Kratie: An unexpected destination!

My bus to Kampong Cham, which supposed to be super-fast VIP one, was scheduled at 6 in the morning from Siem Reap and pick was to be at 5.30. Getting up at 5, when the whole hotel was still sleeping, I entered the lobby to wait for my pick up. The whole hotel staffs were snoring loudly and I decided to wait outside instead. The morning was a little hazy, but still quite warm. The mosquitoes kept zooming around my ear trying to irritate my already sleepy mind further. The pick-up van arrived, insides of which were modified to allow more room for luggage and less for the passengers. There were a couple of guys from Taiwan, carrying what looked like side bags used while cycling. They nodded, both looking quite sleepy. We then picked up an old lady who turned out to be from Florida and whom I had met the night before in a restaurant. Our small pick-up van took us to the southern bus stand where we were transferred to one VIP bus. Even though, there were no seat numbers on our tickets, the ticket checker made sure to spread us away from each other, his intentions unknown. As the bus started to move, a small TV in the front started playing the famous Cambodian Karaoke songs, a couple in the video singing and others dancing the traditional dance, which consist of moving legs and hands as less as possible. As more people got on the bus, the volume of the video was increased and by the time bus became full, I had to clap my both hands on my ears, as the music now was ear-splitting! After about three hours or so, the songs stopped, I breathed a sigh of relief. But immediately after five minutes, they started playing stand up comedy. It reminded me of Marathi comedy series back home, where performers shout their lungs out, hoping to make people laugh...and people do laugh. Higher the volume, more the laughter. And this time, I didn’t understand a thing, making it worse. It was just loud, annoying, brain-killing noise.

The so-called VIP bus was supposed to take 5 hours to Kampong Cham, but at around noon time, we stopped for lunch and were still nowhere near the town. Two more hours passed before we stopped again and this time our driver told us to wait there for another bus. Apart from the Taiwanese guy and the American lady, there was one more French girl with us and the waiting time gave all of us some interaction time and by the time our next van did turn up, all of us were friends. The minivan was supposed to take everyone except me to Kratie and the American woman advised me to join them. I quickly scanned lonely planet and wiki travel pages about Kampong Cham and having found nothing of interest, decided to go to Kratie, which was going to be my next destination anyway. I was prepared to pay the extra price, but I think they thought everyone was headed to Kratie which was 4-5 hours further from Kampong Cham and no one even asked me for the ticket.

Waiting on the "highway"

As the evening rolled past, the scene changed significantly. Our little group had turned out to be quite chatty and in spite the fact that a 6 sitter minivan was loaded with more than 15 people, our mood was quite mellow. A dark mass of cloud hung in the air on the east side and the setting sun on the west created quite a contrast, lighting the whole scene in vibrant colors. The green of trees seemed to be so bright as if watching a high definition TV show. This part of Cambodia is known for its thick cover of greenery thanks to Mekong and rainfall. The rolling hills in the distance, all bright green as the sunlight reflected on them was quite a sight. Huge gardens of palm trees kept passing on our left side and a few stilt houses here and there. The road was narrow and rain swept. Not dirty, but perfectly clean and just wet enough to look dark gray shade against the green grass on either side. Despite having a tough day in the bus and despite the fact that a 7 hour journey actually took more than 12 hours, I couldn’t help but feel quite jolly. This was the tropical paradise!

We checked into the first hotel we saw. I shared a three-bed room with the Taiwanese guys, Yu Shin and Huang, for $3 per person. Kratie is a small town located on the banks of Mekong. It does not attract too much tourist attention and hence is a low profile town.

