Laos: Slowboat to Laos
Well, after an extremely fast month, I have finally said goodbye to Thailand! Friday morning, Erin and I hopped aboard a minibus with nine others for the long ride to the border town of Chiang Khong in Northeastern Thailand. After dinner we crashed into bed, looking forward to a big day Saturday.
Rollin' Down the River...
Saturday morning, after a short longtail boat ride across the Mekong River, we entered Laos. We had to go through immigration, but fortunately Erin and I had seen to it that our visas were prepared ahead of time...however, that meant that we were the last ones to get to our long slowboat. That ended up being a blessing in disguise, as we discovered that there were too many travelers (probably around a hundred of us) for the boat that was already filled to its capacity with about eighty people.
The Longboat Gang.
While the twenty of us sat outside in the sun (and the other eighty sat cramped in their boat), a few of our fellow travelers tried to reason with the boat captain (they wanted to seat us down the narrow center aisle in plastic chairs...which means closing off the route to the bathroom on the six-hour trip!). Finally, when we were preparing to give in, the crew brought out another boat for us to board. I do not understand why, but the only people that came over to our boat from the other boat were a few smart Thais, while all the foreigners remained packed in sardines.
Fortunately, the few of us hopped on our empty boat with squeals of glee, and soon we were making our way down the Mekong River. Six hours is a long time on a boat, and it probably was miserable for the other boat, but we had plenty of space to stretch out, play cards, and even listen to music from someone's portable MP3 speakers.
Kids selling their wares.
As for the view, it was astounding. We floated along the wide, muddy river with large sand banks at the bottom of beautiful green hills cradled the water. Every so often we would pass small villages nestled into the jungles overhead, each with small children waving from the banks as we passed.
"What's your price, name your price!"
We arrived at our half-way point, a small village called Pak Beng, around 6:00 pm. Erin and I found a cheap room, and then we met up with some of our fellow boaters for dinner. I was craving pizza, so we ordered a few and shoveled them in our mouths. Within minutes of finishing our meal, I began to feel sick, so after trying my hardest to be sociable by playing cards with the others, I had to excuse myself and go to bed around 11:00 pm. I was in bed only about fifteen minutes before the trouble hit, and all night I was running to the bathroom to throw up. Picture me, in the dark (they turn the power out at night), Petzl headlamp on my head, head in the toilet. Not fun at all.
Riverside Village
I was terribly worried that I would still be sick for Day 2 of all day floating down the Mekong. Fortunately, I felt weak, but much better. We climbed aboard our boat, which was pretty evenly dispersed with people today (which meant most everyone got his or her own seat), and soon we were once again heading down the Mekong.
Sunset over the Mekong.
The views were much like the previous day's, so still feeling a bit unwell, I settled into a window pane and allowed the cool breeze to blow over me while I read a book. Finally, around 4:00 pm yesterday, we arrived in the lovely town of Luang Prabang, Laos. Erin and I wearily trudged through town, happy to be off the boat but in great search of a cheap room. We finally found a place that charges only $3 a night ($1.50 each!) for a small room with no bathroom...quite possibly the cheapest in town.
Rollin' Down the River...
Saturday morning, after a short longtail boat ride across the Mekong River, we entered Laos. We had to go through immigration, but fortunately Erin and I had seen to it that our visas were prepared ahead of time...however, that meant that we were the last ones to get to our long slowboat. That ended up being a blessing in disguise, as we discovered that there were too many travelers (probably around a hundred of us) for the boat that was already filled to its capacity with about eighty people.
The Longboat Gang.
While the twenty of us sat outside in the sun (and the other eighty sat cramped in their boat), a few of our fellow travelers tried to reason with the boat captain (they wanted to seat us down the narrow center aisle in plastic chairs...which means closing off the route to the bathroom on the six-hour trip!). Finally, when we were preparing to give in, the crew brought out another boat for us to board. I do not understand why, but the only people that came over to our boat from the other boat were a few smart Thais, while all the foreigners remained packed in sardines.
Fortunately, the few of us hopped on our empty boat with squeals of glee, and soon we were making our way down the Mekong River. Six hours is a long time on a boat, and it probably was miserable for the other boat, but we had plenty of space to stretch out, play cards, and even listen to music from someone's portable MP3 speakers.
Kids selling their wares.
As for the view, it was astounding. We floated along the wide, muddy river with large sand banks at the bottom of beautiful green hills cradled the water. Every so often we would pass small villages nestled into the jungles overhead, each with small children waving from the banks as we passed.
"What's your price, name your price!"
We arrived at our half-way point, a small village called Pak Beng, around 6:00 pm. Erin and I found a cheap room, and then we met up with some of our fellow boaters for dinner. I was craving pizza, so we ordered a few and shoveled them in our mouths. Within minutes of finishing our meal, I began to feel sick, so after trying my hardest to be sociable by playing cards with the others, I had to excuse myself and go to bed around 11:00 pm. I was in bed only about fifteen minutes before the trouble hit, and all night I was running to the bathroom to throw up. Picture me, in the dark (they turn the power out at night), Petzl headlamp on my head, head in the toilet. Not fun at all.
Riverside Village
I was terribly worried that I would still be sick for Day 2 of all day floating down the Mekong. Fortunately, I felt weak, but much better. We climbed aboard our boat, which was pretty evenly dispersed with people today (which meant most everyone got his or her own seat), and soon we were once again heading down the Mekong.
Sunset over the Mekong.
The views were much like the previous day's, so still feeling a bit unwell, I settled into a window pane and allowed the cool breeze to blow over me while I read a book. Finally, around 4:00 pm yesterday, we arrived in the lovely town of Luang Prabang, Laos. Erin and I wearily trudged through town, happy to be off the boat but in great search of a cheap room. We finally found a place that charges only $3 a night ($1.50 each!) for a small room with no bathroom...quite possibly the cheapest in town.
posted by Tiffany Joiner at 8:43 AM
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