Country Number 2!
Trip Start
Nov 25, 2004
1
14
169
Trip End
Jan 26, 2005
Huay Xai,
Lao Peoples Dem Rep
Tuesday, December 14, 2004
We had rushed through the whole process as all the signs said that the slow boat to Luang Prabang departed Huay Xai at 08:30.....SUCKERS! We basically sat on an empty boat until 11 when it very speedily filled up with about 100 tourists and finally set off at midday!!! Excellent! The scenery down the Mekong was SUPERB but the seats were massively uncomfortable and we were abit disheartened that we were on a touristy boat (no-one else is allowed to travel! Hee hee!)! It was abit of a catch 22 though as the other option was to head down the river by speedboat, but we'd had lots of warnings against this as they go at about 80km an hour and accidents are common, so we decided to play it safe
Boat on the Mekong
! I did have second thoughts on more than one occasion though! Paul was very amused seeing a Grannie with a crash helmet bezzing down the Mekong at 80km an hour in the speedboat and we found it very amusing when the first one we saw had to stop and turn around as luggage had fallen out at high speed! HA!We stopped in the evening at a little village on the Mekong called Pakbeng and again saw the most beautiful sunset I've ever seen! The light on the water took your breath away! Had a pretty chilled evening, grabbed some food and slept like a log!
The next day started bright and early on the boat at 08:30 and it was bloody freezing! Everyone was wrapped up like it was the middle of winter...especially me! We passed lots of villages on the way down and stopped off every now and again to pick up random products to be moved onto villages further down the river including a piglet in a bag squeaking away, a deer and so many bags of sugar I'm surprised the boat stayed afloat! We eventually arrived in Luang Prabang around 17:30 to huge applause and headed into Luang Prabang to find somewhere to rest our weary heads and crippled backs! :0)
