Luang Prabang to Chang Rai

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Day 1
Opting for the slightly fancy slow boat to Thailand (not the public one nor the expensive one) meant we would have a somewhat leisurely cruise along the Mekong. At 7am we set sail with only eight passengers on board: a Swiss couple, a German gentleman, a honeymooning couple from Sydney and us. It all sounds very Agatha Christie...Anyway, having picked up some 95% DEET mozzie repellent in one of Luang Prabang's many pharmacies, I was supremely confident that any mosquito venturing near me would bounce off my shield. I was radiating DEET like a glow worm.

The onboard breakfast consisted of croissants, chocolate Danish and strong Laos coffee. Munching on these delicacies, we passed fishermen, buffalo and peanut plants, with mist covered mountains looming in the distance. At times we were passed by the fast boats which were speed boats packed tightly with motorcycle helmet wearing passengers. All the travel advice says DON'T GO ON THE FAST BOATS. It looked uncomfortable, bumpy and dangerous. Thankfully Dean's appetite for adventure didn't sway him towards booking passage on one of them.

The day passed in a leisurely fashion. Reading, Scrabble (the dodgy Laos version called 'Spendy Games'😉, a jigsaw (with four missing pieces), Boggle and some maths for Eleanor. Early on, the boat stopped at some caves but the only interesting thing about them was the flood markers from previous years. 2008 looked a doozy. I think we were supposed to be thrilled by them, but a few thousand dusty statues of Buddha was not as spectacular as you may think.

We arrived in Pak Beng before sunset and after a mix up with the bag situation, found ourselves following some 'porters' up to our hotel. Dean was particularly displeased with the situation. although it only cost about a $1 to have them hauled up the hill. I was hoping that we wouldn't run into them in the morning or that their wives wouldn't be cooking us dinner in the evening. You could say Dean didn't leave them with happy thoughts.

Pak Beng reminded me of an American old western town, circa 1880. A main street led up the hill away from the river, with two storey wooden shopfronts facing the road, many with verandahs and balconies overlooking the street. I wouldn't have been surprised to see a couple of rhinestone cowboys riding through town, causing a little mayhem. Where we ate dinner was suitably grungy and would not have been out of place in the nineteenth century. One man was serving, taking orders, making drinks, spruiking for customers outside and minding his two year old son. He gave new meaning to the term multi-tasking. He also had his eye on his four year old daughter playing with friends on the road up the street. I did think he was also cooking but when he disappeared through the doorway marked 'toilet' and reappeared with another person, holding trays of food, we realised there were a least two people working in the almost full restaurant. When we had finished our meal, he proudly proclaimed that even though all the restaurants served the same food, his was different because a wood fire was used to cook the food, not gas. Welcome to 1885. The food was nice, especially the buffalo and pumpkin dish. We called it a night not long after the owner's son threw his toy cars away in disgust, having spent some time playing with them on our table.

Day 2

It turned out we didn't need to set an alarm for 6:00am, as we woke early due to barking dogs and crowing roosters nearby. Collecting our breakfast from the bakery across the road, we made our way down the hill just as the sun was rising. Setting off at 6:30am, the boat carefully manouvered past the 20 others moored on the bank and continued its way up the Mekong.

Stopping at a local village, we provided the morning's entertainment for the villagers. Learning about their daily routine was cool, although we weren't able to visit the school because it was closed due to a teacher's meeting. A loudspeaker announced a village meeting shortly after our arrival although nobody made any movements towards the 'hall'. I think we were more interesting than discussions about pigs or chickens. Dean was having a ball, trying to talk to the kids. In Dean World, everybody can understand him. In the real world, people generally smile politely while he waffles on. He's happy though. After 20 minutes or so of being stared at, we made our way back to the boat and continued the trek to the border. Another jigsaw (this time fully complete), some more Spendy Games (trying to convince Dean and Eleanor that proper nouns are not allowed) and a few more chapters in our books, and before we knew it, we had arrived in Houaysai.

Taken to Laos immigration, our passports were stamped and we were free to leave the country. Unfortunately we still had a stash of local currency and these Kips are not able to be changed over the border. The official money changers were closed, so clutching a bundle of Kips, I made my way along the main street in search of somebody who could relieve me of this cash. Luckily some lady spotted me and was able to help out. I left her clutching another bundle of cash, this time Baht.

A two minute trip on a small boat to cross the river and we found outselves in Thailand (Chiang Khong). Immigration efficiently stamped our passports with a 15 day visa. If we had flown in, it would have been 30 days. We decided to address that problem in a couple of days. With the honeymooning couple from Sydney, we jumped in a mini van for the three hour drive to Chang Rai. With one vomit stop (Eleanor doesn't like those winding roads!), we made it to this bustling northern town just in time for dinner!

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