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Busing & Boating Around
Mung Ngoi -> Luang Prabang, 25th April 2002
I rolled over at 6:30am, still not feeling very well but I decided I
was leaving today anyhow. I quickly gathered by stuff together, paid
for the room, then stumbled down to the boats with Tilen. We met
Andrea & Sophie at the river bank, but annoyingly we were told the
boat didn't leave until 8am. I could have had an extra hour in bed!
After grabbing some breakfast we all boarded a boat and waited to
go. As we were waiting, we saw Matt & Danny on the bank (they're
staying in Mung Ngoi for a bit longer to build a raft!). We chatted
with them for a while before they dissapeared to buy some bits &
pieces.
The narrow boat was fully laden with falangs, then at 8:30 we were
all told to change boats (which we'd had to do once already). A bit
disgruntled, we all moved and at 9:30 we pushed off.
We got to Nong Khiaw with no problems, and when we got there we
transferred to a bus, a really nice one, rare in Lao! After a while
the bus was full with falangs and we drove up to the ticket office.
While we were waiting, a guy who'd just been travelling around China
showed us his photos & told us about some of his escapades. He was a
really funny & entertaining guy and I think he should be a tour
agent for China, because when he'd finished I think everyone wanted
to go to China! I've decided that in a few years I'll do the
Trans-Siberian Express and visit Russia & China. But that'll be
another story...
The bus journey was problem free. We only stopped, as is the Lao
way, for the driver to get some snacks for himself.
When we reached Luang Prabang, Andrea took us to a guesthouse she
stayed in last time. However, after following her for ages, she
pointed out a guesthouse miles away from the town centre! As we
wanted to stay closer to the main street, we left her there and said
we'd meet later for dinner after we'd found somewhere else.
I decided to settle on a nice-looking guest-house that we had passed
on our walk across town. Sophie & Tillen continued onwards to get
even closer to town.
The only room my guesthouse had left was an en-suite with hot water,
which wasn't a problem! So after a lovely hot shower I hunted out an
internet cafe.
I spent a few hours catching up with my e-mails, I hadn't been at a
computer for almost 2 weeks, so my inbox was packed.
In the evening, we met up for dinner as planned. However, I still
couldn't face much food, so I settled on a simple meal of chicken
breast & chips. The idea of som spicy noodles or rice made my
stomach churn at the moment.
After dinner, we took a little walk around town. It was a quiet
evening, and it passed quickly. Just before heading back to our
guesthouses we said goodbye to Andrea who was going straight onto
Phonsavan tomorrow.
Night night!
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To know the road ahead, ask those coming back
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