Lovin' Laos...

First of all - the overnight bus trip from Pai to Chiang Khong (the Thailand side of the border) was awful. The road was incredibly windy, thus preventing any sleep whatsoever. After arriving at Chiang Khong I got Tuk-Tuk'd over to the longboats where I caught a boat to Laos (the border between the 2 countries is the Mekong River). Getting my visa in Laos was easy and quick (woohoo)! We arrived at the place where the slow boats leave from at 9am - thinking they left at 9:30. At just after 11am it took off (welcome to Laos time we were told).

The boat trip was beautiful! So much of the country is untouched that we would go for miles without seeing a single person. The actual boat was a bit crammed - there were about 70 people in it (8 feet wide and VERY long). Many had to sit on the floor. Because of this, we managed to meet some really great people - including a fellow UBC student!

The Mekong river was slow(ish). There were some spots that were a bit faster than others. Because of all of the rocks in the river, a lot of whirl pools form from the turbulence. We kinda got caught in one going to slow and got spun around and shot us straight at some more big rocks. It was quite entertaining to see how these people manage to get this super long boat out of situations like these. I wish I took a video.

We stopped for the night at Pakbeng, a 'town' right on the river. We stayed at a guest house for 1 dollar, in which we thought we had grabbed the deal of the trip, as we were expecting to pay a LOT more here. That night we found out why it was so cheap. No fan and a ton of rats. We never saw one, but we heard them on the roof, in the hall, and in our stuff. Yuck.

The second day on the boat just wasn't as comfortable for me. Maybe it was because I had one of the floor seats stuck between a bunch of cargo and a sleeping Lao lady. Nothing, however, could dampen the scenery... I think I got some great shots of fisherman, limestone cliffs, and longboats. I wasn't quick enough, however, to get a shot of the dead cow floating down the Mekong. Maybe next time.

We arrived in Luang Prabang in the early evening. LBP is not the capital of Laos, but it is the second largest city in the country, and a UNESCO world heritage site. There aren't really any easily accessible places to get money at night, so Jules and I were on a tight budget until the morning - oops.

So basically Laos is brilliant! Everything is so laid back and quiet; people are friendly; the city is beautiful & clean, and I have yet to see a single chain store! We did some exploring on foot today - saw an amazing Wat (temple) and hope to get a Lao massage later on today (we'll see how it compares to that of a Thai Massage).