I realised when I came to writing this that during this visit to Laos (not including the previous time that I passed though it after Cambodia,) that I’ve spent almost as much time in boats while in the country as I have on my bike! No complaints – it’s a nice way to travel, although I think I’ll stick to my trusty steed for long term journeys, (and when my destination doesn’t happen to be along the course of a river!)
The river route from Luang Prabang to Huay Xai (taking two days, with a stop in Pak Beng,) is a much more well known and well frequented route than my previous river journey. The boats are much larger, to accommodate a much greater numbers of passengers, and when it is very busy several boats may leave in the same day. By lucky coincidence however, my direction of travel seemed to be the less popular one, so I didn’t have to contend with the crowds going in the other direction, and loading my bike was simple, since there was tons of extra space.
The boat was scheduled to leave and 8:30 sharp, so naturally in true Laotion why-rush? style we set off shortly after 9, on both days. The boats were surprisingly comfortable – I had read beforehand that standards can vary a lot from one boat to another, but I seem to have been lucky. The first one was especially comfortable, with varnished wooden tables with a cusioned benches facing each other arranged on both sides of the aisle, and both boats had snacks and beer for sale, and a toilet on board. We soon settled into lazy rhythm of the journey watching the view pass by.
At Pak Beng pier, at the end of the first day, we were greeted with hoards of touts for guesthouses loudly offering knock down rates in a race to win customers, people eagerly offering to carry suitcases (and bikes,) up the hill (of course they wanted paying), and people handing out fliers for restaurants and cafés. As far as I can tell, Pak Beng exists pretty much solely as a stopping point for boats, so competition is fierce. In Huay Xai there was no such crush – the people there clearly have better things to be doing – and it made for a much calmer end to the day. Amazingly, even a solo female like me managed to successfully carry my things and find my way to a guest house on both days, without any help from touts at all! Who would have thought it?! (Not them, clearly! 😜)
Riding away from the pier, I bid a fond farewell to the Mekong, since after following it in one form or another for so long, I will be heading away from it once I pass into Thailand. Just before I do however, I will be rounding off my trip to Laos with a bang – tomorrow I’m heading off into the jungle to take part in The Gibbon Experience!
Dancing in the Dawn 