2 day slow boat

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So i leave Chiang Mai, Thailand after a week staying there. I decide to take the 2 day slow boat to Luang Prabang. We travel for 6 hours on a bus to the Thai-Laos border and spend the night waiting for the boat the next morning. We stay in probably the smallest, quietest town i have seen on my travels. We somehow find a place to get a few drinks and we are the only Farang/Westerners in the place. They had a live rock band that was dressed all punk with spiked hair, makeup, the works. But they played really cheesey Thai-pop songs. Terrible. It was like watching Green Day sing NSYNC songs. Awful stuff. But really entertaining and fun. The next morning we go to the Immigration office to get our Laos visas. Then cross the Mekong and wait in Laos for 2 hours for the boat to get loaded. I had no idea what to expect and when we got onto the slow boat it was quite a shock. We were the last on and had to sit in the back next to the open engine. Just a boat engine hanging from chains sitting above the water. 8 of us had to sit on all the bags and ruksacks of all the passengers and shout at each other over the engine for 7 hours. No seats. Just on the bags and on the floor for 7 hours. Amazing. We slept, shouted, ate, read, listened to music and took loads of photos; then we broke out the Sang Som Thai Whiskey. Mixed with Coke, it made the last 4 hours breeze by. We arrive in Pekbang and rush to find a Guesthouse. There are 5 people in tow. 2 Irish(Tom & Cormac), 2 English(Lara & James aka Little Baby Dave) and me. The best mates i have traveled with thus far. Once we get ashore we are besieged with offers for Weed, Opium, Coke, and Speed. We kindly decline and make our way into town to find a place to sleep. The lights go out all over town at 8pm so we eat dinner in the dark then sit in our rooms, by candle light, and talk about our trips. Great night. Ending up being one of the highlights of the trip. The next day we get back on the boat at 8am for another 7 hours of travel. I can't describe the Mekong and how amazingly beautiful it is. Stunning. I would do the boat trip again in a heartbeat, regardless of the crammed conditions. The photos should speak for themselves.

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