On the banks of Mekong

The next morning, hiring a bicycle, the whole group (except the American lady) started exploring the river side. We kept the Mekong to our left as we road through the countryside. The roads were flat and had plenty of cover of over-hanging branches of tree, making the journey much more comfortable that it would otherwise have been. On the way we passed numerous small villages and as we passed these small children kept running behind us, shouting “Helllloooooo” and waving it us. You can’t help but smile at them and shout back...no matter how many times you have to do it. There were numerous mango trees on either side of the road and we stopped for a while to enjoy the taste of tangy green mango.  Continuing on, we left the tar road and took a small trail instead, which led us through a tiny village consisting of stilt houses and lots and lots of palm trees. Half naked children were still running and waving behind us. Except for them, the village seemed quite deserted and soon we realised the reason for this. We came around a house which was crowded by a large number of people sitting on the corridor outside a stilt house, as if the whole village had gathered. As we passed them, almost every one of them waved at us, inviting us to join them. I called out to others to stop and parking the bike I climbed the stairs to join them. Immediately they started to ask me questions, trying to say something, all of which went over my head. So I just waved and said “Happy new year”, which they understood, as was apparent from their wide smiles and hands raised in toast, carrying beers. I was forced to take a few cans of beer myself, which I took passing a few to my group, still standing below. Huang joined me and together we emptied a few cans to help us feel less embarrassed. A few cans later, I was feeling light-headed as my glasses were passed from one person to another, each trying them on. It was a bunch of nice people!

Black Panther!

New year party with locals

With so much beer in our belly, me and Huang no longer felt the afternoon heat and after saying goodbye to village-folk, we enjoyed the ride even more. About 15 kms from the town, we came across a sign of Dolphin and realised that it was the famous Dolphin spotting place. But we kept this excursion for the next day and headed onwards. A couple kms more and we reached rapids, where the Mekong is shallow and really fast. Small sheds have been built with hammocks inside for relaxing. It costs less than quarter cents to rent these hammocks and enjoy getting drenched in these rapids. We spent rest of the afternoon there....getting drenched in the shallow waters, having some water therapy, reading and taking a nap on the hammock.

Wonderful rapids!

Relaxing

Sunset

Time to head back

As the Sun began to sink, we started back. But it took less than 15 minutes for dark rounding on us. And we had to rely on our mobile light to guide us back to the town!

After the sunset

Lotus garden, Phnom Krom and a Boxing day!

