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After crossing the border from Thailand to Laos at Chiang Khong (which was literally just crossing a river) we decided to brave the two day slow boat to the peaceful city of Luang Prabang from Huay Xai down the Makong Delta.
We heard rumours that the boats were over crowded, sat on wooden benches and of course very very slow. When we arrived at boat 020 at around 9.30am we were pleasantly surprised, not a very big boat and lined with wooden benches but no where near full and as we arrived early we got the comfy voach seats at the back.
Reality kicked in when more and more westerners boarded the boat armed with whiskey to get themselves through and we left one and a half hours late with a very full, cramped boat down the Mekong Delta.
Sailing down the beautiful Mekong Delta was the highlight obviously and stopping at the remote villages to drop off food supplies etc was an added bonus of the boat, although seeing the poor conditions some of the people lived in was upsetting at times.
Six long hours later and a lot of reading on Jh's part we arrived in Pak Beng. We were met by men trying to persuade everyone to stay at their guesthouse, literally they boarded the boat with signs, shouting the rates, it was like a pirate invasion ;)
We decided on one for 50,000Kip arounf 3.50GBP, it was steal at that price, clean and a hot shower. Lonely Planet does warn people about leaving bags in the room as many have gone missing in the past, but we couldn't take out our big bags so we used the good old bicycle lock to attach out bags tot he very heavy wooden beds before heading out for FOOD!
The only thing to note about the evening is that a flying cockroach repeatedly flew into my face! Yes, they can fly!! We got back to the room to find the bags safe and sound.
DAY TWO - 9 HOURS
Another nine hours on the boat but to our surprise as we walked down the "pier" we realised that it was a different boat, a bigger and better boat, no wooden benches in sight jsut rows of comfortable coach seats and even life jackets. Much better journey.
The journey was more or less the same as yesterday except no village children came to try and sell us things on teh boat, they were all too busy having fun, playing in the river, jumping in, covernig themselves in mud, all laughing and joking with eachother, it was wonderful to see after the day before.
The further we sailed down river the more impressive the view became, huge limestone rocks, we were getting closer to Luang Prabang. An hour and a half early we arrived to the heckling of "guesthouse, very nice, cheap cheap".
We assessed the map and set off walking in the sweltering heat, rucksacks on (you can imagine Jh - hahah) only to find that the budget hostel had chenged hands and now only did a/c rooms with TVs, well out of our price range so we flagged a tuktuk and went to another cheapy, Kinally Guesthouse - a lovely room overlooking the rooftops of Luang Prabang.
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