Our next leg of these closing weeks was north from Chiang Mai to cross the border into Laos. We took a direct bus from Chiang Mai to Chiang Khong (thai border side) and probably came even closer to Matt & Rian in distance terms, but so close, yet so far…
Once we had reached the border town, a short tuk-tuk whisked us down to the border which was basically a shed on one side of the river, then a little boat across the Mekong to the Laos side. Here we had visa formalities to take care of (i.e. pay!), then we had the task of finding accommodation, in what is basically a through town where people only stay one night – it showed.
Now, even though we were in Laos everything was priced in Thai Baht. There was a moment of excitement when we went to the Laos ATM, worked out the pound -> Lao Kip exchange rate then tried to withdraw a MILLION kip and be a millionaire – but that was short lived as the maximum withdrawal was 700k 
We paid for a room and then went to book our slow boat tickets to Luang Prabang hoping we could save on the 1000 Baht price the guesthouse manager was quoting – we couldn’t – the official pier prices were 950 The guesthouse we did stay in however had a fantastic balcony where we got these stunning (if I say so myself!) sunset photo’s from…
The next day we arose and set off for the slow boat, I was really looking forward to two days drifting down the Mekong, to relax and take in the scenery…well, once we were aboard we could certainly enjoy the scenery as the boat was very open, but the seats, were, er, like church pews! Very upright and with 8” of leg room! They then proceeded to fill the boat so that every 2-seater pew was full, then added three more for those without a seat! But we were away and the river & scenery were all that I expected – time to get out a good book, pop the iPod on and sip a cold beer!
comfy!
juice of Lao life
day 2…
We arrived in Pakbeng for our overnight which is described quite interestingly in the Lonely Planet: “rat infested place”. With our expectations quite low we had a pleasant night with Tom & Vinney (i.e. several beers), some good food and a mossy-free night – thanks to the mossy net provided! The room was only 3 quid too!
Next day we were aboard a different boat and being early we managed to get a couple of 1st class seats out the back of a Fiat Panda (or something similar) and we were off again! After an eight hour cruise we arrived in LP to the usual hustle & bustle of guesthouse touts and here we are.
Tags: huay xia, laos, luang prabang, mekong river, pakbeng, World Trip