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The three musketeers decided unanimously to go from Pai to Laos. We decided to do it the hard way, by boat over the Mekong. In the evening a small van came and picked us up to drive us through the mountains to the border. The Thai love their sound systems, so we had some nice Thai Folkmusik the whole way. We were lucky though, because sometimes they have a karaoke system in the van and they force you to sing along for six hours.... We survived the ride and were thrown out at the shabbiest of places I had seen sofar, but it was only for a few hours, just to catch a little sleep. The next morning we got up early for breakfast and were driven to the border. After all the border formalities we got on our slow boat. We managed to get some good seats in the front of the boat which was great for the cushions we bought. The boat filled up fast and some locals joined us as well. One of them with a kalashnikov, to protect us against the pilates he said.

The Mekong is a fast flowing river with sandbanks, rapids and many rocks. There is no road next to the river, just mountains which are covered with thick forests. If we would strand on a rock here, we would have a problem. We were overtaken several times by some speedboats. They are really fast and I was told there are many accidents with them. It's not a speedboat as we know it with an inboard engine and a steering wheel, but a car engine strapped on the back of a coffin shaped wooden hull with space for 5 people.

A speedboat needs about 6 hours to get from the border to Luang Prabang. We would need two days with a stop in Pak Beng to get there.

At the evening of the first day we landed on Pak Beng, which is a small place at the Mekong in the middle of the jungle. We were awaited by the locals who wanted to sell us accommodation, weed and opium and probably their wives as well, although I didn't ask. We bypassed the locals at the beach and settled for one of the first places in town, which was actually very nice and cheap. As the village gets its power from a generator which is switched off at 11, this was going to be an early night.

The next day we got up early to get some got seats in the boat. It was smaller this time, so we were happy we did. During the trip we were joined by some locals with their 50 kg bags of rice (no union here, I guess). They installed themselves right where we were, so we had to lie around them, which didn't seem to bother them at all. Although no one will believe us, Robbert and I saw a hippo in the water, honestly. We thought it was a light coloured rock with a bird on it. But then it moved and we saw the small ears.

After sitting and lying on a slow boat for two days, we were happy that we finally arrived in Luang Prabang. The city is world heritage due to its nice wats and other buildings. It was also a military city with a 12 o'clock curfew. So we were going to get some sleep here.

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