To enter Laos we booked a package with our guest house in Chiang Mai that took us down the Mekong River by "slow boat" to Luang Prabang over two days. We had a bit of a row at the beginning of each day because the tour co. tried to put 130+ of us on one boat. Not to toot our horn, but each time we instigated the solution. The first day we brought the tour operator down to deal with the problem and then watched the crowd overwhelm him. The second day we boarded the boat that was already full, much to their objection. We forced the issue and a group of people lead by a women seated up front, convinced that we weren't going to leave, stood up and lead a group of over thirty people off forcing the operators to get another boat. Not everyone was onboard, one girl even jumped the line telling us "she has to get on this boat, I don't want to get stuck here". Our boat left first due to a separate issue with the local police. After we settled into the second boat Stan went straight over to the women and thanked her for helping. Anyway, back to the river. Once underway the river took on many different characteristics. Twisting and turning around large sandbars it got surprisingly violent at times. Rapids and powerful fjords caused the long narrow boat to dip and slide around large rock formations jutting out of the water. The shores and hillsides were mostly empty, except for the occasional riverside bamboo hut village. During the trip Bevin befriended an adorable little Thai girl traveling with her family. She was shy and reluctant at first, but soon warmed to Bevin's charm and camera, as did her uncle, a Buddhist monk. The monk, we found, had been travelling for about two years, spending over a year of his time in the most unusual place, Stamford, Connecticut. Just as a note our overnight stay was in Pak Beng. An indiscriminate village at the rivers edge that was uneventful other than a few too many Lao Laos(homemade rice wine). Next stop Luang Prabang.
1 comment:
good to hear from you guys. are elephants the main form of transportation over there. less co2 but more methane. your not feeding them beefareeno are you? anyway definitely mtn bikes in canada. we just had our yearly, semi yearly couples night out at a place called cork in westmont great place. the only ones who weren't there were greg and ang, rob and dee and of course the touristas. it was on jacks b day and by the end of the night he had on his famous glazed look and was nearly swerving into tables. it was a blast. it was good to see neil and karen as well.
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