Slowboat along the Mekong River

We have traveled from Thailand to Laos by slow boat. The trip took three days. We have taken a minibus to Chiang Khong, which is on the Mekong River, which separates Laos and Thailand at this location. We stayed the night in Chiang Khong, where we met our good friend Alex from Germany, with whom we spent the next week traveling. After eating dinner at our guesthouse, we had a few Chang beer and then met Tom, a 50 year old, bottom toothless, American that has been living in Thailand for the last 4 years. He is quite the character! Tom and his Thai girlfriend introduced us to Lao Lao - rice whiskey. His girlfriend had made several bottles, stuffed with fermented fruit - custard apple, banana, and lychee - although you'd never know it from the taste.

The next morning we were shuttled to the Thai immigration office. We were plopped into longtails, and shipped over to Huay Xai, Laos border crossing. One by one, they called out each of our names from our passports, where we were prompted to pay $42 for our visa on arrival (Canadians $42, everyone else $30 - $35!) As it turned out, we (including Alex) had a VIP boat for the 2 day journey. We were expecting to be sitting with 60 other travelers on wooden benches, stopping only once on the 8 hour a day journey. Instead, 10 of us shared a boat with a Laos family, with about 2 comfy seats per person! Initially we assumed that we had been duped into paying more for the journey without realizing it. As it turns out, that wasn't the case at all. An older German couple on board had purchased the 2 day slow boat trip from Germany, paying $350 EUROS per person (we had each paid about $60 including the two day boat ride, food, the minibus from Chiang Mai, and accommodation in Chiang Khong). The woman had wanted to do the journey but wanted a more comfortable boat, due to her bad back. When they arrived in Chiang Kohng, they were told that nobody else had booked the tour, so they were given the option of traveling alone, or inviting more people on board. They took the latter to make the journey more interesting. So here we were chosen by several Thai tour guides to join this VIP river adventure! We became very close with everyone on board, and continued to meet up with Alex, Diana (Germany), and Ashley and Stephen (Ireland) throughout our stay in Luang Prabang.

The first day of the boat ride was gorgeous, with 6 hours of beautiful sunshine. We traveled along the Mekong River, which runs from China through Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, and finally exits out into the sea through Vietnam. The water is very murky, and the scenery reminded us of Costa Rica. Along the way we saw children playing in the sand, men bathing, women washing clothes, fast boats (which are very dangerous because of the rocks hidden within the water), pigs, water buffalo, and elephants, fishing nets set up in action, and in the sand we saw crops of peanuts! Apparently when they are grown in the sand, it is much easier to pull the peanuts (which are roots) from the ground. Halfway through the first day, we stopped at a tiny village along the river, and four children ran to our boat with laundry baskets in their hands. They brought snacks onto our boat, with heavily inflated prices of course. That evening, we arrived in Pak Beng, Laos and spent the night at a great, inexpensive guesthouse overlooking the river.

The next morning we woke up at 6:30am, and had breakfast by the river. As each morning seems to be so far in Laos, it was very foggy. The boat ride began at 8am, and the weather slowly turned to beautiful sunshine again by 11am. So far in Laos, this seems to be the weather pattern in the "Cool Season" aka "Winter" if you can call in that! It is foggy in the mornings, it reaches about 28-30 degrees Celsius in the afternoon, and cools off in the evenings to the point where you are most comfortable in jeans and sweatshirts - which also means no fan or a/c is needed! Just before we arrived into Luang Prabang late that afternoon, we stopped at Tham Tine, Pak Ou Caves (which turned out to be part of the VIP boat experience). There was an upper and lower cave, filled with over 4,000 Buddhas. Overtime, we were told that termites have attacked the Buddhas.

We arrived in Luang Prabang, and found a wonderful guesthouse. It is very evident in Luang Prabang that Laos was colonized by the French. Everything about this town feels so European. From the shutters on the windows, to the restaurant patios on the street. The vibe is so relaxed. However, once ruled under a communist regime, you will often see the communist flag hung beside Laos flag. Although the Laos people do not smile as much as the Thais, they are equally as friendly! There was an elementary school near to our guesthouse, and each morning and afternoon, we would see children all over the streets walking to and from school, playing in the school yard, and chanting out from their classrooms.

