Same Same but different

Dear all

View from our Guest House in Chaing Khong


Back again, but in a different country. The past few days have been very exciting with our move to our next country Laos. It is also extremely slow on the internet here so I am splitting the post into two today as it is averaging an hour to upload five pictures!!
We left Pai 8pm on Tuesday night in a prebooked minibus which originally only had 8 people get on - result (we thought) we can spread out & get some sleep. That was not going to happen. Our driver obviously wanted to break some Thai land speed record and proceeded to drive down the steep and windy roads as if he was practicing for the next world rally! Due to the rain in the previous night there was just the added stresses of a number of mudslides to navigate along with a few lorries trundling up the hill (he didn't seem to mind which side of the road he drove on as long as it was fast!) and it all added up to a potent cocktail of potential sleep deprivation in the making! Most people had probably only just eaten and it was too much for one of the Americans in front of us who to the amusement of the driver had to get off to feed the ants........ The thought did cross our minds that he had bets on who he could get to be ill first! I can tell you I could have been a close second, but the road magically started to level off as we neared the outskirts of Chaing Mai so I was relieved of the ignominy
Four more people were crammed in at this point so now we were all wedged in and with the fact that the air con was about as useful as a chocolate teapot, the heat helped us into a doze state for the rest of the journey so when we arrived at the border in Chaing Khong at 3.30am (eugh!) we had a least had a couple of hours sleep! We climbed into bed at a guest house (thankfully included in the price the tour company) & no sooner had we shut our eyes then it was 7.00 and we were up for ubiquitous breakfast of eggs, sweet bread & either sweet tea or gritty coffee.

Crossing on the Ferry to Laos




Above  is the view from our terrace of our first glimpse of the mighty Mekong River, which is this muddy orange colour from the iron rich soil and all the other 'things' that filter their way in! Yep folks welcome to the biggest open sewer in SE Asia!  We travelled down to the ferry exiting Thailand on the way then we were on our way to Loas



All prepared, but for what!

 Most of the people we had travelled with had booked the slow boat and we waved them off on their two days trip. The staff at the travel office all thought it very amusing that we were taking the speed boat, which at that time seemed a little weird (oh boy were we in for a shock!) The driver took us to a little pier where we climbed onto a narrow boat loaded our luggage and one other passenger and off we went.... This wasn't too bad
Within about 10 mins we pulled up at another pier where another boat was was waiting and we were both asked to transfer into one of the small sections in front of the driver. We could just about sit there with our backs wedged in at the back and our knees pushed into the seat in front occupied by two small Japanese ladies. We then set off and realised just why everyone  thought our choice was so funny as we literally were unable to move one inch for 2 and a half hours until we stopped for lunch. There are no words to describe how uncomfortable it was............


Getting faster !! (you can just see the spray)



During our lunch Dean was approached and offered some more space if we wanted to pay more, but our Euro spirit (don't forget Dean is Irish so I cant say British Bulldog!) rose to the top and we refused on principal... getting back in the boat was hard, but the worst was yet to come as the driver obviously unhappy with his abilities to extract more 'tourist tax' drove at a rate akin to the drive the night before, but without any means of seeing where he was going and the luggage was all piled up on the front of the boat!! We arrived an hour earlier than scheduled which one would normally consider is not bad for a 6 hour journey, apart from the inherent dangers we had faced. I for one was pretty glad I couldn't feel from the waist down by the end or otherwise I might not have been able to control my feelings or other muscles...... A quick ride to the centre of Luang Prebang, quickly booking into the lovely Thanaboun Guest House in the main street and we were able to relax with Deans new favourite drink Beer Lao! We had some lovely Lao food and then collapsed into bed our bodies still bouncing in time to the waves of the Mekong.

I will be back shortly with our first day in Luang Prabang

Thanks for looking

Hugs

Sara