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Published: October 7th 2010
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Luang Prabang to Chiang Mai via Pak Beng & Huay-Xai
Heading for the Golden Triangle We rose early to meet the Tuk-Tuk that whisked us off to the boat dock. Here we found our long boat. Clean and comfortable it seated around 30 people and was open on all sides so that we could truly absorb the beauty of the Mekong banks.Local people also used the boats regular, and ours was stuffed full of supplies bought in town, to be taken to smaller remote villages along the mekong.
We passed the beautiful jungle clad hills for hours only occasionally would we see a village of straw huts. It was a peaceful mellow journey, where we all managed to relax and enjoy the view. Unfortunately we witnessed a few illegal loggers clearing the bark-covered gold from the pristine wilderness. A practice we hoped would end soon. Another bizarre fact...there were no birds, animals or even noises coming from the dense jungle, save for the odd butterfly it was completley devoid of animal life....very odd indeed.
Steve and myself were invited to share lunch with a Laos family on the boat.We sat in a circle on the floor and tried local
favourites...sticky rice, aubergine and chilli paste, fresh bamboo, spicey sausage and chicken 'bums' it was delicious. Our host grew up in Laos but has been living in the USA for the past 25yrs, he was back on one of his regular trips to visit his very large Laos family. Chatting to him was amazing, he was able to explain so much more about village life, religion, customs. He gave me a real insight into what Laos was all about, and understood my western ideas perfectly. A chance meeting that really made the journey for me!
Being the middle of rainy season, the Mekong is in full flood. We spent the entire day on the boat slowly ascending the raging waters. If you have the time and are trying to enter Thailand from Laos we highly recommend this form of transport.
We arrived at Pak Beng just as the sun was setting and found a great little guest house, complete with friendly family, overlooking the river.
We found an Indian Dinner of Tikka masala and Naan bread prepared by a man and his wife from Thanjavur (A place we visited at the beginning of our journey) Walking the one street
town we found a quiet bar where a 5 year old was celebrating her birthday with a glass of wine! We joined in and it didn't take long before Liff was dressing her up and many chocolates were bought for the occasion. A great night had by all, young and old. Leaving Steve to celebrate to the wee hours liff and I settled for our lumpy bed.
Rising early we caught our connecting boat to Huay-Xai. An 8 hour journey, again along the Mekong, we watched as the mountains were replaced by terraced rice fields and secondary Jungle. A very mellow way to travel we stared into the distance for hours tempted to leap into the water and explore this beautiful country side.
We again arrived just before dark, boarder closed, we found a guest house right by the jetty and watched as the house boats moored along side each other to create a town in its own right. Huay-Xai is not much more than a boarder town and we started to feel the Thailand north calling us. We all said how sad we were to be leaving Lao, but how excited we were to get to Thailand and
explore the golden triangle........
We crashed early as we wanted to cross the boarder first thing to find a connecting bus to Chiang Mai.
Up early we walked the 1km to the Laos boarder post where we were stamped out with ease.We jumped aboard a long tail for the ride across the Mekong to the Thai immigration and sailed through this one too. An easy crossing, a far cry from the bribe ridden crossing from Vietnam into Laos. Back in Thailand we found a mini bus to take us to Chiang Mai. The 5 hour journey along great roads (Compared to those in Laos) was something of a race (at least in the drivers head) and we soon arrived in a bustling city. Not used to such built up areas we humbly found a room on the outskirts of the old moated city..........
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