Huay Xai - Pak Beng - Luang Prabang

After a short walk we had found a nice guest house in Huay Xai and thanks to a tip off from another traveler we managed to bargain the price down although we were surprised by how much more it was than Thailand.

We went out to explore the town and try and get a feel for the place even though we were only staying overnight. The focus was on one fairly quiet main street that ran 1Km from the immigration Jetty to the departure Jetty. It consisted of a concrete road lined with wooden two or three room structures all of which doubled as a business and living space. Each one had trestle tables outside with a vast array of colourful packets stuffed with unfamiliar brands of biscuits, crisps and snacks it was like walking down the street in Charlie's Chocolate Factory. After viewing a few of these stalls you realize that although it looks like you are spoilt for choice in actual fact there is a lot of the same-same and not very appetizing as a thick layer of dust and dirt from the road has to be wiped from anything you wish to buy.

The main business of the town is transport. The arrangement of boats and buses to Thailand, Luang Prabang and various other destinations means that everyone in town is a tour operator. This sideline is carried out from their living room, from pasting tables in the street and from guesthouses. There are a number of options of travel, you can take the speedboat which is faster but ten times more dangerous than the slow boat. We have read many different snippits that state in no uncertain terms that if you take the speedboat "you will die." The Slow boat is a two day journey at a leisurely pace stopping overnight in a place called Pak Beng which in our book has a simple boxed text write up stating "Be careful or you will get robbed" the third option is bus which takes around twelve hours, is prone to breaking down and being a nightmare ride and accidents are likely.

Now we had only been in Laos for a couple of hours and were faced with the choice of road accident, robbery or death, Mmmm which to go with they really need to work on their marketing for tourism we think.

We decided on the most popular option of the slow boat seeing as this didn't come with a health warning and Rod thought it would be a positive rather than negative if someone stole my backpack. There were then more warnings about respectable sellers and boats and overcrowding so we decided to purchase our tickets from the guesthouse and hope for the best and after shopping around it turned out they offered the best price.

That sorted we ambled down to the departure jetty along the main street that slowly became more residential the further we went. When we say more residential it was the same wooden structures just without the makeshift shops in front. There is a French influence in Laos and we watched a group of men playing boules as the children made their own fun playing in the dirt and collecting bricks. We turned into the street leading down to the river and felt like we had entered a different town. There were solid brick shops and restaurants, it was a hive of activity as trucks and supplies were being loaded and unloaded on and off the ferry boats and crowds of people hung around looking for a business opportunity of any kind be it legal or not. We fought our way through the thick clouds of dust kicked up from the loosely termed road and sat in relative calm in a river café watching the day's activity unfold.

We checked out the longboats that we would be travelling on the next day and saw that they ranged from no seats at all to a few wooden bench seats to rows of what looked like quite comfy chairs and a VIP version with comfy chairs and a table separating them. We hoped for the best and prepared for the worst.

Walking back up the main street we bumped into our fellow travel buddies Emily and Pete and discovered we were not only in the same guesthouse but on the same boat which was great. We hadn't seen them since Chiang Mai and it was always a pleasure to catch up.

Our first dinner in Laos was at a little street restaurant and we chose pineapple & vegetable rice and veg noodles which were ok but quite bland. There were a few of these street places and all seemed to have a limited selection of traditional hot meals but an extensive menu of sandwiches and take away fare. After reading the signs we realized that this was another of the big business ventures in town. The boats run for 6 - 9 hours a time and don't serve food so the restaurants make overpriced baguettes to take away with crisps, cakes and biscuits. We put our order in for the morning and got a much needed early night.

The next day we collected our packed lunch and loaded our bags into the waiting Tuk Tuk at 9am for the short ride to the jetty. We were dropped at the top of the road and told to hand over our passports. Not happy with this Rod went and supervised and got our tickets, found the boat and discovered we could get on straight away and didn't have to wait until 11.30am.

Getting onto the boat we were pleasantly surprised and highly amused by the seating and general organisation. The boat was beautifully crafted, wooden around 60ft long and 12 ft wide with a raised platform at the front for seating on the floor. The main area of the boat was then filled with rows of car/mini bus seats that were secured together at the base by a plank of wood but not fixed to the boat in any way. It was genius recycling and a more favourable way to travel for 6 hours than with cushions on the floor. They made up four on one side and two on the other with a walkway in between. The walkway led to the rear of the boat where the engine was housed kicking out black smoke and a lot of noise. Above the engine was another wooden platform where all the baggage was stored, anything fragile would have been completely ruined as the bags were thrown around and piled high. In front of this was the toilet which was raised squat with bucket flush with a unique stench and holes in the wooden walls so everyone could see you pee but when you got to go it was a god send.

Luckily we got four seats together with Em and Pete so we could at least gossip and while away the time. We sat chatting and people watching as we waited for everyone to board. It was incredibly funny judging peoples reactions as they looked for their seat number which was on their ticket and then complaining because the seats weren't numbered and they couldn't get seats together, we just felt like saying "look around it's a boat full of car seats, think yourself lucky you have a seat and sit in it, you are not in Europe!"

