“One of the most exciting sensations to experience is to cross a border” wrote Ryszard Kapucinsky in his book “A trip with Erodotus”. That geo-political boundary dividing two states can be a valley, a river, a mountain or even…..nothing. Very often it is just a line on a geographical map and if we call it border (from the Latin cum + finis), it means something is coming to an end on one side, but something else is certainly starting on the other.
My journey starts exactly here, on the border with Thailand; where its end coincides with the beginning of Laos. It was really impossible to get here by plane, it would not be fair to miss the delight of a night train from Bangkok to Ubon Rachathani and then again catch local means of transport to reach the frontier post.
So it was fair to carry a rucksack, get the umpteenth exit Thai visa on the passport and go on foot through the stretch of road separating (or joining) the two states. In those 500 meters you feel the emotion Kapucinski referred to, to be in no man’s land, as if in an airport’s duty free, without perceiving neither conditioning nor the cold shop windows.
Rather, you feel the sunshine neither Thai nor Laotian, just sun, one could notice the green of plants is shining as much as the one left behind, and that people smile likewise. That is the exact moment when you get astonished and understand that, though maps aim at dividing, they are hopeless against uniting nature.
Me and Katia, travel mate, sister, friend, photographer and much more, are crossing the border. I would not share any images if not for her, since her photos tell stories that I would never be able to tell. If I get off a plane, I close my eyes for a long minute and breathe deeply, in order to smell the place, the burning warmth of the desert, the tropical miasma, the wet grassland, or the mountains’ chill. Rather, the first thing I do when I cross a border is drinking. Drinking a welcoming fresh milk cup, or streaming water. But in Vang Thao the first liquid available is in display on a stand on the side of the street, fiery red, it’s rice grappa, pleasing us at 9 o’clock in the morning.
Reaching Pakse, the region’s chief city and starting point for our next six days of travel, is a real pleasure, most of all if travelling on a Tuk Tuk, the typical local van with a modified truck in order to welcome passengers enjoying wind on their faces, having fun if one of the many mechanical pieces crack during the trip.
We were delighted to see the axle shaft detaching, the driver getting off, saving pieces in his pocket, stopping a passing by taxi, boarding us on it and blessing us for the continuation of the trip, keeping a big smile on his face.
In Pakse, Teamworkz, the tour operator that offered this trip almost a year ago, reserved us a room in the most beautiful hotel of the city, Champasak Palace.
It cures and feed us after a night on a train and almost invites to postpone everything to the day after, to the cruise along the great river, Mekong, but it’s really those peaceful brown waters that push us to go out. The river calls, the sunset simply whispers, like mermaids did with Ulysses, making it impossible not being overwhelmed by the city, by the enchanted What with the praying monks, by the streets flooded with flavors; colors and sounds, by the peaceful streaming of river waters. Tomorrow we will sail through you, but now stream Mekong, and prepare yourself to welcome us.
Kindly Traslated by “Alessandra Angius”
Day 1 – Day 2 – Day 3 – Day 4 – Day 5 – Day 6 – Day 7
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This trip is the 3rd Prize of the Mynatour Contest. Mario has been voted the 3rd winner of the last Mynatour Ecotourism Contest sponsored by Teamworkz – Laos part of whl.travel.
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