We made the cross into Laos without event; made the short boat ride across the river, got my visa and stamps, and walked 20mins down to the dock. By 9am I had navigated the circuitous ticket buying process and had a ticket for Chris and I on the boat leaving at 11am. We boarded by 10am just in time to grab a two of the last bench seats at the back, an hour later people were still loading on with each bench holding two people and the aisle packed. Just when we would think 'surely we are full' they would squeeze on more people. Finally close to noon, in the presence of much grumbling, the powers that be decided to use a second boat as well, docked next to ours. The scramble for the new seats became a free for all with lots of people jumping from one boat over to the next...of course I made the jump, and Chris and I snagged two plastic chairs, a significant upgrade from the wooden bench, however our luggage remained on boat 1.
The ride down the Mekong was nice, but would have been gorgeous had the inversion not been so bad. It was a crazy experience being on a long wooden boat as it was navigated through rapids and around sandbars, with a few narrow misses. Overall it was mostly a good time to catch up on some reading and swap travel stories with other travelers.
We pulled into the small town of Pakbeng around 6pm towards the end of daylight, but waited another 30mins for our bags to show up on the other boat. When the other boat did finally show, grabbing out bags was total chaos; we stood on a small ledge of jagged, crumbly rock waiting for a chance to hop over the small plank and onto the boat for a chance to look for our bags while at the same time people from the boat tried to diembark...all in the dark. Chris finally made it on to the boat for a look around and after 30mins or so of looking I discovered that two locals standing near by were wearing our bags and demanding to carry them up the short hill for money. I'm sorry to admit that after the long, hot day cultural insensitivity overwhelmed me and I lost it and started yelling at this guy who at first remained obstinate but finally dropped the bag. On the 5 min hike up the hill I had to say no to illicit drug offers about every 50ft, a record so far.
Day two on the slow boat saw everyone on one large boat. Unfortunately the inversion continued to be bad, at times to the extent that it was hard to see beyond the banks of the river. Evening found us in Luang Prabong.
Photos: Slow Boat
The ride down the Mekong was nice, but would have been gorgeous had the inversion not been so bad. It was a crazy experience being on a long wooden boat as it was navigated through rapids and around sandbars, with a few narrow misses. Overall it was mostly a good time to catch up on some reading and swap travel stories with other travelers.
We pulled into the small town of Pakbeng around 6pm towards the end of daylight, but waited another 30mins for our bags to show up on the other boat. When the other boat did finally show, grabbing out bags was total chaos; we stood on a small ledge of jagged, crumbly rock waiting for a chance to hop over the small plank and onto the boat for a chance to look for our bags while at the same time people from the boat tried to diembark...all in the dark. Chris finally made it on to the boat for a look around and after 30mins or so of looking I discovered that two locals standing near by were wearing our bags and demanding to carry them up the short hill for money. I'm sorry to admit that after the long, hot day cultural insensitivity overwhelmed me and I lost it and started yelling at this guy who at first remained obstinate but finally dropped the bag. On the 5 min hike up the hill I had to say no to illicit drug offers about every 50ft, a record so far.
Day two on the slow boat saw everyone on one large boat. Unfortunately the inversion continued to be bad, at times to the extent that it was hard to see beyond the banks of the river. Evening found us in Luang Prabong.
Photos: Slow Boat
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