It was early to rise to get an early start crossing the Mekong from Thailand to the Laos border.Before departing Thailand we had to go through Thai immigration and have our passports stamped and pay a departure tax. The Thai border crossing was uneventful - took a long tail boat to Laos. Before getting on the boat the bags had to be loaded on a boat pulled up on a muddy river bank.This was another lesson for those who brought large bags or too much.The boat docked on a muddy river bank and we all had to haul our luggage up a long hill to a waiting pick-up truck – my suggestion would be that the pick-up drive down to the river and pick us up -- seemed like a new idea to them.
Waiting long tail boats
Start your motors....and hold your ears
Laos immigration was chaos with hundreds of tourists all trying to do the same thing at once – get their immigration document stamped and change money. The big group of French tourists could not understand why they could not automatically go to the head of the line.They were quite upset that they had to wait their turn.
Laos immigration
Down the Mekong We headed directly for the boat that would take us down the MekongRiver.A long boat complete with "happy room" (toilet), a crew of 4 and a new Lao guide to help out Cat.Everyone was taking pictures as we started the trip – the scenery and life along the river was very photogenic and interesting.
The boat ride down the Mekong
The Mekong water level was low
Around 5pm we docked and headed to our hotel - a very modern looking place with one fault....the electric power came on at 6pm and went off at 10pm. We arrived about 5pm so it was an hour wait outside until the power came on.When the power did come on, the hotel came alive – fountains started to flow, decorations lit up the room lights turned on.After unpacking, we headed into the village of Pakbeng for a local dinner of Lao food - quite good – my newly acquired taste for curry was satisfied.After dinner it was back to the hotel before "lights out".On schedule, the lights, air conditioning and the fan all went off at 10pm (this was the reason they suggested we have a flash light). In the middle of the night I had to make a toilet break only to find that I could NOT find the bathroom in the dark!My flashlight was tucked away in my bag.Disoriented, I fell out of bed waking up my roommate who was wondering what the hell was going on.
Village of Pakbeng, Laos
After the lights on at 6am in our Pakbeng hotel we headed for the boat which continued our 200 km journey down the Mekong.It was a great sunny day but very COLD. Everyone had all the clothes they could find in the hope of trying to stay warm.I have to admit that we had been warned by GAP that it might be cold. The hotel in Pakbeng packed us a lunch and we had it on the way. In all 200 km we did not see one bridge and very few people -- just a lots of jungle. The Mekong water level was very low so the boat captain had to be careful of the huge rocks along the way.
View of the Mekong from our Pakbeng hotel
Lunch on the boat
We made two stops on the second day - one was a hill tribe village with people selling lots of needle work crafts - all very beautiful and cheap. The people were so poor and they looked like they really depended on selling their goods so I bought two Hmong pillow covers.Then it was on to a cave with thousands of Buddha images/statues. Along the stairs leading up to the cave, children were selling birds to be released in hope of gaining favor from Buddha.Others were selling trinkets under the watchful eye of their mother.
The cave entrance
Village hand crafts
Looks like grandfather childcare here
We arrived in Luang Prabang around 5pm. We checked into our hotel - this time I got the single – since there were three guys traveling solo in our group we rotated the single room. The one thing I have had trouble with is the hotel toilets.Generally, the “happy room” is one room with toilet, sink and shower all in one place - so the room is always wet and slippery.
Our boat docked for a village visit
Our Lao guide and Cat the GAP guide
Our Luang Prabang hotel
The group headed off for a group dinner at a restaurant overlooking the Mekong.Since the level of the Mekong was so low the shore was about a half a mile away but still it was quite a nice outdoor cafe. After dinner it was off to the night bazaar and turn in for an early night.
