It's rather expensive in this town....and up the Mekong

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8th January 2009 (Thursday):
Luang Prabang: Went to go Wat hunting today but soon realised that we were still really sick of Wats! We went over a little bamboo bridge and sat on a rock watching a man fishing with a net. We went to Wat Xieng Thong which was nice. The decor was slightly different to that of other Wats we'd visited but still, we'd had enough so didn't go to any more. Spent the rest of the afternoon drinking Iced Tea and playing cards next to the Mekong and eating more Laap! Went to the night market again but got distracted into going for a drink and went we came out of the bar they were packing up! The Lonely Planet LIED TO ME!!!! It said they were open till 11 but by 10 it was practically all packed up!! Bloody Lonely Planet....

9th January 2009 (Friday):
Caught the boat up the Mekong towards the Thai border. It's a two day trip up the Mekong but the scenery was really nice and the hum of the engine was far superior to the bumpy roads and the buses full of tourists... that smell of feet. Open sided boat meant lots of fresh air - bit nippy though! And no fricking beeping - woohoo!! We arrived in Pak Beng to a road full of restaurants and guesthouses - pretty souless - it's pretty much been built up from the tourist trade of people stopping over on the Mekong river ride. We only stayed the night then it was back on the boat.

10th January 2009 (Saturday):
Back on the river to Huay Xai - the border town to Thailand. Spent the boat journey mostly eating, playing cards and drinking wine coolers! Arrived late into the evening and found a chinese guesthouse to stay in. The bed was SO nice, lovely crisp clean sheets, with lovely plump duvet - luxurious!! There was a monkey in a cage outside that was far too big for it's little cage. It didn't have any water or anything. It was really sad. Though it kept laughing in a really maniacal way with its teeth bared. Not sure if it was happy or whether it had just been trained to do it for the tourists.

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Photos

Toby's Hand
Playing cards up the Mekong to keep us entertained on the 2 day journey.

Boy on boat
We stopped on our way up the Mekong to drop off some supplies for one of the remote villages, this guy was waiting on the beach for the boat.

King of the Castle
Boys playing on the rocks in the Mekong

Comments

[anonymous]

The slow boat... how comfortable!!!