Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
A Slow Boat
As for my trip into Laos. I met a nice local on the bus from Chiang Rai Thailand who told me I should stay at Bamboo Riverside instead of SP Guesthouse in Chiang Khong that night, but it all worked out fine at SP. I met another american and we played frizbee in the park at sunset over the Mekong. Nice. then took over the guesthouse (because we were the only 2 guests) and watched movies on their DVD player.
Next morning they packed me a good lunch and fed me b-fast and sent me off to the ferry. went through immigration, boarded a small row boat (ferry) and crossed the Mekong (which is the boarder). From there I went through immigration and found my way to the slow boat down the Mekong River. This was an INTERESTING ride. Having a choice between hard wood benches or sitting on the floor in the back, I chose the "riff raff lounge". It was full of foreigners, food, music, reading, journal writing, exchanging of stories, people lying all over. It was tons of fun and I made several new friends. And the food my guesthouse packed for me was a hit. But the after all day on this boat, we arrived in a sleepy litte grouping of wooden huts off the river at about 7pm (after dark). We climbed up a sand hill with our packs on our backs and started jockying for a room at the 3 guesthouses. I had a room reserved. BINGO. Since we were 3 or 4 boats full of travelers, a room was a hot commodity. Matter of fact, many people slept on the floor of the restaurant in our guesthouse. Everyone took in strangers, (well not exactly strangers after you've spent all day on a boat with them). I found a single woman from Holland, Avelyn, and offered her the other bed in my room. There was no hot water, it was dirty, we all slept in our clothes or in a sleep sak we brought, the power is generater based and turns off at 10pm. it was a total rip off but we had so much fun doing it together. More stories to come later.
Anyway, in Luang Prabang today. Nice little town. 5 of us hooked together into a little group for the next several days. Avelyn is sharing my room again. I don't mind. The others have 2 rooms across the street. We're sleeping in this morning and planning the rest at lunch.
- comments