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Published: December 18th 2006
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We began our epic journey towards the Thai border and ultimately Chiang Mai by boarding our boat on the river and trying to get comfortable on the very upright and solid wooden seats which were made only slightly more comfortable by a thin cushion. The boat wasn't very full, mostly Laotions and a few westerners but not in the numbers we'd seen arriving into Luang Prabang from the border. Needless to say the boat owners wouldn't miss out on revenue from lack of passengers so the skinny boat was piled full of cargo from mattresses, bags, pots and pans as well as a motobike, most of which fortunately went on the roof so that myself and maybe forty other passengers had a fair amount of room inside, something we became increasingly glad of.
The journey took us upstream in the turbulent Mekong so the boat was often knocked about by the swirling waters and at points where the river narrowed it struggled to make progress. The captains obviously knew the river well though so we moved on at a fair pace. The surrounding countyside was typically Loas, beautiful green hills with the only sign of civilisation being the frequent fish
Luang Prabang Buddha
I know it's a bit wrong but is it just me or does this buddha have more than just a passing resemblence to Matt Lucas? traps and the occasional fisherman tending to them. This is how the journey continued pretty much for the next ten hours and with increasingly numb backsides we were hoping for the end. However it began to get very dark and it was clear that we were not going to make it before sunset, a worrying prospect on a river with strong currents, very jagged rocks and on a boat with no lights at all, not even in the cabin. However, the boat had to go onwards so we just had to leave it to the captain's skill to get us there safely. We did of course arrive unscathed and with some difficulty (climbing onto other boats laden with our backpacks and down tiny gangplanks no wider than your feet) get onto shore in Pak Beng where we were to spend the night before continuing our journey. Pak Beng is unremarkable, being simply a stop over point for everyone going either way.
The next morning we got onto another equally uncomfortable boat for a supposedly shorter journey to the border. Throughout the day, as the previous, we were overtaken by speedboats that do the same journey that was to take
us two days in just six hours. Basically they're a tiny boat with a big car engine on the back that screams up the river creating a huge noise you can hear from miles away. Apart from the constant noise and vibrations they're prone to flipping if they hit any debris in the water. They're dangerousness is prehaps indicated by the fact that all the passengers have to wear life vests and crash helmets! So suddenly our little wooden seats felt much more appealing. The boat chugged along much as the previous day until again it began to get dark again. Just as we could see the lights of the border town in the distance at the next curve in the river we pulled up to a sandbank at a little village where all the local children were having their evening baths. Much shouting took place and one of the guys jumped off with a fuel container in his hand. Then it was obvious we were about to run out of fuel with only a few miles to go! So we arrived in the dark again.
All us foreigners met up that night for dinner which was great fun,
Slow Boat
The view for two solid days especially as we were all from pretty much different ages and backgrounds. The next morning we got a boat over the river, sad to be leaving Laos behind but excited to be getting back to Thailand. We then got on a minibus to take us to Chiang Mai, driven by the moodiest and most unhelpfull man in Thailand, such a change from the ever friendly Laotions.
We arrived into Chiang Mai and found it very difficult to find somewhere to stay because of the King's birthday as well as a flower festival. Eventually we found a hovel to call home for the night and went out to get something to eat. Well we found some drink anyway. Most of my time in Chiang Mai was just spent relaxing by a hotel swimming pool and more drinking and eating and socialising, much needed after our epic journey. Of course this being another country it deserved another visit from Emily (number 8!) so she arrived with two friends as well as Darren who we met in Vietnam, all coincidently on the same night which was really cool.
The next day Sophie and I headed off to Pai in the north
Speed Boat
Sorry it's a bit blurry but they move quite fast! for a bit of chillout which was pretty nice but neither of us thought a spot on Vang Vieng in Laos. We did hire a motorbike though and went to some local waterfalls as well as to some hot springs. Well I say we went to them, we didn't go in because the tourist price is rediculous, 400 baht compared to the local's 20 baht! The only locals we saw go in there were driving brand new SUVs too. Something not quite right about that.
From Pai we headed straight back to Bangkok via Chiang Mai, an epic journey overnight where my body gave up on me from a week non-stop and I fell sick. I spent the next day in bed in the worst dive you've ever seen in Bangkok because everywhere else was full, with only a TV and Jurassic Park sized roaches to entertain me. Still when I managed to crawl out we had a good day in Bangkok before getting on a bus early one morning to visit the Bridge over the river Kwai, about two hours bus ride from Bangkok. The whole town of Kanchanaburi is devoted to the 'Death Railway' and the bridge,
Slow Boat evening
Yep, the sun was setting and we were still on it! Pretty nice sunset mind you with numerous museums all telling in different ways the terrible history of the building of the Thai-Burma railway during WWII. It was very well done, with a very nicely kept cemetery for the Allied POWs who died building it as well as the very informative museum next door. Unfortunately all that was to change when we actually reached the bridge. The bridge itself has been restored and it is an amazing feat itself but the amount of clutter of market stalls, restuarants, speed boats racing noiseyly up and down the river, huge karaoke boats and shops selling all manner of unrelated tourist tat was astounding. It was such a shame to have turned such a tragic thing into no more than a tacky tourist attraction. The Thais who many of whom also died building it may disagree but I couldn't help leaving with a bad taste in my mouth.
Another major journey was to ensue after we got back from Kanchanaburi late last night as we got onto another night bus to head down here to where we are now, Krabi on the south west coast of Thailand.
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