Dollar battle at the Lao-Cambodian border

Cambodian immigration and border officials are notorious for their Dollar hunger. Some of them pull notes out of foreigners' pockets as well as local people's pockets. The night before we crossed the border we had prepared to have the 1 US Dollar notes handy.

After the battle in Cambodia

The battle for our Dollar notes began earlier than expected - at the Lao immigration office. When we arrived a group of backpackers had been trying for more than an hour to not pay the requested 2 Dollar per passport. Different persons of the group talked to the officials, tried different strategies, asking for a receipt and their names (none of them had a name sign), pretending that they would never come to Laos again, telling the officials that the 2 Dollars would be illegal etc. but nothing worked. The stubborn officials did not budge an inch. They probably knew all different reasons why they should waive this "stamp-out fee". Having seen the unsuccessful efforts of the group, we tried only little and paid the 4 Dollar in the end. Sarah was furious.

0:4

We rolled over to the Cambodian side where we were "welcomed" by a work group registering our health state. We filled out a basic form and got a piece of paper in return. They wanted 1 Dollar per person. We offered them 1 Dollar, they said no. We offered 1 Dollar and our remaining 4000 Lao Kip, but they shook their heads. We showed them our bicycles and said that we had come all the way from Germany. They didn't pity us.

The closer we had come to the Cambodia, the more had I tried to recall my Khmer. Recalling my Khmer is definitely more difficult than my Cantonese. I have never ever actively spoken Khmer, only listened to. Articulating Khmer words is like tongue twister. I had prepared some sentences in Khmer for Cambodia. Now it was time to build a language bridge to them.

I told them in Khmer that we didn't have any money. It helped. They looked at me and grinned. In Khmer they said that they would accept 1 Dollar. They returned the 4000 Kip and told me to buy water instead.

1:5

The next station was the Cambodian visa station. It cost 20 Dollar plus a dodgy 2 Dollar fee for the form. 2 Dollar for a piece of paper! I again tried my Khmer and told them I was a Cambodian son and asked why it was so expensive. The first answer was that Phnom Penh, the capital, was far away. Well, this answer could be interpreted like "the capital is far away, so we can do what we want". In Khmer they told me that they had to pay electricity, stamp pad ... Yeah, sure. Another 4 Dollar were lost. As a comfort they indicated that as a Cambodian son I could get a special visa type K. I would be entitled as long as my passport is valid to enter and leave Cambodia whenever I want and stay as long as I want. What a pity that they couldn't issue this special visa at the land border crossing.

1:9

The third and last station was the immigration check in order to get stamped-in. An arrival and departure card had to be filled out. Sarah went first and was asked for a 1 Dollar stamp-in fee. I joined them quickly, recited my Khmer sentence from above and our stamp-in fees were waived.

3:9 ... final result. Let's see what will happen at the Cambodian-Thai border in one month time.

Finally we were in Cambodia, one of of our main destinations on our trip! We were so much looking forward to it, but somehow this reception damped our joy. However, we didn't want to generalize the behaviour of some crooked officials to all the people of Cambodia and were soon after proved that in general people are lovely.

Laid-back island life

Total distance: 6590 km
Pakse - Champasak - Don Khong - Don Det

From Pakse we cycled just a few kilometers to Champasak - the ex-capital of a Lao kingdom. But not much of that is left today. Champasak today is just a small one-road village, right on the banks of the Mekong. However not far from the village there is Wat Phu, an archeological UNESCO world heritage site and the temple is said to be the blueprint for Angkor Wat. It was really interesting and from the top of the hill we enjoyed a beautiful sunset.

The next day we continued south with our bikes to our next destination: Si Phan Don - 4000 islands. We spent one day on Don Khong and three lazy days on Don Det. It was great! We stayed in a small bungalow, with two hammocks on the patio and a great view over the Mekong. The island was a lot quieter than expected and we enjoyed that very much. Despite all the tourists the locals seem to continue their ordinary lives not much different than anywhere else: growing rice, herding water buffaloes, growing chicken and pigs. We spent most of the day with a book in the hammock, went for a walk here and there, fed the dogs and cats that came for a visit, ate a lot as usual and enjoyed the beautiful sunset... What a life!

