We spent a night in the tiny village of Pak Beng - a halfway point between Huay Xai and Luang Prabang. The slow boats don't travel at night so we have to stop here for dinner and get some sleep. A rustic town clustered with houses made of woodscraps and corrugated tin; and streets littered with stray dogs, and kids playing around, Pak Beng isn't actually a novelty for someone like me who've been to remote areas in the Philippines. I was after all a journalist, and journalist will go anywhere to get a story. The thing is, I went to these places for work. And while roughing it is supposed to be part and parcel of a backpacker's life, it was here in Pak Beng that I learned something about myself: I am a
... read more
