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Published: February 26th 2013
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Feb 23rd , The Mekong Meander
The first leg of the river journey lasted about 9 hours. Our boat was filled with close to 100 people from front to back but we were lucky enough to have gotten a seat towards the front and away from the motor that was very loud. We spent most of the day trying to nap or play cards but the amount of people crammed together in the boat made for less than ideal conditions. After dosing off for a moment I woke up to find that Jake wasn’t in his seat. I found him at the bow of the boat sitting with a local Lao man snacking on sticky rice and smoked buffalo skin. The skin was interesting, very chewy. We were later joined by Beckah and spent a good couple hours in the silence of the bow sunbathing and enjoying the view of the Mekong. Traveling by boat is the best way to see the country. The Mekong river is the biggest river in SE Asia and is lined with hill tribes and water buffalos.
When we arrived at our half way destination of Pakbeng around 6pm our “package deal” turned
out to be an unorganized rip off. When we were at the Lao boarder crossing we apparently didn’t get a small green sticker that meant we had a reservation in Pakbeng so we were forced to pay for a guesthouse again. Its turned out to be a blessing because the guesthouse we stayed in was right on the Mekong river, owned by a really sweet couple and had incredibly comfortable beds. Because Pakbeng is only a half way point it is not very big and the locals thrive on tourist. We headed out to find some dinner and were stopped immediately by the family across the street. “good food! Number 1 in Pakbeng” was some of the only English they knew. We were easily sold by there 2 year old daughter that brought us our menus and asked us if we wanted beer then hid behind the glass window of the beer cooler. It was adorable and the food was delicious as usual! Penang curry, spring rolls, mango and sticky rice with coconut ice cream sent us home with full bellies.
Laos is a French culinary inspired so the streets are filled with bakery’s where you can find the most amazing croissants and baguettes you’ve ever had in your life. We started the day with ham and cheese croissants and tea. Then got some baguette sandwiches for the road and headed to the boats 2 hours early to ensure a good spot. There were two boats headed out that day to Luang Prabang, the first had seats facing each other with tables in the middle and the second was just like the boat from the previous day, squished and crowded. We quickly got the best seats on the first boat with a table. Sometimes is pays to be punctual. Everyone that showed up late and got stuck on the other boat looked upon us with jealous eyes and one guy even said “how much extra did you have to pay for the table?” jokes on him, nothing. With even more luck we shared our table with one other person, our new friend Bryan.
Bryan is a character from Holland, he has been traveling by himself all through SE Asia for a few months before we encountered him. He is extremely sarcastic, witty and a bit of a pathological liar. I nick named him Lie-ryn. We spent the entire boat ride playing cards, eating delicious papaya and mango and laughing so hard our faces hurt. So the ride that was 7 hours only seemed like 3 and boom! We were in Luang Prabang and just in time to catch and EPIC sunset.
We found dinner in an alley market. It was shoulder to shoulder filled with people and vendors who had tables lined up with plates of food buffet style. To could by a plate for 10,000 kip ($2) and fill it as high as you could stack it. Jake went another route for quite a bit more kip he got not one but two plates of nothing but bbq meat. One whole duck, chicken, rack of ribs and some other meat that was unidentified.
The next day was just as epic as the last 2. we rented a tuk tuk (taxi) to take us to Khueng si waterfall. As an avid waterfall explorer I'm going to make a big statement here as say this was THE BEST waterfall I have ever been to EVER! It’s actually more like 60 waterfalls that made up one area. With rope swings and swimming holes, hikes and jungle scenery Kheng si is a water wonderland. At the head of the trail to the falls there just happens to be a black bear sanctuary where we got to see around 10 black bears playing and swinging in there jungle hammocks. Bonus! The water at Kheng si is and iridescent blue green. I don’t know how it is this color, perhaps the lime stone. After swimming and cliff jumping our little hearts out we went for a45 min hike up a mountain and around the top of the highest falls to get a great view. What a magical experience.
Later that evening after some much needed showers and napping we gathered our group of 4 to go have dinner at a particular restaurant I had acquired a flyer for when getting off the slow boat. On our way we picked up 2 more fellow slow boaters to join us. The restaurant was located on the other side of the second river that flowed through town. There was a bamboo bridge lit up with rope lights that took our now group of 6 across and too our destination. We were given our own private bamboo hut on the river lit up with paper lanterns and colorful pillows to sit on. We shared appetizers of vegetarian goods consisting of eggplant, Mekong river nori, purple sticky rice and local sautéed mushrooms. Jacob got a buffalo stew that was smoked on a type of wood that was so spicy it made your eyes water, I'm talking about the wood, not the stew. But the real hit was my chicken fondue that I shared with Beckah. Fondue technically means “too dip” and in the US we usually find ourselves dipping whatever we can find in different types of cheese. But in Asia there isn’t a whole lot of dairy to be found and the type of fondue we had was a lot different, it was more like Korean bbq. Placed in front of us was a basket filled with herbs, vegetables, noodles and eggs, along with a plate of raw seasoned chicken and multiple dipping sauces. Then part of the table top was removed to make was for a clay pot filled with hot coals and a tea pot containing our broth. we cooked the meat on top of the crate that covered the coals and around the edges was a moat we cooked our soup in. it was fun and delicious, which is how food should always be.
With my JBL speakers in the mesh pocket of Beckahs backpack we danced our away across the bamboo bridge and boogied all the way back to our guesthouse. Best day ever would be an understatement. We said farewell to Bryan and prepared to make our way by bus Phansavan, the next leg of our journey.
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