Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
From Huoay Xai we went to Luang Prabang. There were a few different options available to us for this transit and we decided to take the slow boat option. This was partly to try something new and partly so that we could have "when I was on the Mekong..." in our conversation arsenals.
Just in case you're wondering, there is also a "fast boat" which does the trip in half the time and we were overtaken by a few of them on our way. The reason we opted out of taking one was that they are essentially just big wooden planks with a massive noisy engine strapped to the back. They are also notorious for crashing and one Laotian's re-assurance that "you don't need to worry, they tie inflated balloons on to your belongings - so if it turns over you don't lose your bags (big smiley face)" actually made us less inclined to take one!
The slow boat, on the other hand, is textbook travelling - a relaxing two-day trip on the Mekong as it winds it's way through the rolling jungle-covered hills. You have plenty of time to absorb the craggy riverscape which is speckled with fishermen, water buffalo and washing villagers. And it's slow, which is so Laos.
And it has a bar! Yes, so textbook is this trip that it's been finely tuned to cater for the thousands of falang (which is the only ever-so-slightly derogatory word for white foreigners) who make the same journey every year. There was a little part of me which craves unique and authentic cultural experiences that was disappointed to find we were sharing the blissful solitude with 80-odd other tourists. But there was also a much bigger part of me which told that part to chill out and crack open another Beer Lao. We bumped into a few new friends on the boat and so we had a lovely time reading, chatting, drinking, playing card games, landscape gazing, eating crisps and keeping an eye out for photo opportunities to capture the spirit of the Mekong.
- comments