Lao's Lazy River.

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Wed. 26th. April.
A lazy day, in theory, but in truth, we chased our tails doing bits and bobs. We survived another sgary haircut. It's very awkward when they don't understand a word of English, and then that was the end of Chang Mai.

Thurs. 27th.
A minibus collected us from the hotel and transported us to Chang Khong, a typical Thai village on the Mekong River. The scenery on the way was quite mundane and as the minibus was running on "kangaroo juice", we were glad to arrive. We had booked a package to Laos so we were pleasantly surprised that the hotel was clean, and we even had an en suite. The view from our balcony of the Mekong River was beautiful.

Fri. 28th.
We lugged our bags onto an open-top pick-up, and cleared Thai emmigration before boarding a couple of pieces of wood!!.. and taken over the river to Laos. A vertical hike to a tuk, tuk and then a precarious walk down to the "Slow Boat". This is better than we expected. It has a roof, almost a toilet, and it looks like it might just float. The seats are wooden with a bit of padding, but that was luxury compared to what the latecomers had, which was floor boards and no leg room, because 80 people were packed onto a 60-seater boat. Tomorrow's news headlines flashed before our eyes. The 6 hours flew by because the view was ever changing, but constantly spectacular. The huge rocks either side in the narrows of the Mekong were like slabs of granite and the fishermen perched there precariously casting their nets. Jungly forest came down to the sand and when a passage way through the rocks permitted, buffaloe wallowed in the shallows. The Lao children are just as beatiful as the Thai ones, but they are a little shy, and don't have their neighbours' spontaneous smiles. We stopped for the night at a little village, and Bruno carried my bag over slippery rocks and up the steps to an almost flat bit. The beer we bought him the next day was well earned. The guest house was just about bearable. No Aircon, but we had our own bathroom. We can't say that we're getting used to cold showers, and the generator being turned off at 10, but we do like the laid back life style. Surprisingly, there are lots of places to eat, and we find the food very enjoyable.

Sat. 29th.
The heavy rains persisted through the night, so we arranged for 2 urchins to take our bags to the boat. The kid that got to us first wanted to carry the two bags for double money,(it's killing us to carry one!) but surcumbed to the bigger boy's persuasion to share the load. We paid up and left them arguing about who should get commission fot he job. Half way through the journey, the sun comes out, and everything looks as beautiful as yesterday. We passed a funeral pyre burning by the side of the river and the monks and congregation happily waved at us. We arrive at Luang Prabang after making lots of friends on the boat. Hopefully, our paths will cross again. The walkway from the boat to the tuk tuk was again perpendicular and uneven. Even the pavements are a death trap!, but hey, we're on holiday! A hot shower restores our aching bones, and we eat a superb Lao meal at a french restaurant.

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