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hi
in laos at the moment and boy did we have fun getting her. we left chanig mai and got a bus up to th e thai / lao border before getting a boat over the next day. we were met by a guide who weas meant to take us to the slow boat for the 2 day trip down the mekong to loung prabang but this guy did a very good job at persuading us to get a "fast boat"aka speed boat for an extra cost, there were 4 of us easily persuaded that 6 hours was better than two days on the river. the aussie we met were also happy at this. anyway we were taken to a rickety old jetty and isuued with life jackets and crash helmets. this is when i started to becoe a bit concerned! the boat was then produced which looked a bit like a long piece of drift wood with this enourmous engine on the back. the unease was building but i though you only live once! we got in and at this point jenni decided to have a wee look at the lonely planet guide. as the boat started up and as i pereed at the book throught the visor of my crash helmet i read that "a fast boat ride down the meknog may seem like a good idea but many tourist die each year or are seriously injured". ok i thought not good. as the boat was on its way and as the four of us ( the aussies me and jenni) clung onto each other, the boat took off like a firework dodging and weaving its way down the mekong. the mekong itself bubbles and swirls away and its not until your on it that you realise how powerful it is. as i thought there both me and jenni were genuinely scared and as i remembered by dad say to me , if in doubt get out of there, i was about to do just that and make a swim for it, when the aussie girl amamda started waving her arms about like a wounded italian footballer. at this the driver / suicide piolt pulled over to a jetty were we disembarked and hijacked a lift on a slow boat with a local family heading in our direction. out of pocket a bit but with lives intact we arrived at pakbeng for the night to take the first guesthouse we seen which after our experience seemed like luxury.it wasnt until night time when the rats started to run around that we realised that we had made our seconf mistake.
we did survive but learned two valuable lessons - never get in a fast boat again and always shop around for a guesthouse.. we arriverd in loung prabang the next day and it was beautiful. we are now in a place called vang vieng and done tubing yesterday down the local river. if you ever come to laos you need to do this. it was awsome and the many bars at the side with rope swwings makes it even better.
anyway better go but will try and upload some photos in the next week for those who ar interested
love gillon and jenni
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