Pak Beng to Chiang Rai

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Up early to take a few photos and partake of a sumptuous breakfast before hitting the water once more. We had only just got underway and I was settling in when I noticed a bamboo raft, with what appeared to be a coffin on it, floating past. I asked one of the crew about it not really believing what I was seeing and he confirmed that it was indeed a coffin. Apparently some of the hill tribes believe that if a person dies by drowning or falling out of a tree and such like, their spirit is troubled so they can't be burned, they are instead set afloat on the river, after a few days the raft breaks up and the river claims them.

Pretty much the only disturbance on the river is the occasional fast boat that races past. These are small speedboats that ferry people up and down the river at breakneck speed, sometimes literally when they hit a log or flip.

Today was pretty much a repeat of yesterday, motoring leisurely upstream. We stopped at another village, this one quite a bit richer, with power and water, and I dropped another package of books to the headman who seemed grateful for them.

Around 4.00pm we motored under the No4 friendship bridge that is the official border crossing between Laos and Thailand, at that point we had another 30 minutes before pulling into Houay Xai. Sadly the last bus for Chiang Rai leaves at 4.30pm so I arranged for a car to meet me at Thai immigration, through the guys on the boat. Getting through both Lao and Thai immigration was very quick but the wait for the bus in between that actually takes you over the friendship bridge was interminable. A French couple that had done the boat trip with me were also heading to Chiang Rai but we're hoping to get a taxi only there was nothing around so I asked if they would like to share the car with me. They were so relieved to get out of the heat that they insisted on paying for the car thus saving me 2000bht. I arrived in Chiang Rai about 8.00pm, bought a Thai sim card, got cash from an ATM, booked a tour that hit all of the major sites for the next day and was tucking into a Pad Thai and chasing it down with a cold Chang beer by 8.30.

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