot beside the river. In fact it is so lovely we stay for 2 nights and relax and watch the local children play in the water, tourists head out in canoes and spend time cooling down in the river.

All good things come to an end. It really is time to move on. We have (fingers crossed) managed to find a RORO ship from the port in Thailand to Brisbane. So we are off to Vientiane, the capital of Laos, this morning. We have been told the road is good and we are pleasantly surprised by the huge toll motorway. Suspiciously there are no trucks, and it proves to be a tad pricey, but worth every cent after the “bad” roads. It is Sunday midday as we roll into the city and traffic is very light. We drive along the waterfront looking for a spot to camp. There are plenty of large carparks, but we decide on the huge carpark at the Don Chang Palace Hotel. There is even a very slight breeze, which is a relief as the heat & humidity is extreme. We set off to explore on foot. Phew its hot, but we make it to a few garishly bright Wats and Vientiane’s Arch de Triumph – the Patuxai and climb to the top for views. Next stop is the temple complex of Pha That Luang – again a gold glittery masterpiece. It is a bit far to walk in the heat so we grab a taxi/tuktuk.  The gold lotus centrepiece looks stunning, but we are both wearing shorts so we can’t go in. But we can wander into all the other temples.  Later that day we explore the busy night markets. Yet another long day followed by another hot night.

We decide to get a few chores done before we tackle the border into Thailand, so we find the Isuzu dealership and then a tyre shop to get those thudding wheels moved, and some taken down from our rooftop tyre shop. Now we are ready for that border. We check out of Laos and head into the Thai side. We know that it can be difficult, so fingers crossed! As soon as we drive up the Customs guy comes over. After much discussion and grovelling we are sent back to Laos with our tail between our legs. He tells us we need a permit, but the sample permit he shows us says quite clearly that foreign trucks, motorhomes & campervans are prohibited in Thailand. And we are all 3! We have no choice but to return to Laos, which isn’t all that easy. We must drive back across the Friendship Bridge and the Thai side has a toll. We have no Laos money left and of course no Thai money as we didn’t enter. Standoff again. Go back, she says. Pretty hilarious. When the queue behind us gets longer and longer the police step in and we head back to Laos. More paperwork in lots of different places. At least they can reverse the exit on our visas, so we don’t have to get new ones! It is late by the time we are set free and dark clouds are rolling in. I see a river front spot on my map just down the road, so we head there. Perfect for the night. The torrential rain falls as we park for the night. The rainy season has started.

We are now on Plan B. The helpful Dave has suggested we head south to Cambodia and cross into Thailand down there.  Fingers crossed as we head off………