Most tourists and travelers visit Siem Reap just for Angkor temples and rightly so. There is not much else to do in the town unless you are ready to find and experience new things yourself. On one particular afternoon, me, Kim and Bjorn set off to explore the town and check out few souvenir shops. It was a red, hot day as usual and we kept ourselves hydrated by drinking a lot of water. There are many markets in the city center and all claiming to be original markets. All these markets have similar stuff to sell though. Key-chains, bracelets, jewelry, bags, paintings brandishing Ankor temples during different times of the day, sketches, postcards, small idols of Hindu gods and so on.  We stopped briefly for lunch and then continued walking again, a cold coffee in hand...aimlessly. In spite of the heat, the time went by pretty fast and it was 4 on the clock already, sun starting to go down slowly. Tired, we sat at the canal, staring at the water and enjoying the cool breeze. And out of nowhere, I said, "Let's go to Phmom Krom....it's supposed to be a nice hill with temple ruins on top...view from the top will be awesome..and sunset also". As I said this, a big mass of cloud had started to gather and cover the sky. Kim said she wasn't really interested in anymore activity and wanted to go back to hotel to take rest. But Bjorn was all up for it. So me and Bjorn picked up a tuk tuk, negotiated the fair at $ 7 for a return trip and were off!
Phnom Krom is around 15 kms from the city and is on the way to famous floating village of Chong Kneas. (Do not got to Chong Kneas. It's a rip off. I had to pay $ 25 for a very short trip. The guide was useless and arrogant and kept asking for donations and tip. Not the best 25 bucks I spent in my life.) The road to the hill is not in a very good condition and we felt the bumps throughout our body as the suspension of our tuk-tuk failed miserably. We past numerous small houses on stilts on the canal side and many locals smiling at us. Within 20 minutes we had left crowded streets and houses behind and we were on a street with rice fields on either sides. The rice fields stretched as far as the our naked eyes could see, dotted with palm trees every now and then. Since the weather had taken a turn, the evening had become cooler and Bjorn was sure that it would be second time I would be leading him into rain. Soil on the street kept creating clouds of dust as our tuk-tuk continued on and on. And all of a sudden, scene on our right side changed. Instead of rice fields, the whole ground was covered with lotus farms, with squarish ditches filled with water, lotus leaves covering the surface and thousands of pink lotus flowers jutting out...all together creating very beautiful image. We decided to take a stop and went into the farm. A small family of husband and wife, welcomed us into the farm. They didn't know much English but were communicating through their eyes and smiles. Bjorn decided to surprise Kim and bought a couple of flowers from them and then we were off again.
We reached the base of the hill and it had already started to get dark, especially because of presence of clouds. As we started to climb the stairs, a distant thunder made us believe that we will be soaking wet in next 15 minutes. But we continued on. As the steps end, a small winding road leads the path upwards. On one side is the hill itself and on the other vast, stretching rice fields and beyond that....the famous Tonle Sap lake, which looks almost like an ocean. We kept walking as the cold wind ruffled our hair. It was quiet, really quiet and the hill looked totally deserted. As we reached the landing, there was no one to be seen except a few monks hurrying to their quarters. There is a small modern temple on the top which looks nothing like Angkorian and going around it, we did not come across any other ruins. Dejected, we felt that we came on a wrong hull. A path, straight ahead of this modern temple takes you to a cliff which has a big tower, maybe a telecommunication/satellite tower. Reaching this point we could see the whole view of Siem Reap and the rice fields that lay before it. We tried to spot Ankor wat from there, but could not...thanks to the storm reducing our visibility. And as we turned back, behind the modern temple and on a little elevated ground, we could see old temple ruins. The time was against us and it was getting dark, so we rushed towards this marvel. These temple ruins, presumably date back before the more famous Angkor wat was built. There are around six small temples, each one in ruin, carved out of black stone. Lack of attention and conservation has resulted in decay of this temple. But you can almost imagine, standing there, how magnificent these would have been before the time consumed their magnificence. The wind blows from all the sides and you get a feeling of being in the middle of nowhere. I started to shoot a video, trying to cover the state of these temples, the rustling of tree leaves, a distant roar of thunder and as I pointed my camera towards the sky, there was a great lightening; it was so big and so bright that it almost made me take step back. I had witnessed it and I had it on my camera...I was feeling particularly thrilled!
The sun had set beyond the ocean -like lake, sky had begun to darken even more and we started to descend. Soon, we were heading back towards the city, the feel of exhilaration and thrill still in our minds. This time, there was no rain though...only clouds and thunders.
All this excitement, I think, helped me to do something I never had done before. Eating a giant spider. Yes! A big, black, slithery, hairy...spider. Almost like a tarantula. I broke one of it's many hairy legs and put in my mouth as Kim and Bjorn acted as photographers. It took more courage than appearing for an interview as I chewed it and swallowed it. Actually, I must admit, it wasn't bad. It tasted a bit like....nothing! No taste..just something crispy in my mouth. But as I ate the middle part, it was more juicy and had taste like some sort of sea food, maybe squid, flavored with chocolate. It was yet another adventure!
There is one thing you should not miss when in Cambodia and it's Kickboxing. Like many other South East Asian countries, kick boxing is quite of a craze in Cambodia. And hence, when I saw a board advertising kick boxing matches in my hotel, I decided to buy the ticket. The ticket was $ 15 and was for much awaited international event. Match between Thailand and Cambodia. My hotel manager allowed me to go with him and his friends and as we were heading to the arena, he told me that Thailand are the favorites as they have much better boxers than Cambodia. The arena had a normal sized boxing ring in the middle, surrounded with seats rising gradually on all sides except one. One side was a podium where guests would be sitting. Within 15 minutes the arena was packed, mostly with locals. Each match has 5 rounds lasting a few minutes. Judges on all the sides of the ring were counting the score.
The opener was a match between two Cambodians and then began. The noise from the crowd was still subdued, perhaps they were reserving it for more important matches ahead. As the more important match began...the first one between Thailand and Cambodia, traditional music started to play. Coupe of guys came in the center, both dressed in suits and introduced the players in typical, high pitched voices. Standing up, I saw that the music was not recorded and rather it was life music being played by some people using traditional instruments. As the music started its slow rhythm, both the fighters began to move their body slowly, crouching every now and then or sitting on one knee, their hands moving and joining together in the form of traditional greeting. It was a traditional dance, which also served as a kind of warm up for the fighters. The bell rang, and the fighters were ready. They were not lunging at each other...rather waiting for right moment, judging their opponents. Crowd was getting restless, each casual punch or kick drew shouts from crowds. Soon, they were closing on each other, trying to dominate. Crowd was on their feet. There was shouting and many people raised there hands and shouted at each other and then shook their hands. I could not believe. This was the rawest form of betting I had seen till now! I spent too much time looking at the crowd and a big roar from crowd made me look back at the ring. The Cambodian fighter had knocked down the Thai fighter. The referee and medical staff checked the Thai fighter, helped him on his feet and the winner's name was announced. Delighted, the Cambodian fighter leapt from the ring and into the crowd, where he was given dollars upon dollars by delighted crowd. Next four matches went the similar way, but towards the last match, the whole crowd was on their feet. A local guy next to me knew a bit of English and he told me about sad state the Cambodian boxers are in. He told me, looking sad "They don't get money...not much...not from government..if they win, they can go to crowd and ask tips. Most of them are tuk-tuk drivers". Now I was looking at them from a different angle. Their eyes and their expressions were clearer now, which carried a sort of hunger. It was not about winning and it was not about glory. It was about food and running a family!

