It’s no secret that Southeast Asia is a backpacker’s favorite due to its numerous sites as well as affordable food, accommodation and transportation. One of the best things about traveling around Southeast Asia is that the most popular countries Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, and Thailand can all be crossed by land quite easily for the most part. We decided to make our first of these crossings from Vietnam to Laos. After an epic month of couchsurfing, hitchhiking, teaching and a little too much drinking in Vietnam, Laos was calling our names from afar. That’s when started analyzing maps, and going through blogs to find out the best way to enter Laos, trying as usual to find the cheapest, and least traveled route.
At the end of our Vietnamese odyssey we were in Hanoi, the capital, which happens to be inconveniently located in regards to the available border crossings in to Laos. We thought our choices were limited to either taking a direct bus to Vientiane, the Laotian capital or taking a bus to Dien Bien Phu in the north, known for its importance during the war for independence, and also a frequented and prone to scams crossing. A bus to Dien Bien Phu costs a rough 300,000 dongs, approximately $15, our maximum daily budget, plus it is not even located on the border, that would have implied more money to spend on taking motorcycle taxis to the actual border and our other option, the direct bus to Vientiane would have changed our expected itinerary going from the center to the north and then back south again towards Cambodia, on top of costing $20. A little hopeless and with our visas ending soon, we noticed that another crossing closer to us existed, but how to get there. Very little information could be found online, but by chance we found this blog.
Showing posts with label hitchhiking. Show all posts
Showing posts with label hitchhiking. Show all posts
9 Months
We have now been traveling for nine months, or around 276 days. In that time we could have conceived and birthed a child, made a lot of money, or built a house, but instead we...
Ate silk worm larvae, partied, sang and dance with old Korean ladies, visited the super secretive North Korean border, were fed the delicacy raw crab by our host’s super eager to please mom at 7am, listened to the soft chants of the monks in countless temples and visited one of the world’s top amusement parks in Korea.
Ate silk worm larvae, partied, sang and dance with old Korean ladies, visited the super secretive North Korean border, were fed the delicacy raw crab by our host’s super eager to please mom at 7am, listened to the soft chants of the monks in countless temples and visited one of the world’s top amusement parks in Korea.
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| Trying Silk Worm Larvae in Pohang. |
Banlung, the hidden gem of Cambodia
It was Friday the 13th when we cross the border separating Laos from Cambodia. For some people this particular day brings bad luck so we decided to think unlike the others, that it would bring good luck. We decided to hitchhike from the 4000 islands in the south of Laos to whatever city we could reach before dark in Cambodia, aiming at eventually hitting Phnom Penh since we wanted to skip the north of Cambodia to save time (wait for our upcoming article about how we crossed the border). We actually reached a city in Cambodia around 12pm, that city was Stung Treng, the first big city in the north.
Stung Treng is an “important” hub in the north of Cambodia, from there you can reach pretty much any city in the country or at least the big ones and even get a bus to Laos. The problem about Stung Treng is that there is nothing really to keep you there, it’s quite dirty and it’s not pretty, which are not our main concerns but it lacks activities. So after our first Cambodian meal at the market of rice noodles with a delicious yellowish meat-like sauce served with fresh vegetables and oddly enough flowers to add in if desired for a lovely 75 cents a positive change from Laos’ higher prices. We then tried to figure out where to go next. We remembered reading about this town called Ban Lung, in Ratanakiri Province, in the northeast, famous for its ancient and beautiful crater lake, many waterfalls, and few tourists. Looking at the map it seemed fairly close to Stung Treng but knowing it was one of the most remote areas of Cambodia we decided not to hitchhike but to take a bus there. And what a great decision we made! We would soon discover one of the highlights of our trip!
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| A: Stung Treng, B: Banlung |
Stung Treng is an “important” hub in the north of Cambodia, from there you can reach pretty much any city in the country or at least the big ones and even get a bus to Laos. The problem about Stung Treng is that there is nothing really to keep you there, it’s quite dirty and it’s not pretty, which are not our main concerns but it lacks activities. So after our first Cambodian meal at the market of rice noodles with a delicious yellowish meat-like sauce served with fresh vegetables and oddly enough flowers to add in if desired for a lovely 75 cents a positive change from Laos’ higher prices. We then tried to figure out where to go next. We remembered reading about this town called Ban Lung, in Ratanakiri Province, in the northeast, famous for its ancient and beautiful crater lake, many waterfalls, and few tourists. Looking at the map it seemed fairly close to Stung Treng but knowing it was one of the most remote areas of Cambodia we decided not to hitchhike but to take a bus there. And what a great decision we made! We would soon discover one of the highlights of our trip!
