Long, slow boat ride to Laos, Part I

An 8 hour drive in a 9-passenger mini-bus kicks off my 3-day journey from Chiang Mai, Thailand, to Luang Prabang, Laos. Collecting passengers from among CM's numerous guest houses takes about 45 minutes. While we wait for a few Irish fellows, an impossibly large truck navigates the twisted, narrow back streets and pulls into a driveway we had to back out of to make way. I suppose the hotels need their pepsi and someone's got to bring it. All loaded up, the AC struggled to keep us cool. We had to open the windows with no AC for about 30 minutes to climb a beautiful mountain road. We decided windows open and no AC was more effecient anyway and went that route the rest of the journey. Arriving in Chiang Kong (Xiang Hong? spelling is rather relative here), I got a room facing east with a beautiful view of the Mekong river and Laos across the way. I cannot believe I am here.

I decide to investigate the town and wind up purchasing a $6 hamock (the $1.25 one seemed a bit flimsy...), 3 meters of rope, a lighter and a knife. I already felt I was carrying too much, so I'm not sure what I was thinking, but if I get the chance to sleep out for even 1 or 2 nights, it will pay for itself. :)

The red disk of the morning sun climbed through the mist-shrouded trees on the ridge across the river and created an orange exclaimation point with its reflection (as if emphasis were necessary...). Amazing. My photos will not do it justice, and I took them anyway.

After breakfast, travelers and gear were loaded into pick-up trucks and carted about 500 m to the boarder. Got my passport stamped, got in a ferry, and arrived less than a minute later in Laos! Filled out an arrival form, got my visa checked and passport stamped and walked up the hill to be crammed into another truck/taxi and carted about a km over terrible pot-hole filled roads to the boat dock. I pity the trucks in this country...

We were told there would be limited accomodation at Prabang where the boat would stop for the night, so if we didn't have a place booked, we should book with them then. I did not think to ask if my TAT package included a room for that night (I think it may have), so I booked. 200 Bhat ($5) didn't seem too bad...well, upon arrival, there was a mob of Laos people offering rooms. Prabang's main street was basically alternating guesthouses, restaurants, and miscelaneous shops. At least the lesson not to believe accomodation bookers was learned fairly cheaply (could have had a place for 100 Bhat without too much effort, but most really were 200).