Nostalgic rain..

Herman Melville, in his perhaps the most famous piece of literature, Moby Dick, says that every human being desires the Ocean and wants to get as close to the Sea as possible without getting the feet wet. I feel the similar thing about the first rain, the rain that comes after the earth is left in scorching heat for months in a row. Every living creature desires the rain then and not only to watch it from as close as possible, but to get drenched in it. Every person has some memories assigned to the first rain, may it be time spent with family or friends or a nice cup of tea they had while enjoying the rain or maybe a game of football they played as kids, soaking wet. These memories come flourishing back with first rains every year and that is why everyone craves for it so much. It's the nostalgia and it's very hard to ignore it.
So after being in the scorching heat in this part of the world, I started dreaming about rain and the scent it carries with it. Huong decided to stay back in the hotel to mend to the sub burns he got the previous day, but me and Yu-shin were keen on going to the water for a swim. And once again, as Herman Melville wrote that "let the most absent-minded of men be plunged in his deepest reveries--stand that man on his legs, set his feet a-going, and he will infallibly lead you to water", our feet carried us to an island and then to the calm waters on the other side, with white sand on the shore giving it a beach like feel. The walk was painful, the Sun was persistent and we were sweating to the core. The white sand that looks so beautiful in the pictures was hot as frying pan on the stove. Our flip flops weren't great help and it turned out to be a walk on burning coals. I looked hopefully at the sky, looking for sign of rains, saying "how much hotter can it get!". But no signs of the dark clouds. It was a bright day as any. With a sigh, we continued the walk toward the water. The great Mekong is silent here, on the western edge of the island. The water is calm and the sun makes it really warm, making it perfect for a swim. We began where we had left the previous day, Yu-shin giving me tips about free stroke and how to improve my stamina and me managing to get more water in my lungs than the day before. The heat had taken its toll and my head was swimming more than I was, so I decided to practice no more and sat down in knee deep water. Yu-shin continued to show his skills in the water and swam like a fish for a long time. There was a loud thunder then and I looked up. Still no clouds. I started to think about the fighter planes and war that once raged in the country and then started to formulate plans in my mind if the war starts again. Where to hide? Where to run? Deep in my rescue planning, I didn't realise when did the weather change from scorching hot to pleasant and breezy. I closed my eyes and felt the breeze on my face. It was flowing from the west. Always a good sign! The coconut trees on the other side of the river were now swaying merrily and a large mass of dark cloud appeared on the western horizon. I didn't want to get my hopes too high, but I could smell the rain then. The breeze grew stronger and converted itself into wind. The river surface now had ripples, almost wave-like, each one trying to race each other to reach the shore. The water where I sat started to sway stronger and stronger, making me move with it. And the power of wind brought clouds closer and closer. We knew then that we were going to witness a splendid rain and so came out of the water and sat under the dark clouds, chewing on lotus seeds....watching. The south western shore of the river became fainter, almost as if someone had pulled a transparent curtain between us and that shore. The rain had arrived and it had brought that fresh smell I was so craving for. Yu-shin said "We are at perfect spot" and I agreed. We could almost feel the rain closing on us and soon it came down upon us with all its might. The temperature reduced significantly and we started to feel cold for a change. We retreated back to the warmer waters of Mekong and once again sat there, getting splashed on the face with huge rain drops. Millions of rain drops, now the size of a grape were lashing the river and bouncing off its surface, creating an illusion that the river was sending jets of water to the sky. It was an amazing sight.
I did not realise how long I sad there as nostalgia had taken over me. First rains of each monsoon during my lifetime flashing before my eyes. I could almost smell "Masala chai" that my dad makes so well or smell home made snacks that my mom cooks so well, specially during rainy season. It brought to my memory the puddles of water created due to potholes on the road and kids jumping in the puddles splashing water everywhere, shouting with joy. I could see the people smiling all around and relief on their faces that the first rain brings. Those smiles and those faces are care free.
A strong, cold wind made me shudder and I looked where Yu-shin sat, his face upwards and his eyes closed. He was too gripped by the same kind of nostalgia I guess. Some say that nostalgia is not good, or that it's denial of painful present. But I don't care. It makes you feel alive and as I mention, its really hard to ignore it!

