This morning at 8AM we were picked up by minivan from our guesthouse and we headed to Chiang Khong, a small town on the Thai/Lao Border. From here, we took a short boat ride across the Mekong river, went through border checkpoint to the town of Huay Xai, and were thus officially in Laos.
We were driven to our 'slow boat', the large long boats that c
arry around 100 people up and down the mighty Mekong River. Alas, we arrived around 11AM, and were among the last passengers to arrive. I had heard about the boats being overcrowded, and now had the sinking feeling we were going to experience this first hand. All the seats were full. The floors were full. The luggage area was full. The engine room area was only moderately crammed, so we grabbed a spot on top of some backpacks while the g
etting was good. Unknown to us at the time, there was a rebellion up front by some passengers who were trying to convince the crew to get a second boat. Had we known, we would have joined them.
So the engine fired up, and it was deafening in the small room; luckily we had ear-plugs on hand (an essential travel accessory in Asia).
The smell of diesel permeated the room. So we spent the next 6 hours plying our way down the Mekong river. Luckily we were near a small window, so we could at least distract ourselves from our discomfort with the stunning scenery.
We arrived in Pak Beng, the halfway
point, around 5:30PM, got ourselves a room, and waited almost an hour for a dinner which arrived cold. We were not completely impressed with our first day is Laos.
We were driven to our 'slow boat', the large long boats that c
arry around 100 people up and down the mighty Mekong River. Alas, we arrived around 11AM, and were among the last passengers to arrive. I had heard about the boats being overcrowded, and now had the sinking feeling we were going to experience this first hand. All the seats were full. The floors were full. The luggage area was full. The engine room area was only moderately crammed, so we grabbed a spot on top of some backpacks while the g
etting was good. Unknown to us at the time, there was a rebellion up front by some passengers who were trying to convince the crew to get a second boat. Had we known, we would have joined them.So the engine fired up, and it was deafening in the small room; luckily we had ear-plugs on hand (an essential travel accessory in Asia).
The smell of diesel permeated the room. So we spent the next 6 hours plying our way down the Mekong river. Luckily we were near a small window, so we could at least distract ourselves from our discomfort with the stunning scenery.We arrived in Pak Beng, the halfway
point, around 5:30PM, got ourselves a room, and waited almost an hour for a dinner which arrived cold. We were not completely impressed with our first day is Laos.
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