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Published: August 20th 2006
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The Mekong
Packed like sardines aboard the boat Day 1
After a pretty quiet last night in Chiang Mai, which included a brief moment of "getting lost" in the depths of Thai Chiang Mai (vs touristy Chiang Mai). We were up at the crack of dawn (7:30am) to board the bus to Chiang Rai and onto the border town of Chiang Khong (7hrs in the smallest seat we've come across to date). Where we met a Swiss bloke by the name of Christopher (later referred to as Prince Christophe/Skipper #2/Ladyboy) and a nice danish couple (who were stoked to have an Aussie princess...) who also had to put up with similar cramped conditions and therefore struck a common bond.
Arriving in Chiang Khong around sunset we caught our first glimpse of the muddy gravy of the Mekong and went in search of what we were soon to realise was our last ATM for quite some time. On the other side of the Mekong was Laos, the next country on our grand tour.
We had our complimentary meal (no steak) and headed across to the bar across the road to watch the Charity Shield match (Chelsea vs Liverpool) with Chris. With a dodgy pool table that sloped towards
The Mekong
View of Mekong from the boat - Thailand one side Laos the other all four cushions (how does that work?) and a very camp and overly enthusiastic host(ess) we had a couple of quiet beers until the heavens opened and the town's electricity went off with about 20 mins left to go and the scores tied (Still don't know the score - Willsy?). Oh well time for bed, with a shower on the way home...
Day 2
Up the next morning we breakfasted and headed down to the Thai/Laos border where Michelle tried to negotiate unsuccessfully for her VAT refund and Ricko ended up forking over a small fee for "administration" 😉 but no major dramas and we were on the small boat across to the Laos side.
The temperature seemed to rise about 5 degrees as soon as we hit the shore and we sweltered our way through customs, duty-free shopping, and then all got into a ute to be ferried to another point where we waited round, and then moved 20m down the road for some more waiting around before boarding what was to be our "Slow Boat" for some more waiting around (welcome to Laos 😉 This was to ferry us down the Mekong, and was a 20m
The Mekong
Ricko atop his sack of rice with a good hand long, 4m wide riverboat packed to the rafters with mainly 'falang' but a few Laos locals for good measure. Despite being almost the last one's on board Michelle and Christophe secured seats, but unfortunately Andrew was unable to fit into the meagre gap afforded between the seat and the one in front of it, so ended up sprawled over some rice sacks up the front (a better option).
Seven hours of cruising down the Mekong followed, stopping occasionally to pick up more people, rice and birds in cages. We would stand every hour and a half, rub our bums to get the blood circulating again and reassume the same cramped position. The proximity again meant we started yarning to some fellow Aussies, Jimmy and Martine a nice couple from Brissy. Before arriving to the hoardes of hotel touts at Pak Beng where we decided on a mid-priced riverside guesthouse, complete with floorboards on top of their matresses (obviously to stop the sag), undersized entrances to bathrooms (yes, lost a few braincells there) and a generator that turned off at 10pm (making that advertised 'fan' rather useless).
Day 3
The next day we were back on the boat -
The Mekong
Nunny's poker face albeit a different one this time with a few less people, most deciding upon the 'speedboats' - picture 8 people in a longtailed boat all wearing motorcycle helmets, life jackets and holding on for dear life as they skim over the turbulence (and no doubt hidden rocks) at a rapid rate of knots. The upside to risking your life was that the trip took 2.5 hrs as opposed to 9 hrs. Jimmy and Martine were down at the slowboat (our 'sensible' option) early and secured the best seats in the house - old bus seats - reinstalled on the slow boat and with plenty of legroom we were able to start up a rather large game of cards with a few other Aussies and some Laos locals.
9 hours later we pulled into Luang Prabang the old capital of Laos and one of the more beautiful cities I've seen so far in SE Asia, complete with French Colonial Style buildings, alot of wat (temples), and a laid back ambience - we figured we'd stay for a while...
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swampy
non-member comment
Hello
It's been so long since I posted a message so i just wanted to make sure you knew i was still here and loving the blogs. Only slightly jealous. Not of the 9 hour boat rides, but more of the amazing scenery. Keep the great pics coming. Have fun!