To the land of Angkor

My routine for seven days on 4000 islands was something like this: Get up, breakfast, hammock, pineapple shake, a shower, lunch, hammock, pineapple shake, a shower, blogging, sketching, hammock, reading, a bit of nature show, dinner a shower and then bed. As you can see, it was quite a busy schedule and by end of one week I felt pretty tired.
Leaving behind these good memories, Me and Lauren (Patrick decided to stay back one more day) took a long bus to Siem Reap. The border to Cambodia was only an hour from  Cambodia. Border crossing was one of the easiest, as everyone on the bus gave the passports to the bus guys to get the visas done. So, it was just two of us, applying ourselves. It took about 10 minutes to get the visa done and almost the same cost as the bus guys offered us. But there was sort of an adventure-feel to getting it done ourselves.

Border crossing- Visa office of Cambodia

What was promised to be 9 hours bus ride, took more than 15 hours and we reached Siem Reap in the wee hours of morning. Thankfully though, there is no scarcity of Tuk Tuks in this part of the world and the time of the day or night does not matter. We quickly negotiated the price with one tuk tuk guy and he took us through the sleepy streets of this city to a hotel.
The next day was a blur as we slept through most of it. In the evening that day, I took a walk to the famous Pub Street which is filled with western bars and restaurants. At one glance, I realised that staying in this city was not going to be cheap.

