Border cross into laos
Trip Start
Aug 07, 2008
1
35
79
Trip End
Ongoing
Huay Xai,
Lao Peoples Dem Rep
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
via slow boat to a new country ... LAOS (the "s" is silent)
there was an option of a "fast" boat, but we chose the slow one to enjoy the scenery and to avoid any chances of dying... the fast option gets you to Luang Prabang a day faster, but you basically strap on a helmet and go balls out down river for 6 hours... apparently there are crashes every six months and foreigners were only recently allowed back on these boats... so we chose to take a minivan to the border town of Chiang Khong, where we stayed at some GHETTO place, then take a slow putt putt type of boat to Pak Beng, then another day on the boat before arriving in Luang Prabang.
let's talk about the boat ride... day 1: 6 hours with about 150 other people sitting on wooden benches. but we met some really cool people who invited us into their home when we arrive in New Zealand. and i must say, the scenery is underrated at best. it is absolutely gorgeous! all of northen laos is stunning... untouched jungles, scenic rivers and mountain peak after mountain peak only separated by flat patches of rice fields. the night after the first day of boating, we arrived at a small riverside town called Pak Beng. cool little town, that is sustained by the daily boats of tourists that go by via slow boat. it was a cozy little place that had one street, maybe 200 meters in length up a hill. on both sides were guesthouses and alternating restaurants. quaint, somewhat cute and really rustic... the electricity even went out at 10pm each day because the lack of it in that area... we spent that night having dinner with three kiwis, an american, about 6 or seven english and a french gentleman. over our first introduction to Beer Lao (that good, BTW), lao lao (some kind of a homemade whisky of sorts) and pork Larp (a regional dish of minced meat and veggies with a touch of spice) we laughed and debated over which country's food was the best... actually, maybe i was making the argument all by myself about how korean was king!... as far as i remember, no one disagreed.
the next day on the boat was 8 hours of more of the same... reading, card games, talking about where we've been, where we're headed and a never ending exchange of invites to each others countries... it's funny, maybe its just around eunice and me, but the topic of food keeps coming up everywhere we go... one of the english girls even asked us recommendations on what to do in LA and between eunice, myself and our new found californian friend, we wrote down two pages of places to eat...
all in all, the ride was long, it was hot but it was not boring and it was not unbearable... those long travel days are excellent opportunities to meet new people and just share about life and the upcoming election...
