A 2 DAY ASIAN "SAFARI" ON THE MIGHTY MEKONG RIVER

  Pakbeng, Lao Peoples Dem Rep
Saturday, February 23, 2008

the slow boats that take you down the Mekong

So, we got up early in the morning to catch the slow boat to Luang Prabang, a 2 day journey. After getting some snacks and beverages, we piled onto the boat. The boat was, well, how do i put it? Basic, unccomfotable, and slow! It was a long boat with rows of wooden benches facing the front on both sides. The benches are small and are supposed to fit 2 people each - two narrow people.

Day 1 boat ride

The benches are also NAILED in place, which is just nuts, since they dont even give enough room to sit straight forward: one has to sit at an angle in order to fit properly - and I had to too, at 5'3"! Towards the back of the boat, is where the family lives and where it is the loudest (a roaring engine and the restroom that dumps off into the Mekong).

The banks of the Mekong River

The boats are essentially the family's home, and they live on it while ferrying passengers. They also have a "concession stand" at the back, where you can buy drinks, beer, and Happy Cow cheese sandwhiches (which, by the way, may be butter - not too sure on that!)

The banks of the Mekong River

Fortunatly, we are used to "rough" journeys, and so was Tom, our new travel mate. Also, Tom ran into a bunch of friends in which he had travelled with in Ko Tao, so we got to meet new people and we all sat together. These "newbies" were from Vancouver and the Yukon. Also, even though the first day's journey was uncomfortable, we were really excited to be travelling down the mighty Mekong river: its beautiful, breathtaking, and it felt VERY exotic- A journey few take.

The banks of the Mekong River

12-The banks of the Mekong River

So, day one felt quite exotic, like I just mentioned. We would putt down the river, stopping many times along the river bank to drop off rice and supplies to isolated villages. Whenever our boat would be nearing one of these small villages, the children would all race down to the river banks to wave at us, greet us and smile.

children on The banks of the Mekong River

It seemed that we were just as exotic to them, as they were to us. We could also see the fluxuation of the water level along the Mekong: you can see the water marks along the limestone rocks that make the river, some steady, and then a 6 foot drop in the water level! We concluded amongst ourselves that this must be from the new dams built in China...

child on The banks of the Mekong River

Day one's journey took about 8 or 9 hours, when we landed in Pakbeng, a small village, or I guess a town (because it had solid buildings rather than thatched huts....), that had generators to light it up and cook for foreigners. When we got to Pakbeng, the sun was going down and everyone was in a panic because our bags were still not off the boat (we were warned of thieves in this village, and people taking off with the bags and running uphill with them and then demanding a fee for services).

The mighty Mekong

Well, we waited patiently and, once receiving our bags, had to climb the side of the river bank that was made up of silt and at a 70 degree angle! HARD WORK! but we did it ourselves, watching some young guys having 6 year olds carrying there bags for them - Christ's sake!

Pakbeng

Once off the boat, we got hoarded by touts (guys who do unwanted services for you, which you can easily do yourself, and most likely already in the process of doing... and then get paid commission for it from hotels and whatnot.

Mathew looking out from Pakbeng, early mornin

For example, you would be walking to a specific hotel, and then a tout comes along and walks with you and then tells the hotel that they brought you there, so that means the hotel will charge you more in order to pay the guy's commission.) It happens all the time - fortunatly, Mathew and I have been able to avoid this to date - KNOCK ON WOOD!!

a rat ate Tom's money belt!

Anways, so touts were all around trying to lead us this way and that, and also trying to sell every drug known to man. "NO THANK YOU, WE HAVE A PLACE ALREADY, THEY ARE EXPECTING US, NO. WE DONT WANT YOUR DRUGS, THANK YOU, REALLY, YES REALLY WE DONT WANT THEM. WHY NOT? WELL, CUZ WE DONT, THATS WHY...." and it goes on and on and on...

drive through for snacks on the Mekong !

So, Tom, Mathew and I got settled into a nice grungy little place. But it was cheap and it was on the second floor (added security from thieves that like to break into windows), and we had many padlocks! It was comfortable enough, and we have been in worse - so we thought! SO, the three of us go to dinner nearby and invite some young travellers (they just turned 18, I believe!)to join us. It was a great indian meal - fantastic actually! Returning, we see all the touts sitting around drinking Lao Lao (the local brewed whiskey). They smiled and then one of them burst into song, an actual song about selling us drugs! It was hilarious. What made it more hilarious, was that his friend was so embarrassed by this act, that he put his hands on his head and yelled, "OH MY BUDDHA!!!" We turned at each other, "did he just say 'Oh my Buddha?" "Yeah, he did!" That little outburst made our day and since then, everything that ever desrves a gasp, gets an "OH MY BUDDHA!!"

elephants working along the Mekong River

elephants working along the Mekong River

elephants working along the Mekong River

We returned to the room to find Tom's bed covered with scraps. What are all these scraps? Well, a rat chewed his way into Tom's daysack and started nesting in it. Tom was slowly pulling things out to find his crackers all chewed up and that his money belt was destroyed. Mathew reminded Tom that the rat could still be in his bag, and sure enough, the rat jumped out of the bag and ran into the bathroom..... GREEEEAAAAAT!

Mathew and Tom chillin out near the engine

I guess the money belt was all soft and cozy and he also had crackers to munch on - what else would a rat want?

the side of our boat

Nilu getting some noisy fresh air

On day 2, we supplied ourselves a lot better with snacks and whatnot. This journey was fantastic, just beacuse the it was a different boat! Although the same layout, this boat was bigger and the benches weren't naile down! So, this meant we could move the benches any which way we wanted, and we did so by rearranging them into a circle so that we could play cards. It was a fun ride this time and we got to see more interesting things. We got to see elephants working along the banks of the Mekong river! They would move logs around and haul big, heavy items. We also got to see many caves along the river bank, one being carved ornately and filled with Buddahs. We really enjoyed this second day "safari", and we got to be very social with everyone on the boat.

The view of the Mekong from our seat

That was our 2 day Mekong river experience! We arrived in Luang Prabang that evening only to find that there was "no room at the inn". Apparenty, 2000 rooms were taken up by a VERY LARGE Thailand tourist group. OMG. After walking and walking and finally finding a place to stay, we found out that some had to sleep at the temple (the monks cant turn people away!) Anyways, we got there and had a nice room to stay at. This was truly an experience of a lifetime.

a Cave full of Buddahs along the Mekong River