Slowly Cruising down the Mekong
Luang Prabang -> Pakbeng, 15th April 2002
Early start today, I needed to be at the Ferry Pier by 7:30am and,
before that, buy some food for the LONG journey. (The journey along
the river to Huay Xai, a small town on the Lao/Thai border, is a
good two 10 hour days on the river). I got ready as quietly as
possible so I wouldn't wake the French guy (I never learnt his name)
who was staying in Luang Prabang for a few days. Nonetheless, just
as I was sneaking out the door, he woke up to say good bye & good
luck.
Both speed boats & slow boats make the journey between Luang Prabang
& Huay Xai. I'd decided to take the slow boat for various reasons.
Firstly, it's much cheaper, especially if you're travelling alone.
Secondly, the speed boats have countless severe & fatal accidents
every month. Thirdly, I don't think 6 hours crammed in a tiny boat
with a deafening engine right next to you would be much fun. Making
the journey is a nice, quiet, comfortable slow boat, enjoying the
scenery along the Mekong sounds much better. Admittedly the slow
boat journey takes much longer, with an overnight stop, but I'm in
no hurry!
Yesterday, I'd asked the owner of a Net cafe if food would be
available on the boat. He confidently nodded, saying `Yes'. But,
just in case I brought some food at the shops beforehand. Good move
Si! There was NO food sold on board and there were no food stops on
the journey! The food of choice, that everyone had brought, were
baguettes (very popular in Lao, other legacy of French rule) and
bananas.
A large group of falangs headed down the path to the river bank
where 2 boats were waiting. It took a while to work out which one to
get on, they both seemed to be going the same way. However, one was
full with locals, the other with Falangs. Any attempt to get on the
locals boat was quickly blocked by one of them. They seemed to want
to keep us seperate. Hmm, their boat must be safer. Or cheaper.
I joined my fellow foreigners, then after buying our tickets, the
boat set of an hour late.
The journey was well worth it. For the whole 2 days there were
unbroken, awe-inspiring views. Green, rolling hills, masked in mist,
stretching into the distance. Never-ending, untouched, beautiful
forests. Majestic, grey rocks jutting out of the water. Rustic
villages, with basic, but aesthetic, wooden houses with thatched
roofs. Looking out over this stunning scenery brought back memories
of hiking and expeditions. I had a really strong urge to do some
hill walking!
Even with the views, the journey was very long and the seats weren't
particularly comfortable. The basic wooden boats had really thin,
hard, wooden chairs. There were a few cushions, essential for the 10
unbroken hours on the river, but not enough to go round, luckily I
got hold of one.
On the first night we stopped at a small village called Pakbeng. I
don't think there's much there, but the tourists on the river
journeys all stop here and have made hotels & guesthouses big
business in this tiny, middle of nowhere town.
I tried a few places, but their prices had gone up considerably
since my Lonely Planet guide had been printed (Jan 2002!). The
owners were really trying to suck our money out of us! However,
after hiking far enough away from the river (most people can't be
bothered), A few of us eventually found one for 100B (£1.60) per
night. Well...the price was suitable for the quality!. The room was
basic but sufficient. The bathroom...euuuggghhhh! It was small,
smelly, dirty & cramped. I've seen some bad bathrooms, but this has
to be the worst! Of course, out here there was no running water,
just the Asian way of washing. A big stone tub full of water with a
little scooper to scoop water out & pout it over yourself.
One point of interest, you know you're getting into the sticks, when
electricity isn't available all day. For about 5 hours in the
evening, the big village generator turns on & electricity flows. For
the rest of the time, no lights, no power, no nothing!
I spent the evening chatting, drinking & eating with a few people in
my guesthouse. They were all very interesting & different people.
One was an English expat who'd been working for Orange Mobile Phones
in Thailand for a year. There was a girl from America who'd just
finished University and was going round the world in the opposite
direction to me. And there was a Finnish guy who'd spent his whole
life travelling & studying. He'd just graduated and was going to
work as an architect when he got back to Finland. He's 30 next year!
It was nice to know that I could travel and be a student for another
10 years and I wouldn't be alon!
The main thing I noticed about the guesthouse, was that it was
teeming with insects, a real insectologists dream! I've never see so
many bugs in one place! There was even a huge, green Praying Mantis
walking up the wall!
After the conversations were finished and the beers emptied, we
headed to bed. As I lay my head down, and tucked my mozzie net
tightly around my bed, I noticed that the very noisy generator was
right outside my window. Luckily, after about 20 minutes they shut
it off, and everything was deathly silent as the Lao night swept in
around me...
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