Travel Story (1): Luang Prabang, Laos, Tuk-Tuk by Lloyd Cheam

As soon as I finished packing my backpack, paid my landlord for my three night stays in his guesthouse, I quickly head out to the street. Again, I look at my watch, “Great, 3 hours, I still have plenty of time.” As I appear on the street with my backpack on my back, instantly I could hear “Farang! Farang!” from three to four tuk-tuk drivers, whom approach me instinctively and tout me for a ride. (Farang means Foreigner, like “Gui Lou’ in Cantonese. A word widely used in Thailand & Laos). Calmly, I look at one of them and ask, “To Southern Bus Station, how much?”
The tuk-tuk driver reply quickly, “16,000 kips” with his two hands showing six fingers. (1 usd dollar = 4000 kips approx.)

Shaking my head, “Na… I can only do it for 8000 kips”

“8000 kips?!” with his face showing in astonishment, “no, no…” and shaking his hands and head at the same rhythm, trying to let me know it is too little with his just adequate English to communicate with me.
And as soon as I am turning my head looking around for another driver, he says, “ok, ok, 12,000 kips, ok?” At all the same time, raising his left hand pointing towards his tuk-tuk that parks right beside us and his right hand in front of me, afraid that I would just walk away.

Insisting, “no, I am sorry, I can only do it for 8,000 kips.” with a smile, reminding myself that I have a strict budget to follow.

“Ok, ok, 10,000 kips?”

Deep in my heart, I know that life is tough here. I bite my lower lip and turning my head around, begging god to give me another driver that would take me for just 8,000 kips. I turn to him and still smiling, “I am sorry”, and take my first half step out and turning away… He says, “ OK! 8,000!” in shouting high tune that grasp my attention instantaneously.

I nod back to him, in return for the satisfying price we both have agreed on. I throw my backpack on his tuk-tuk and hoop in at the back. Without much hesitating, he drives straight to the Southern Bus Station. It definitely seems that he knows the way even with blinding his eyes.

Bargaining, has been a huge part in my travel; Or, maybe for every budget travelers, a.k.a. backpackers. Different people do it differently. Consciously, I have to remind myself how damn poor my budget is. Every extra penny I have got is squeezed out from a dry towel. Of course, the price I pay is still 50% or 100% more than what a local needs to pay. Most of the restaurant serves 2 menus; One for the Farang and another one (which is invisible as they could speaks it in Lao) is for the locals. All these really mean good business for them. It does not really upset me as long as I could stick with my strategy, “As cheap as you can” (to sustain my travel as long as it possibly could). Simple huh?

Furthermore, I am sure that the job for being rip-off will be well taken care by the everything-thing-is-in-a-package-and-will-be-well-taken-care-of-as long-as-you-shop-stay-and-eat-at-places-we-recommend tourist groups.

PS: Don’t get me wrong about the people of Laos. As these were people I have encountered working in the regions of tourist. Typically, they are genuinely nice people and there are always nice and horrible ones.