Slow Boat and Luang Prabang, Laos

It has been a long 9 days since our course ended in Chiang Mai. On Wednesday morning Leighton and I piled into a van and started the 6 hour drive to the Laos border on the mighty Mekhong River. It was long and hot but we stopped at some fun little places along the way. At the border we had arranged accomodation overnight and rides to the border and the boat for the morning. We waited...

In the morning we had a light breakfast and got underway... Laos! The first time either of us had ever crossed a border by "land"... it was actually by boat over the river. Close enough though as we weren't at 30,000 feet! It was excting for me especially because it was my first communist country as well. The Laos flag flies proudly next to the hammer and sickle. Very cool.

Once we cleared immigration and regrouped we were told to wait some more as the boat wasn't leaving at 10:30 as planned but at noon instead. We found our boat after the issued our tickets and we grabbed some lunch and found a couple of seats, along with a girl called Emily from London we met while waiting to get our visas. Suddenly everyone had to switch to a bigger boat and we all grabbed our things and ran to the next one... nabbing a row of 3 very comfy seats that looked like they had been harvested from a minivan somewhere. They were much better than the itty bitty wooden benches we had on the first boat. We settled back and the boat pulled away... down the river to our next adventure.

Pak Beng! Be warned, fellow adventurers, they know you'll pay whatever they ask! It's overpriced and they'll take advantage of your stupidity on exchange rates and hotel prices. We found a nice little place up the hill to the left called Mounmee (I think) for a very reasonable price. He has two locations in town, but we had the quieter one and managed to get the price lowered even further after we promised to eat dinner at his place. That night was quiet, but fun.

We wandered down to the main street and tried to find "the only bar in town" which ended up being so far away we joked that the "buffalo" we kept seeing on menus was actually foreigners stupid enough to try to find the bar! We weren't quite right... however if you're looking for illicit drugs simply walk down the street and many friendly men will offer them to you. Be warned... jail awaits if you get caught. On the bright side, after the first 40 or so years you'd likely be very good at Laos!

We ended up falling in with some Argentinians and a Chilean we knew from the boat. They were all very friendly and loved my terrible attempts at Spanish. Leighton found it particularly funny when Enrique, the Chilean from Valpraiso, corrected me with every word. After a beer we headed back to the Mounmee and crashed out. In the morning we had breakfast and ordered some sandwiches for the long boat ride (9 hours to LPB), then we headed for the boat. We didn't get the comfy seats this time, but that was just some karma for the people who sat on the floor the day before. We found some benches (bigger than the previous boat's) and settled in. It was pretty cold on the river from the storm that blew through the night before, and we spent a lot of the day bundled and on the floor to avoid the wind. Eventually, as the sun set to our left we found the banks of Luang Prabang and our final desitination for the Mekhong... for now.

LPB, as it's known, is such a lovely little town. It's fairly touristy with its broad bricked sidewalks and numerous French bistros, coffee shops, and endless street markets. The whole experience here has been one of calm and comfort- the town has laws against honking your horn. The monks are everywhere and they are very friendly. The local people are smiley and kind; I've yet to feel ripped off and have spent the last 2 days just strolling around enjoying the smells and sights.

Today we visited a waterfall about an hour outside of town. Let me just say... AMAZING. So pretty. Endless pools of blue water cascading down gradual steppes complete with trees and bushes blossoming right out of the middle. I swam and got my first chance to test the underwater capabilities of my camera. Fun! We climbed all the way to the top of the mountain to see the spout and found lots of mud and got pretty lost before essentially sliding back down. It was fun and relaxing but sporty. Good day.

We're headed back to the food market we found last night for seconds on local buffet style dining. It was pretty delish with a single plate (piled high ;) ) costing only 10,000 kip... about $1.25. With a beer it rounded off to $2 for more than enough of some of the most incredible food I've had in a while. We also found the Laos version of a Chiang Mai specialty: Kaoh Soi. It is normally a curry-like brothy soup with a bit of chicken and some cabbage... a little spicy. Here in Laos it is an amazing combination of roasted tomato broth with a beef stock base with beans, a bit of ground beef, and some noodles. It was similar to chili, only brothier and much better. The best part was the plate of fresh herbs that came with it: mint, cilantro, lettuce, lime... piled all into the bowl it was a little bit of heaven right here in Laos.

We're headed out at 8:30 tomorrow morning and on our way to Vang Vieng next. It will be a bit of debauchery (shhhhhh) and then on to Vientien, the capital. But before that we plan to get up at 5ish and go outside to feed the monks who pass by each morning to collect their food for the day. The can only eat from sunrise to midday, only vegetarian, and can't kill (i.e cook) anything themselves. We're giving cornflakes we knicked from the resort we did our CELTA at. :)

That's all for now... pictures will be around eventually but for now just close your eyes and imagine a land of rolling hills so lush and green it seems impossible. That's where we are... and we're loving every second of it.