After a month in Luang Prabang staying at the Hello Guesthouse and teaching English, I leave for Thailand via the slow boat up the Mekong River. You can choose to do the slow boat over 2 days to get to the border town of Huay Xia for the crossing into Thailand. Or you can do the trip in a day on the fast boats. These are high powered speed boats with a limited carrying capacity but they can get you there fast. I choose the slow boat so the destination for today is a village on the river called Pak Beng. I book two nights here to have a look around.
Wei was kind enough to take me to the boat terminal in his car, saving me the Tuk Tuk fare. Kevin and Jack came to see me off too. This was a nice gesture. We get to the terminal in plenty of time and I get my ticket for 105,000 kip. We say our goodbyes. Jack takes photos and they end up on Facebook.
On the boat are about even Lao to foreigners. I’m surprised by the number of foreigners around at this time of the year. As well as our boat there are chartered boats full of tourists. Fortunately our boat is not over crowded so there’s room to spread out. The river has a significant current in it making the boat work hard. Visible and invisible rocky outcrops make the water boil and swirl. The skippers of these boats have to be experienced. The river is full of hazards, some they would be familiar with and some that appear without warning. It’s the wet season and the extra flow brings with it all sorts of debris.
We make good speed. Either side of the river are jungle covered hills and peaks. It’s so green in contrast to the muddy brown river. Villages splatter the river edges on both sides. The jungle gives way to the occasional banana or corn crop. Goats, cattle and buffalo feed and water on the river’s edge. What a great way to travel. I keep an eye out but don’t find any wild animals.
We reach Pak Beng around 6.30pm after departing Luang Prabang at 8.30am. There are plenty of sprukers to greet us but I’ve booked my guesthouse through Agoda. Pity! It takes about 800 meters up the road to get to my guesthouse with the unpronounceable name.
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