slow boat into Laos

Day 61 July 12, 2010

We arrived in Luang Prabang by way of the infamous slow boat. It was a two-day long journey down the Mekong River in a slender wooden boat packed, and I mean PACKED, full of passengers.

We crossed the border into Laos from Chiang Khong, a town in Northern Thailand. Unfortunately the border had closed at 6pm the night our VISAs expired, so we had to stay the night in Chiang Khong and pay an overstay fee of 500 baht ($16) each when we finally crossed the next morning. The border officers had no compassion or understanding of the fact that we had tried to cross the night before. "500 baht" was all the officer said to me when I tried to plead my way out of having to pay. "But it hasn't even been a full day yet." I stated. When Chris handed over his fee to one of the officers, I noticed him pocket some money. I don't know for sure what the deal was with that, but it looked suspicious to me.

Because we are Canadian Citizens, we also had to pay $43 USD each for our VISA into Laos, when most other nationalities are only required to pay $30.

Chris and I hadn't bought our tickets for the boat yet, as we were hoping to find a better deal at the pier than what all the travel agencies in Thailand had been advertising. Some men at the border tried to sell us tickets for 1500 baht each. We declined and paid 900 baht each at a travel agency that claimed that this price is set the same everywhere. Of course, the actual price at the pier was only 750 baht.

We got on a tuk tuk to the pier and met a couple from Paris on the way. We were shuffled into a waiting area where Chris and I loaded up on snacks for the trip (a fellow traveler had tipped us on the fact that you can't get much food on the boat). Chris and I made our way down to the boat to try and find a good seat. The boat was already full, or what I perceived to be full, so we squished our bums onto a small wooden bench that literally had no leg room. Twenty minutes later a large group of backpackers made their way onto the boat. Everyone's packs were shoved beneath the floor boards of the boat and somehow people managed to find a space to sit. I think the boat left the pier at around 11:30am.

The ride down the Mekong was quite beautiful. The scenery was amazing with lush green jungle on either side along with the occasional small riverside village nestled in the hills. We passed many people fishing in the river, kids swimming, herds of water buffalo, and even a few elephants feeding at the river's edge. We stopped at a few villages along the way either to drop some people off or pick some up. I think the amazing views along the way are what helped us endure the pain of sitting in cramped quarters on a hard bench. I avoided having to use the toilet as I had heard from other travelers that it was basically just a small hole in the floor at the back of the boat with no walls for privacy. Eeeek!

Our boat floated into a small town called Pak Beng at around 7pm, which is where we stayed the night. Chris and I noticed right away how different this place appeared from anywhere we'd been in Thailand. It seemed to be much more impoverished, less developed, and the people seemed to avoid eye contact with us as we walked down the main street. Another thing I couldn't help but notice were all the kids - there were tons of kids and babies everywhere we looked!

The next morning we got back on the boat at around 8:30am, though it was a different boat this time. It was smaller and the seats were fewer and more crammed together. Many people wound up sitting on the floor.

Just when I thought that there was no possible way that anyone or anything else could fit on this boat, we stopped at a village where we waited for about 30 minutes as dozens more people loaded on. I kept thinking of the analogy of the jar that isn't quite full until rocks, sand, and then water fill every crevice. I was surprised when on came a motorbike, huge sacks of sugar and rice, large baskets full of clucking chickens and quacking ducks, and sacks with turkeys poking their heads out. There was one particular turkey in the front who appeared to blend in with the crowd as if it, too, was another person crammed onto this crazy boat. Once the boat was filled to the brim, people hopped onto the roof and hauled all their livestock up with them.

It was a long, sweaty ride, but we met some interesting people on the boat before finally arriving in Luang Prabang at around 6pm that night. 

Since our arrival in Luang Prabang, we've witnessed the Alm's Giving Ceremony, where about 300 monks march down the main street from their temples at 5:30 am and receive offerings of sticky rice and banana or coconut rice packed inside banana leaves from the locals. After the Monk Procession we hiked the stairs up Mount Phousi and got a spectacular view of the city as the sun rose. Then we rented mountain bikes and cycled for 3 hours (a total of 36km!) under the scorching sun, up and down rolling hillsides, and through small villages until we reached Kuang Si Waterfalls, which were beyond beautiful. As we struggled through the heat, once in a while we'd pass a group of kids who would extend their arms out toward as and give us 'high-fives' as we passed. "Sabaideeee" they'd yell at us excitedly. This made me happy and renewed my energy to keep going. We passed a lot of farmland including rice paddies and cornfields. After spending a couple of hours at the waterfalls and observing some black moon bears (one was hanging out in a hammock), we caught a tuk-tuk back to town, with our bikes strapped to the roof. We shared the ride with a group of Irish travelers who were hilarious and made fun of us for giving up and not riding alllll the way back on our bikes.