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Pakbeng, our first overnight stop-off, halfway through our 2 day slow boat trip (when booking they neglected to tell us that it would take this long!), was one of the most curious of places that we'd been to so far. Its very small, and is mainly comprised of guesthouses. As soon as we jumped off the boat, all the locals had surrounded us, and hostel staff walked among us touting prices. It was all a bit manic, and not helped by the fact that there were little kids running around in between legsm looking for opportunities to nick stuff. We walked away from the crowd to try and get some prices, and as soon as we found a seemingly suitable guesthouse (not so after closer inspection!), the first thing the very sketchy owner did was to offer us 'happy pancakes'! We realised later that Pakbeng was in the centre of the 'Golden Triangle', one of the largest opium and drug production areas in the world! Anyway, we thought the best way to get away from all the marijuana and opium offers was to bunk down asap for an early start the next day, although not before Leanna and Nikki had some pancakes - fortunately not filled with 'happiness', but still very, very yummy!
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