Hitchhiking: A "How To"
Carry A Sign
Now it is not necessary to carry a sign and some hitchhikers may just prefer to thumb it, but by carrying a sign you can usually arrive to your destination a bit quicker. Of course in every country and region hitchhiking is different, but by carrying a sign that is large enough and written in the local language with a black marker (and a smiley face) the passing car has time to read your sign and decide if that is on the way. This also avoids many people being confused as to why someone is sticking out their thumb on the side of the road and the time wasted speaking with each passing car to ask where they are going and tell them where you are going. Also in many languages the pronunciation may not be the same as in your language and the romanization of characters may be incorrect to pronunciation. For example Gyeongju, in South Korea, is pronounced “Kyeongju” but copying how it is written in hangul (Korean), we can avoid the miscommunication as there is another city pronounced “Gyeongju” as is nowhere near “Kyeongju”.
Now it is not necessary to carry a sign and some hitchhikers may just prefer to thumb it, but by carrying a sign you can usually arrive to your destination a bit quicker. Of course in every country and region hitchhiking is different, but by carrying a sign that is large enough and written in the local language with a black marker (and a smiley face) the passing car has time to read your sign and decide if that is on the way. This also avoids many people being confused as to why someone is sticking out their thumb on the side of the road and the time wasted speaking with each passing car to ask where they are going and tell them where you are going. Also in many languages the pronunciation may not be the same as in your language and the romanization of characters may be incorrect to pronunciation. For example Gyeongju, in South Korea, is pronounced “Kyeongju” but copying how it is written in hangul (Korean), we can avoid the miscommunication as there is another city pronounced “Gyeongju” as is nowhere near “Kyeongju”.
HITCHHIKING: Advice for the Adventurous
Look the part:
People don’t want to pick up some oddball wanting a free ride somewhere, and thus locals usually have a very hard time hitchhiking. A traveler, especially a backpacker, is a more welcomed guest. The potential car will see you as the poor, lost foreigner. (That’s always a good image). So carry a backpack and look like a traveler.
Look presentable:
A big, burly guy with a beard, holes in his jeans, and a heavy metal t-shirt may scare someone from picking him up, especially to the tiny Japanese guy who may have flashbacks to the last American horror film he saw. It will work a lot more in your favor to be dressed presentable. Clean jeans, a nice shirt and a smiling face always works wonders. For women, if hitchhiking alone, you should avoid any unwanted impressions. Lipstick and a short skirt may not be the best hitchhiking outfit. Of course common sense is always advisable.
People don’t want to pick up some oddball wanting a free ride somewhere, and thus locals usually have a very hard time hitchhiking. A traveler, especially a backpacker, is a more welcomed guest. The potential car will see you as the poor, lost foreigner. (That’s always a good image). So carry a backpack and look like a traveler.
Look presentable:
A big, burly guy with a beard, holes in his jeans, and a heavy metal t-shirt may scare someone from picking him up, especially to the tiny Japanese guy who may have flashbacks to the last American horror film he saw. It will work a lot more in your favor to be dressed presentable. Clean jeans, a nice shirt and a smiling face always works wonders. For women, if hitchhiking alone, you should avoid any unwanted impressions. Lipstick and a short skirt may not be the best hitchhiking outfit. Of course common sense is always advisable.
Cheap, I mean, free transport? Hitchhiking.
Now hitchhiking isn’t for everyone and just like riding a motorbike, taking a bus in Bolivia, and walking under a coconut tree there are risks. There is always a chance that the sweet family that just picked you up, offered you snacks, and set their two year old next to you is actually a gang of psychopath serial killers or maybe they’re just a kind-hearted family picking up the funny and lost-looking foreigner.
Other than it being free why do we like hitchhiking so much?
First of all hitchhiking is always an adventure, and an unexpected adventure at that. You never know if the couple that just picked you up will end up taking you to a giant family lunch that they had planned to go to before they drive an hour out of their way to take you to your destination, or if the funny guy that due to a language barrier you can’t communicate with except for sign language and laughs will end up taking you to his house to show you his farm animals and invite you in for a cold glass of milky rice wine, or even if the ride will end up inviting you to stay at their awesome beach house equipped with a yacht, or maybe the next person will just pick you up and drop you off at your destination with only light conversation and a picture to show his friends later.
Other than it being free why do we like hitchhiking so much?
First of all hitchhiking is always an adventure, and an unexpected adventure at that. You never know if the couple that just picked you up will end up taking you to a giant family lunch that they had planned to go to before they drive an hour out of their way to take you to your destination, or if the funny guy that due to a language barrier you can’t communicate with except for sign language and laughs will end up taking you to his house to show you his farm animals and invite you in for a cold glass of milky rice wine, or even if the ride will end up inviting you to stay at their awesome beach house equipped with a yacht, or maybe the next person will just pick you up and drop you off at your destination with only light conversation and a picture to show his friends later.
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