After making my way to the thai border i ...
Trip Start
Oct 25, 2001
1
27
56
Trip End
Ongoing
Pakbeng/Luang Prabang,
Lao Peoples Dem Rep
Monday, January 28, 2002
After clearing immigration with increadable ease we made our way down to the slow boat pier to carry on for 7 hours down stream to the tiny village of Pakbeng.
I knew travel in Laos was not only slow, but times are irregular, with breakdowns inevitable, but as our boat left the pier the engine spluttered to a stop!
-We had barely travelled 10 metres and we had broke down!! After some loud shouting between the driver and the on board mechanic, the tool kit came out along with the spanners!!!
The slow paced views along the Mekong were spectacular, although after 7 hours of sitting on the hard wooden bench, by the time the boat reached Pakbeng my arse cheeks were so tense that they were trying to take bite sized chunks out of the wood!!
(01) The national flag
! Pakbeng is mainly just a stopping off point en route to Luang Prabang, but i managed to find a really nice basic hut with spectacular views looking over the Mekong river.
Although there wasn't much of interest in the small village, i thought it would be a good idea to stay an extra day to relax, (giving my ass cheeks a 'day off'and explore the dotted villages and visit 2 nearby monasteries.
Just before i left Pakbeng i prepared myself for the next 8 hour journey on the slow boat. But when i looked the boat it was excessively overloaded, and unlike the previous slow boat, it had no windows in which to look out of. It really looked like a old 'refugee' boat, the way the luggage was piled up up high on the roof, and the cramped conditions the travellers and locals had to endure inside. I wasn't going to torture myself to that kind of punishment...I had 2 choices. 1 was to take 2 days to travel by road to Luang Prabang (not very appealing) or the other was to travel down stream on a small canoe they called a 'speed boat' with a mighty huge engine attached to the rear, Taking only 3 hours to get to Luang Prabang.
As you can imagine it didnt take me long to make a decision, Although we were warned that the speed boats were dangerious in the dry seasason
(02) Map of Laos
. if the driver steered us accidently into one of the hidden rocks, we would be flung out like a loose cannon ball!!!- Reading in my guide book didn't help either telling us about a traveller that died a few years back when the speed boat he was travelling on hit a rock near Pekenbeng.We donned our crash helmets, life jackets, and i also put my ear plugs in to prevent me from going deaf from the huge engine behind, then we set off down the river.
Before i knew it we were skimming along the river at over 60kmh, passing the 'refugee boat' within the first 5 minutes. The driver that sat on the engine steering the speed boat worried me slightly...He had no eye protection from the intense sun, and wind, wondereing how he managed to steer us down the river? A small rainbow followed the boats spray of water. I knew there wasn't treasure at the end of this rainbow...Just rocks!!
It was a real 'white knuckle ride' as we sped our way down to Luang Prabang.
We arrived in Luang around 12pm. The 'refugee' boat had another 5 hours before it reached town, giving us the upper edge for finding a good room for the night.
