Hi

After a long, winding, bumpy ride back to Chiang Mai (from Pai) we trundled back into the same Guest House. We got the trip to Luang Prabang (Loas) booked up with the agent down the road and then had a final stroll around the market before heading back to re-pack the bags and get sorted for the two day boat journey that lay ahead of us. Yes, that's right - two days on a slow boat down the Mekong River!

At about 10am we climbed on board the air-con minivan that was taking us up to Chiang Khong.
I single-handedly stopped the van for an un-scheduled stop (I blame the bottle of coke!) and we got chatting to everyone - Naomi and Jenna, Phil, Oli and Irish (we never got her name). Everyone was up for a laugh. Nearly 5hrs after leaving Chiang Mai, we reached Chiang Khong and crossed the river that evening to Huay Xai, Laos and tucked down after being given our dinner - a plastic carton of stir-fried rice...mmmm. Huay Xai was freezing! The room we were given had a hot shower, but at no surprise to either of us, we could have won a complaint over the 'unfair descriptions act' - it was most definitely cold, very cold.

The next morning, I was shaking as I got out of bed - the shower was not happening. Id smell for the day instead! We made it down to the slow boat after being shunted from one guest house to another to collect tickets and to then got a tuk-tuk to the boat. We were on the boat at around 9.00 and there we sat until nearly midday. I know this was a slow boat but this was ridiculous!!

We managed to get seats on the boat and the journey was surprisingly pleasant! Some beautiful mountainous countryside with Loas on the left and Thailand and the right. After about an hour, the seats in front of us broke - but as if it happens all the time, a guy came out with a saw and repaired it in 5 minutes - marvelous! Also, a few hour into the journey a boat sailed past with four elephants on it, perfectly normal to the locals!

By 6pm we had reached the first stop off point - Pak Beng. Catherine and Ben (who we met on the boat), Naomi, Jenna, Oli, Irish, Becki and I all went for a good old curry and after a few bevvies, retreated to the freezing cold room.

After a quick but nice breaky, it was time for the Day 2 of the Slow Boat. Ironically, the people who dashed for the boat got the bad seats....we got there a bit later and as the first boat was full, were put on a second boat with very few people on. We each had a bench seat to ourselves and spread out comfortably for the 9hr trip down the river.

5pm came and a village on the river bank appeared. We watched as the sun set over the cliff tops that surround Luang Prabang and as the boat moored up, we grabbed our bags and headed up into town. After splitting up and running from house to house, Ben eventually found us a room for the night. It was really nice and a little over budget ($12) for Laos, but it would do for the night. We showered and then met at 7pm.....it was time for a night on the Beer Lao! However, all the guest houses here had a curfew. I spoke to the man in charge and explained that we had planned a night out. I didn't expect he'd agree but I cheekily asked for the keys to the huge gate......he handed them straight over and there we were - out on a mission in Luang Prabang!

We walked through the night market that was strangely quite, although very busy. A serene quietness lay across it, even though hundreds of ladies were saying "You buy - very lucky...Me do discount for you!" We had dinner at the All You Can Eat vegetarian street buffet on the side of the road, along with a few drinks and then, as if they knew we were coming, a flyer landed on the table in front of us which read, 'The Monk's Sticky Rice Party'. It was down near the Lao Lao Garden bar and so, after fuelling ourselves in Nao's Bar until midnight first, we took a stroll down to see what was going on. I was stunned to see that in front of us was what you would expect to see at a local Bonfire Night (minus the bonfire - that wasn't lit until 4am!) as in, there were stalls selling food and drink and lots of people huddled together chatting and dancing. The huge speakers on the back of a tuk-tuk van were blowing out Lao sounds and all the locals were performing dance routines in packs like line dancers would do in a barn! By this time, Naomi and Becki were fairly merry and so they decided to join the locals and learn the dance routines....it was funny to say the least! I just got hammered at thebar with the monks! We had a wicked night.

The thing that I realised and what amazed me the most, was that we were in a temple ground and monks were there in full costume, joining in with the party. We were cheeky and asked for a photo in front of them all - I had to catch on camera a monk, smoking and drinking! They were loving it. A guy that I was chatting to, I doubt it would have crossed my mind, but he was Thai and that night, refused to drink. In Thailand, no one will drink in a sacred place. Obviously, it doesn't bother them here in Laos. Those Raving Monks!!

The following morning, the heads were sore and we were all a bit wobbly. We'd had to start planning what our movements were going to be as when you're not on a strict itinerary, it's easy to get stuck in one place. So, the next day was spent organising buses and checking out flights etc. On Sunday, we would be heading to Vang Vieng, but unfortunately, everyone else was sticking in Luang Prabang.

And so after a lazy few days in Luang Prabang, it was time to leave.

Bye for now

Miffy x x x