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So got shipped off to the Mekong river which acts as the border crossing for Thailand/Laos. At check-in we had given our passports, this morning the guy from the hotel had all our passports together and we then hopped in a little boat to cross over to Laos. Once we were on the Laos side (Huay Xai) we realised there was no sight of the guy from the hotel or where are passports were, there were Dutch, Kiwi, French, American and a Chinese girl in our group and we were all a bit suspicious about the passports being taken. After a little wait on the bank of the river before passport control a completely different bloke turned up with our passports and we went through a tiny little customs. The new bloke took us to his restauraunt next to the slow boat port and spoke to us for ages about the border crossing and that at the first stop Pakbeng (which is half way to Luang Probang - the final destination) he recommended we got a guesthouse through him as everyone from the slow boat rushes to get the best ones and there arent many rooms etc. It was obviously a way to make you pay over the odds so most of us didnt bother. We finally got on the slow boat - i had 2 seats to myself which was nice for a wee nap and we set off. The boats aren't that slow and fit around 100 people on - we only had about 60 odd. It was going to be 9-10 hours until we reached Pakbeng. Shortly after leaving Huay Xai the scenery blossomed into an amazing array of green bulbous mountains shot up from the earth with such volcanic valocity from such a long time ago. The hours went by very fast aided by the visual feast and the Beer Lao. There were loads of people to chat to on he boat with the surroundings emitting a nice tranquil vibe. We arrived in Pakbeng about 6pm - as soon as you could see the small cluster of wooden buildings hiding on the hillside behind the trees the heavens opened and the monsoon gave its full force. A guy who i though was from the boat offered to carry my bag (i gathered he saw my bandages and it was a very muddy steep climb to get off the river shore). He wasnt from the boat and i realised my mistake even before he started asking for money. It was raining so much and my wallet was deep in my rucksack somewhere so i had to appologise and explain i had to change.......he followed me up the hill. I found a little shelter from the rain to gather my che, loads of guys trying to get you into a guesthouse and once you declined the next offer was "want some ganja?". There were a few trucks that were packing people in tight, setting off and everyone nearly toppling out over the sides. Luckily a spotted one further up where they had seats and a big beer garden umbrella - thank you very much. It droppd me off at a random guesthouse - checked out the room - very nice and rather cheap too. At check in the ask if you wanted a little sarny for tomorrows boat trip - oh go on then. Couldnt be bothered to dry off or clean ones self so just headed straight out for a gander. Well, the rain had stopped (typical!). Headed out to (what seemed like) the only bar in town. It was pumping out some loud tunes and had a roudy crowd in. The barman was pretty cool giving free whisky shots and intoducing me to Beer Lao "Dark". There was a group of about 20 people in there who were on some expensive 25-35 yr old tour of Laos with an Aussie guide. They were from all over the world and pretty wild. Took some photos for them and got rather drunk. Had an early start the next day and really didnt want to miss the bus incurring another day in the one street town of Pakbeng.
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