15th of November, 2024.
Hitchhiking in Laos: Vientiane to Vang Vieng
It’s a good hitchhiking spot, right at the entrance of the expressway to Vang Vieng, and even though, it takes sometime until somebody finally stops. And what it hurts more is to know that lots of people are going to Luang Prabang, as it is THE Luang Prabang. At least for Laos and most tourists…
Viankham Strauss stops. She is a 64 years old lady, super stylish, with a hair brighter than the sun (similar to my mum’s hair), and she is going to Vang Vieng. She is taking her daughter, brother-in-law and a friend of hers to the funeral of a family member of the latter. Her surname comes from her late husband, who used to help a lot of people as she tells me. She has been to Germany and many other countries in Europe, and she is super cool and open mind. I can’t believe she is 64 years old! She’s driving, by the way.
We first pass by the house of her friend, to drop off some stuff. It’s a beautiful place, surrounded by forests and mountains, and right by the river. Here, Strauss and I take a photo. We carry on to where the service is happening. We sit just for a few minutes, as Strauss makes a pray for the deceased. It’s full of people, lots of them cooking and preparing food and drinks for everybody.
Strauss just want to take me a bit further on the road, so I’m really outside Van Vieng. She offers to by me some lunch, but as the wife of Phan made me a lunch box with sticky rice and some fried pork, I kindly refuse.
I eat that while staying by the road, waiting. It’s a lovely place to stay, surrounded by nature and gorgeous views. But I really wish I could make to Luang Prabang tonight.
After some time waiting, as it’s getting late, I decide to just walk and ask for a place to camp for tonight. Only some metres after where I am standing, there’s this restaurant, with a giant mountain gorilla sculpture right in front of it. When I slowly pass by it, I can see that behind the restaurant, down the valley and across the river, there are some green area, and some cottages, so perhaps I could camp there…?
I ask the people from the restaurant, there are a lot of young ladies, and I talk with a young boy. Without asking anyone else, he tells me I can camp down there. Cool! While I am still looking down there, a group of people who are having dinner already, invites me to come and join them.
The place is called U PhaHom Restaurant & Coffee. It’s a restaurant and also cottages place. It’s gorgeous! The surroundings are these incredible beautiful and fun shape limestone hills, and the river passing right by the property makes everything almost surreal. It’s so green, peaceful and lovely, that I cannot believe how lucky I am to be staying here tonight. The cottages also look super cute, and there are tables by the river, for people to eat.
That’s where Hatsady and her friend Tu are having dinner with their family and friends. After I make my camping, I join them, and Tu immediately offers me a Heineken. It’s been ages since I’ve had a Heineken, so I accept without thinking. There’s plenty of food, and I try a bit of everything. Tu keeps on feeding me, to what Hatsidy tells me that’s just how she is. Apparently, she is a great cook, so she loves to feed people. Tu and her husband, a Russian man, Hatsady and her mum are spending the night in the cottages, but the other family members are going back to Vang Vieng. We eat and drink until it gets dark, and until is a bit late.
Then something very ironic it happens. When I was hitchhiking outside Vientiane and Vang Vieng, the same car passes by me, and the driver opens the window to tell me he cannot take me because he’s full, and he apologizes both times. Now, that same driver is here! What? He recognizes me and come to talk with us. He is actually the driver of a group of people from Cambodia, which are staying overnight here too. He actually will camp in a tent just beside mine. Laugh. He is a very nice man and has a great British accent, very unusual for Cambodian people. Before I’m going to sleep, he invites me to have a beer with him and two other guys from the Cambodian group, but I am too tired so I kindly refuse.
Everybody is up early morning, and we kind of all leave at the same time.
10 Years Around the World 