The famous pub street

We decided to see the famous Angkor temples the next day early morning and rented the bicycles.
Determined to see the sunrise over the temples, we set off at 5.30 in the morning, when it was still very dark. Lauren realised that there was some problem with her bike as it took too much efforts to make it move forward. By the time we reached the Angkor she was sweating heavily. I was thrilled to see the outer walls a little ahead, but we were stopped by security guards asking us for tickets. It was a 7 km long road and we had not come across any ticket counter. To our surprise and our dejection, the guard told us that there are two roads to come to Angkor and ticket booth is only on one of them! We were going to miss the sunrise. Not believing our luck, we went back the whole way to our hotel and changed Lauren's bike for a better one and then set off once again!
So 21 kms later, cycles parked outside and tickets in our hand, we entered the walls of the 8th wonder of the world, Angkor Wat. This world's largest religious monument was built by a Khmer king Suryavarnam II in 12th century and served first as a Hindu temple and then a Buddhist temple. It was dedicated by the kind to the Hindu god Vishnu. The temple is protected by a moat which is 190 m wide. As you go through the gates of outer wall and stand on the causeway, you can't help but feel stunned at the sight of this marvel. As we kept walking on the causeway, our eyes beheld this piece of archaeological perfection. The walls of the temples are carved with stories from Hindu mythology such as Mahabharatha or churning of ocean of milk. The whole structure is so huge that it would take almost whole day to see each of its part. Going through numerous doors it felt like going back in time and indeed the temple is designed to reflect four ages, with central temple being the oldest age of mankind. The central temple has steps so steep that you have to be on all your fours to make it top, thereby forcing you to bow while climbing, showing humility to the great lord. Thankfully though, they have constructed wooden steps now which are not as steep and you can climb these much more easily. Inside the main structure are a few statues of Buddha, reflecting the conversion of the temple from Hinduism to Buddhism in the later part.

One of the many passageways

Some paints are still there

Oh that feel

Reliefs depicting a scene from Mahabharat

View from the top

Beautiful ruins

Angkor from distance

As we started to go back on the causeway, a pack of children came running around us saying in their innocent voices "Sir, mam, you want some postcards?, 10 for one dollar" and then they started counting the numbers to ten to prove that there were indeed ten postcards. There was some emotional blackmailing involved too, when a girl said "I don't have money to go to school, buy from me!". Please do not fall for this and buy if you really need postcards.
By the time we came out of this vast structure the sun was towering on us and we were sweating like hell. We continued on the bicycles to the temples of Angkor Thom which is around 3 kms from Angkor Wat. Angkor Thom was once a huge city and royals used to live there. Now its a land of the lost. The road leads you under one of the four entrance doors. Near the entrance, the bridge has statues of gods and demons on both sides, holding a big snake, again depicting the scene of ocean churning. The gate itself has a statue with head of the king on each side, smiling solemnly.

Demons holding Naga

The most famous temple in this lost city is the temple of Bayon, which has 54 similar statues with four heads facing East, West, North and South. 54 heads are for 54 provinces of the nation, showing that the king is looking after all his lands and subjects, no matter where they are. The faces have a distinct smile, which depict calmness at the same time showing the force of the king. Apart from these heads, the temple itself has really interesting architecture. There are small doorways and narrow passageways running like a puzzle. At times its very dark in the halls or the passages as hardly any light reaches there. In one such small hall, there is a Shiva Linga, a sacred symbol in Hinduism. Small stairs take you to different levels of temples and it feels as if you are in a scene from Tomb Raider. If you are there in the right time of the day, when there not too many tourists, the place be a little scary and can send some chills to your bones. Unlike Angkor Wat, bas-reliefs here are much different. While Angkor Wat shows legendary stories, Bayon depicts normal day life pictures such as fishing, farming or cock-fights. One wonders, if the different styles of the two temples also depict the nature of the kings themselves (as Lauren so rightly pointed out). While Suryavarman II wanted to show his power and wealth, Jayavarman, who built Bayon, was much more modest. And hence the structure itself is a bit more modest.

Small passages in Bayon

Bayon ruins

A Shiva Linga

Famous heads

The solemn smile

We continued to the next temple in line which was Baphuon. Archaeologists believe that Baphuon had a pyramid like structure, but most part of this temple is destroyed and now its pile of rubble and stones. Archaeologists are working hard to reconstruct the temple, but with not so much information, its like the world's biggest jigsaw puzzle. They have to figure out which stone goes where and it is going to take ages to bring the temple to its formal glory. We climbed the central pyramid like structure before setting off again to the last temple on our agenda.