Almost every evening, we visited the night market. The artwork is so beautiful, and a lot of the goods are textile based. The silk is identical to that found in Thailand, but they have so many other unique designs in their arts and crafts. The food there was incredible. One night we ate Mekong fish, papya salad, and spring rolls. Alex taught be how to debone and devour a fish, head and all - with chopsticks no less! This fish had been seasoned, stuffed with lemongrass, and cooked on the barbecue. Served on a banana leaf, I honestly don't know if I have ever tasted anything better in my life!

We rented bikes one day, and drove to the more rural part of Luang Prabang. There were often five bikes side by side driving on the road, the streets were unbelievable packed with children and adults riding motorbikes and scooters; cars were very scarce in this part of town. Whereas so far the countries we have visited drive on the left hand side of the rode, Laos is the first country that drives on the right hand side of the road again. Unfortunately, the chain on Matt's bike broke halfway through the trip, and proceeded to fall off another five or six times. We were helped by children, men, and women alike, finally ending up at a mechanic where Matt and some boys managed to resurrect the chair successfully! We have some great pictures from this.

After spending four nights in Luang Prabang, and indulging in much site seeing, we have left just this morning by minibus to Vang Vieng - famous for its river tubing. The ride was steep and windy, and the sites were very humbling. We passed village after village of local people, touched only by tourism by minibus. The villages were very dusty, and it is hard to imagine what the people must have to go through during the rainy season. Some, but not all of the houses are on stilts. Some of the things we saw were women carrying large loads of firewood, eight year old children with babies on their backs, people working in the rice fields, babies running around naked outside huts along the road, children as young as four walking along the busy winding roads, pigs, cows and chickens all over the road, laundry hanging everywhere, and people driving motorcycles while balancing everything you could imagine on their laps!

We have settled into a bungalow along the river in Vang Vieng, and look forward to getting to know this place.

The pictures below will tell a better story of some of the experiences we have had in Laos so far:

A traditional slow boat, overlooking Laos (we were standing on Thailand while taking this picture).

"Take the Temperature" - Border crossing H1N1 check. They shoved an electric thermometer at our throats, and waved us through to immigration.

Happy to be on a VIP boat!

Scenery along the Mekong River.

The shore was lined with very fine sand.

Laos people working along the Mekong River. This is an example of some of the hidden rocks that can be found in the river.

Children excited to exchange a wave with the slow boat travelers.

Water buffalo.

One of the children running to our slow boat with snacks.

Pak Beng - Headed back to the slow boat with Alex for day 2 along the river.

Day 2 on the Mekong - Walking along the sand back to the slow boat.

A working elephant.

Our captain and his son. This family lived on the boat, with their two children.

Art on the walls of the Pak Ou Caves.

Merry Christmas from Luang Prabang!

Rice wine/whiskey tasting at the Luang Prabang Night Market.

A child selling dolls at the night market.

Bamboo foot bridge, across the Nam Khan river, which flows into the Mekong River.

A monk about to cross the bamboo foot bridge. Families that are not able to afford to send their children to school, send them to become monks. In Luang Prabang, there were many monks as young as eight year old that could be seen throughout the village. Each morning from 6-6:30am, the monks walk the streets and collect food from the villages for their daily meal. This is called Alms.

Red chilies drying on the street. These were also found on the hood of cars, roofs, fences, basically anywhere with direct sunlight.

Small bike, heavy load. On the road to the Kuang Si waterfalls, Luang Prabang.

Kuang Si Waterfalls.

Kuang Si Waterfalls.

Barbecued fish (unfortunately not the one we ate!)

A monk resting out the back of a Wat.

The view from Phousi Mountain - a 316 step hike to the top.

Sunset from Phousi Mountain.

The tents lined up at the night market in Luang Prabang.

Crossing the bamboo footbridge at night!