We have had a few days of getting soaked whilst on dry land, so decided that we would head up Mekong river and branch off into the Nam Ou river to the small village of Nong Khiaw, where hopefully the New Year clelbrations were taking a little longer to get off the ground. We had something of a shock when we saw the boat that was to take us and 6 other people on the day-long journey. No more than 3 feet wide and sitting 2 by 2 this was a tight boat ride, with no room to stretch your legs (we should have seen this as a taste of things to come) - we couldn't understand why we weren't getting one of the big comfortable ones that we had seen heading up river. When we set off we began to understand why the boat was so small. It was literally skirting on the water, so that it would be easy and comfortable to pass over the many small rapids on the journey. At times the river was so shallow that we could touch the bottom just by dipping our hand into the water. And then at one uncomfortable jolt the boat ground to a halt as the hull and rocks collided and we were grounded on the river bed, with the water crashing past us on the rocks. All the guys had to get out of the boat and push us on our way, then jump back in quickly as the engine spluttered into life and we were on our way again. The scenery along the route is some of the finest in Laos but unfortunatley we had picked a bad time of year for the journey. We don't know if it was tradition as part of the ceremonies for New Year, but we saw so many hillside and forest fires on the banks of the river, all of which were sending vast quantities of smoke and ash into the air creating a haze of smog across the skyline, for as far as we could see. Chris was momentarily in the movie 'Apocolyse Now', playing the part of Lt. Willard rescuing Col. Kurtz further up the Mekong with the napalm firesall around the hills. Unfortunately his mobile wasn't working and couldn't call for air cover! By the time we got out of the boat we were covered in little bits of ash which had been gently falling to earth like the first flurry of snow in winter and our mouths and eyes were dry and stinging from the acrid smoke. Combined with the general heat of the day, this was not one of the most comfortable journeys we have taken during the trip. By the time we got to the samll village of Nong Khiaw and found ourselves accommodation for the night we were in need of a soothing beer and a nice bed. Unfortunatley, the weather had a major reaction to the fires of the day and a huge downpoor, with earth shattering thunder and lightning, woke the whole guesthouse at 1am - though, thankfully, it did clear a little ready for the return journey back to Luang Prabang. This time we decided to take a touk touk with about 8 other travellers. We were the last in the bus and sitting at the back we very quickly learnt that during the New Year celebrations this is a major mistake as we got the brunt of all the water thrown at us as we passed through every village on the way back. Now we get back in the thick of it in LP for the big New Year celebrations.