At Baphuon

Half completed pyramid

Pyramid

Ta Phrom is a temple in the middle of a dense forest. As Lonely Planet rightly states, this is undoubtedly the most atmospheric ruin at Angkor. As we entered the forest area, I had a moment of pride, when on a board I read that the conservation of this temple was being financed by Indian Government. But I do not get the point of information plates being in Hindi language as well. I was probably the only Indian there.
As you enter this place, you will feel like being on a film set. The stones of the ruins are of dark shade at times covered with green fungus. Some of the structures have holes in the roofs or the entire roof missing and the lights throw shafts through these. But the most amazing thing about this place is the fact that a number of trees have grown directly through the stone structures, engulfing the walls in their branches, almost like a giant snake. These brown branches are everywhere and have grown in and around the temple structures. It's a brilliant place and you can't help but feel stunned. Naturally, it's also a famous place for taking pictures, and you have to wait anywhere between 10 minutes to 1 hour to get a clear shot of the structure. But patience rewards you and you should not be in hurry in the first place.

Ta Phrom

A famous photo point

Tomb raider like

A tree coming out of the stones

Ruins

Passageway at Ta Phrom

As we walked under these immense trees, through passageways and under small dark doorways, I completely lost track of time. I did not want to leave the place. I wanted to breath in the whole atmosphere. But more and more tourists came pouring in and soon the place became too crowded and lost the feel that I so much cherished. It was time to go.
Cycling more, we reached a huge lake where we took rest for sometime, before continuing our ride back to the hotel. Even though we did not stay back to watch the sunset at the temples, the sunset at the city was beautiful too. There was a sense of achievement after completing a long cycle ride, as we sat on the balcony of our hotel, sipping delicious cold coffee and watching the traffic below as the sun went down on the rooftops.

First hitchhiking experience in Laos!

Leaving the beautiful village of Huay Bo behind, I rushed to Luang Prabang once again. From here I wanted to go to South, preferably directly to Vientiane since I had already been to Vang Vieng. But I thought to myself, "Man, I haven't tried hitchhiking yet!" and started looking on internet about it. Soon I found that, Laos is a difficult country to hitchhike in and even more difficult in the North of Laos. But I found a couple of blogs with successful hitchhiking experience and decided that I was up for the challenge.
First step was to get a hitchhiking letter written in local language. So, I quickly wrote a letter in English and asked my guesthouse owner to translate it for me in Lao. She did that happily but while giving it back to me she looked tensed and said "Be careful". I smiled and gave her a sketch I drew as a payment for the favor.

Hitchhiking letter

Well, first mistake I made was to get up at 9 the next morning. Getting ready and packing took some time and by the time I set off on foot it was already 11. Sun had started to shine too brightly. Naturally, I wouldn't get a lift in the heart of the town, so I started walking towards the highway 13. It took good part of an hour in the heat of the day, before I found a spot where vehicles were most likely to notice me. It was a fuel station and hence had good empty place in the front. Plus I thought, vehicles stopping to fuel would notice me and would immediately feel bad for me and I would get a lift! I dropped my bags and waited there.

Waiting time!

Well, I was successful partly, as I was able to attract lot of attention. But most just waved or smiled and some didn't even throw a glance. Many trucks, private cars, bus, moto-bikes passed. None stopped. When one truck stopped, I was really happy, but turned out it had stopped just for unloading whatever it was carrying. Two hours later, dripping sweat, I decided that it would be just five more minutes and then I would go to the bus station and catch a bus instead. And precisely at that moment, I saw a small automobile racing and raised my hand, fist closed and thumb outstretched. Two people in the front seats noticed me and as the car passed me the girl looked back and said something to the guy. I was hoping hard they would stop, my fingers crossed, I was looking at the car intently. And a little distance ahead, the car stopped, took a U-turn and stopped in front of me. Windows rolled down and very friendly couple from Singapore asked me "Where are you going?". I shouted, "South....Vientiane, Vang Vient...I don't know". I approached the car slowly and they said "We are going to Vang Vieng". They both looked at the back seat and said "Well, we need a  little of re-arrangement". And quickly the back seat was emptied of the luggage, and shifted to one side making room for me. I was thrilled, excited and overjoyed. It was my first hitchhiking ever and it was successful! I couldn't believe my luck....still can't.
Their names are Michel and Saylin, both from Singapore and both doing work in animal rescue missions. As the small car raced on the road, slowly I started to notice. I was with a wonderful couple, zooming car with Air Con, comfortable seat,  nice music playing....it was a luxury and not the kind of hitchhiking experience I had imagined it to be. I told this thought to me and both of them started to chuckle. Saylin told me that they were going to try a new road, i.e. taking highway 4 and then joining back to 13 later. As we took the highway 4, first we were greeted by a very very bad road. And everyone started to think if it was a bad experience. It was a dirt road, with big stones everywhere and apparently it was under construction. But this bad patch did not last for long and we were on a proper road again. As the valley opened up, the views were breathtaking. Tall, lush green mountains supported by beautiful rolling hills that looked bluish. Between all this scene was a stretch of beautiful tar road. We stopped for a while to take in the views and felt a gust of wind on our faces before continuing again.