---

Rushing southwards

Total distance: 6357 km
Vang Vieng - Thinkeo - Vientiane - Pakse

The ugly factory

Two days were enough in Vang Vieng. It was time to leave this party town. On the way out of Vang Vieng we passed something that we had never expected in Laos: a giant factory! We did see factories like that in China, but this one did not want to fit into the Lao landscape at all. Obviously the owner of this factory was well aware of that and didn't want to destroy the image that tourists have of Laos. So he simply imposed a photography ban and put a sign that read "No photographs - 1 km!".

Some minutes later we met two German long-distance cyclists, Eva and Mike, who had cycled India, Nepal and Thailand. Going from north to south in Laos we surprisingly didn't meet many other cyclists. We felt alone in this beautiful country that is supposed to be a popular cyclist country. All cyclists, however, that we did meet reported many other cyclists going from north to south too.

Some 70 km after Vang Vieng the landscape became boring. We had left the Southeast-Asian mountains for good and the terrain was flat now. Instead of cycling highway 13 all the way down to Vientiane, the capital of Laos, we squeezed in a little detour via highway 10. Still the landscape wasn't interesting and we almost regretted our decision to pedal from Vang Vieng to Vientiane. If you think about cycling in Laos, choose the most stunning part that is from the Chinese border to Vang Vieng.

We arrived in Vientiane after two days but did not plan to stay long. Vientiane was yet another capital without much to do and see. Famous Wat Si Saket and its thousands of Buddhas was our main sight. Food-wise we took advantage of the international cuisine in the capital and had good Turkish food. Well, nothing compares to the food we once had in Istanbul though.

Only 24 hours after our arrival we were out of the city again at the bus station. Due to time restrictions and the long and boring part of highway 13 between Vientiane and Pakse we hopped on the bus again. It's always nerve-wracking at a bus or train station. We were asked to be earlier at the bus station so that there would be enough time to put the bicycles into the trunk ... so did we think. Of course the trunk was already full and neither of our bicycles fit into the small compartment. The bus driver came up with the great idea to attach the bicycles to the back of the bus. The problem was that there was no rack or something but the engine's radiator grill. Like in China they used this thin plastic band to attach the bicycle to the grill. And like in China we didn't trust the plastic band. Our clothesline helped out again. Sarah's bicycle was placed in the trunk of a second bus going to Pakse that had a huge, empty compartment, safe place for at least four bicycles. Why didn't they do with my bicycle? Anyway, one hour later both bicycles and all our panniers were stored. You can't imagine what effort it cost. Our T-shirts were full of sweat. The hot and humid weather did the rest.

A night later in the sleeper bus and we were in Pakse, some 140 km or so from the Cambodian border. Both bicycles and ourselves survived this bus ride. The sleeper bus was an experience. Two people share one narrow bed. Good for couples but two strangers can feel uncomfortable.

---

Ballermann in Laos

When you speak with Germans and mention Ballermann, they'll know immediately what is meant. Ballermann or better Ballermann 6 is the pub on the Spanish island Mallorca where Germans drink beer from buckets. Every year thousands of party people go to Mallorca, swamp the island and do 'Ballermann'. Germans refer to Mallorca as the 17th German state.

When we arrived in Vang Vieng in the late afternoon, we checked into a big bungalow with two hammocks on an island. It felt like paradise. The surrounding mountains were gorgeous. Cold drinks in a hammock after a day of cycling, there is nothing better!

In the evening we went out for dinner and only then could we see what real Vang Vieng is like. Half-naked, drunk and noisy people were walking around. The signs that read "Please respect our Lao tradition. No bikini etc. in the streets ..." were useless. Only few people cared. Pubs played music at high volume and although our bungalow was off the main drag it was hard to sleep. Even our ear plugs, that had helped us so many times on camp sites in Scandinavia or in Chinese hotels with karaoke bars, did not help. Vang Vieng is Ballermann in Laos! Horrible nights, beautiful and calm days.

We stayed only two days in Vang Vieng. One day to relax from the strenuous climbs from Luang Prabang to Vang Vieng and another day to have some fun. Vang Vieng is famous for its caves and tubing. Er, tubing? Tubing is sitting on a tractor inner tube and flowing down the Xong River. The majority stops at the many riverside bars with crazy sling shots, slides and drinks. Once in a while someone dies because of too many beers or jumping into shallow water. Well, we skipped the last part and tubed inside a water cave and then went kayaking. Much more fun! We got the beautiful views, a dip in the nice water and skipped the craziness at the bars.

---