We had been warned about Laos time which is even slower than Thai time. The boat was due to leave at 11.00am but as we sat there it became apparent that we would be going nowhere fast. The other thing we had been warned about was overcrowding where the crew try and get as many people on one boat as possible to maximize profit so a boat that should carry 70 would be loaded with 150. There were 120 full seats on our boat not counting the ones stuck at the rear and the floor space occupied by the locals and yet there seemed to be a steady stream of passengers heading down the jetty in our direction.

At this point we were an hour behind schedule and people were starting to get disgruntled. It turns out that there were another 50 people as part of a tour that had been told to wait at the top and that they were going to try and squeeze them onto our boat even though there was clearly no space left. This was enough to incite a riot and the passengers being herded on joined forces with the people already on the boat and started demanding another boat be used. Everybody stopped listening to the two small, very frustrated crew members and turned around and got off the boat whilst the rest of the crowd including Rod were shouting "Get another boat". It was hilarious and also the safest outcome for everyone involved.

Two and half hours behind schedule we finally set sail and far from it being a slow boat we built up a steady pace chugging along. It was an amiable atmosphere made up of people from many different countries mainly France, Germany & America with a few English, Dutch, Belgian and Laos thrown in for good measure, all varying in age, class, religion and with different travelling stories to tell. The boat may not have provided food but it did provide beer and it seemed like everyone but us was taking advantage of this and turning a relaxing journey into a booze cruise.

The boat sat low in the water but the boat was so deep with high sides we couldn't see over from the safety of our car seat. What we could see was the jaw dropping scenery that for 6 hours never once got boring.The shore line was a sand/mud bank as it is dry season the river is not at full capacity. The villagers have taken advantage of this and used the fertile land to plant crops of vegetables and herbs laid in neat rows providing the primary layer of colour and texture to the stunning landscape. The trees provide the main substance of the backdrop with forest, lush vegetation and mountains rising behind the shore and creating many depths to the picture with verdant hue and varying texture and size. The greenery is broken intermittently by a russet shrub and rock patternation. The sheer limestone cliff faces rising high into the bright blue sky provide the final layer to the dramatic scene adding dark and neutral tones in wave patterns. It was like a peacock displaying his plumage proudly and a photographic dream for Rod.

The locals were dropped at various little villages that were tucked away in the hills and forest along the way. A few people came out to greet the boat and help carry the supplies that had been bought from town. These were mainly children and on a few occasions they were carrying scarves and sarongs in the hope of making a bit of money from the tourists. The community spirit and camaraderie is such a pleasure to see as everyone mucks in together to keep the village functioning, it makes you wonder when and why this changed back home.

As the sun set we moored at Pak Beng and struggled to find our packs as some had been moved from the back to the front for weight distribution earlier in the day. It was chaos as 150 people tried to disembark at the same time in the dark, all trying to carry large packs only to be instantly surrounded by locals who were offering guesthouses, a tuk tuk and porter service to carry the luggage up the hill, while small children just at pocket height were weaving in and out of the crowd trying to take advantage of the situation and relieve people of their valuables. Having encountered many of these situations before we new what to expect and once the bags were located we teamed up in getting them and us onto shore safely and made our way up the hill and away from the crowd to try and get our bearings and some perspective.

Pak Beng is a small village not unlike Huay Xai with one main street where all the action takes place. It's main purpose has now become a tourist stop over and everything is geared up for this with the guesthouses, restaurants, bakeries and trestle table shops providing everything needed for the onward leg of the journey. We followed the crowds all in search of a room and after trying a few places that were inevitably full we luckily got the last room in a decent place, it was clean and basic with good security and as the rooms were the same extortionate price whether good or bad we were happy. We secured our bags, went for an Indian which was delicious and a welcome change from chilli burn then went back for a much needed sleep as sitting on a boat all day reading and taking photos is very hard work and really wears you out.

We were up bright and early as the boat left at 9am sharp (yeah right) and Rod went in search of the day's food while I went to secure our seats on the boat. Pete and Em were already on and they had sorted the seats for us so all that was left to do was laugh at me struggling to carry the bags downhill and then throw my pack at one of the boys on the boat before finally managing to balance and climb aboard, then we all sat and laughed as Rod came with two big carrier bags full of food. I knew it was a good idea to send Rod for supplies he is the greatest although we did have to laugh about how we panic at thought of going without food we were only on there for 9 hours it wasn't as if we were going to starve.

The boat journey was the same as the previous day with the stunning backdrop as the highlight. The time passed quickly as we set sandwich o'clock every two hours and buried our heads in a book in between taking in the sights and photographs. We were glad we didn't choose the speedboat as we saw a couple pass very fast (funnily enough) with the passengers holding on for dear life sporting crash helmets and a look of fear, the noise emanating from it was deafening from where we were so to be sitting on top of it would have been unbearable. The river is also filled with imposing boulders and rocks that seem to creep up from nowhere so you could round a corner and run straight into one if not careful and the water was really low in places and we had to take steps to weigh the boat out and steer it gently through. These things alone would make it perilous in a speedboat we definitely made the right choice.

After 9 hours we finally docked in Luang Prabang at around 5.30pm which gave us enough time to find a guesthouse before dark which turned out to be easier said than done. We had a fantastic two days floating down the Mekong and enjoyed the experience immensely.