As we hit the road!

The little zoomer!

Rolling hills

Enchanting!

Without any warning, car started to give up. On steep road uphill, it wouldn't climb anymore. The power was receding and with what can be describing as a faithful attempt to continue on, it gave up completely! We were dejected. A small scrutiny and Saylin's Formula 1 knowledge told us that it was a gearbox failure. A couple of calls later, we decided to try again. After a bit of an effort, it started to move again and once again downhill, it was smooth as silk. Our smiles quickly faded as we saw an uphill again and car gave up again. We looked at our options, Spend the night there, get help from somewhere or crawl to the nearest village/town. And we decided the last option. A few calls went through successfully and we got to know that there was a small town called Muong Kasi about 40 kms from where we were and help may be available there. But car going not beyond the mark of 10, it took whole afternoon before we covered about 30 kms and car stopped again. So now we resorted to second option and Saylin called someone who arranged a truck from Kasi. We waited there, at a nice scenic spot with rice fields and watching the sunset behind mountains.

Breakdown!

Brilliant spot for a breakdown

Small bugs started to irritate us and 30 minutes later a big truck showed up with three guys. That was our help! They decided that car may not be repaired there but agreed to drop us to Kasi. So now I was in the back of a truck and the weather was perfect!

Back of the truck

Kasi is a small town and not many travelers there. So people stared at us more curiously than any other places. It was already dark by the time we reached a guesthouse and my heart dropped when the lady told that price for room was $ 12. That would negate any financial benefit I had from hitchhiking! But then I met another traveler. A 68 year old Bob, who was cycling around in Laos. He showed up in the same town coming from Lunag Prabang and probably took the same time to get there as I did . He said he would happy to let me sleep in his room if I had a sleeping bag and once again, I couldn't believe my luck.
It was amazing day of my travel, probably the most amazing. But I was tired as hell and a few beers later, I was fast asleep.

Kasi Village

Next morning, I said goodbye to Bob, who continued on his bike and me on my foot. This time it was early morning and I enjoyed the walk thoroughly. A couple of kilometers, I was out of the town. Once again, I found a fuel station and stopped on the opposite side just in front of a small shop. I waited and waited, once again, all I got was stares or smiles or a wave of hand. The shopkeeper asked me if I would like to sit inside and I thanked him for that. A couple hours later a small truck stopped. I explained him that I had no money and showed him my letter. But he said he will not allow me for free but would charge very nominal amount. So we decided on this nominal amount and I was in the back truck heading to Vang Vieng. I had a hitchhiking companion, a very friendly farmer. After loading the truck with 10 or so packs of vegetables, he got on, sat in front of me and with a wide smile shook my hand. I just said "India" and then we were friends! He talked to me a lot and I did not understand a single thing. But I felt happy and cheerful.

My temporary companion

A couple of hours later I saw the familiar limestone mountains and realised that I was close to Vang Vieng. So after about four hours of sweating on the road, lots of stares and warm smiles, wonderful car and a car break-down, a free night sleep at Kasi and an addition of 3 to my wonderful friends circle, I was not entirely where I planned to be. But I was South of where I started and that was the intention!