1-12-07

The connection here in Laos isn't so good so no photos for now but soon.

After spending a bit too long in Chiang Mai and realizing that I only had another week on my Thai Visa, Doug and I decided to catch the 2-day boat ride up the Mekong to Laos. I'd heard all kinds of stories about the slow boat: it's uncomfortable, it's too long, there's no food, so I was eager to see what it was all about. The truth is that it's just a very slow, over packed boat ride up the Mekong river, a place that until 10 years ago still had pirates on it. The boats are long, sit about 4 people in a row but have small cushions to sit on and plenty of Beer Lao to buy, or weed if that's your thing (that last part probably isn't mentioned in the tour guides). The first day was uneventful, bought our tickets and Visas in Chiang Mai, got to the Thai Laos border, sleep in a guest house with mattresses harder than the wood floors. Second day, take a small boat across the Mekong, wait around, finally get on the boat drive down admiring the views, meet some interesting people, pull up to a village where people tried to sell us more Beer Lao and Pringles, end up at some tourist town, crash. The third day was the longest, we left the shore around 10am and got into Luang Prabang around 5:30pm a bit tired and seeking shelter. But the scenery that third day was amazing. We caught a glimpse of the Buddha caves that are carved into the side of a mountain, some high water markers (the Mekong is really really low right now), all kinds of kastam houses on the shores and a beautiful sunset.

Luang Prabang is small, easily navigable in a few days and full of tourists. The lodging prices seem to range from $4 to $40 and yet we were able to buy a bottle of Lao Whiskey for $2. We're staying in a Guest House run by a Laotian guy who lived most of his life in Wisconsin, during our sign in he was giving up the update on the latest in the Ohio State game. I shouldn't be surprised at this point about the people I meet while traveling but it still catches me off guard every now and then.

The cost of living here is ridiculously low except when you take into account all the bloody tourists. Luckily the local population is laid back and there aren't the kind of obnoxious tourists I've found in Vanuatu or Thailand, making special meal orders and then getting upset when they get it wrong. The restaurants are all relatively expensive but water is cheap and there really isn't a need to take a tuk tuk or songthew anywhere. Today Doug and I walked around town, went up a hill to the Wat on top and had a great view of Laos, even watched a plane land on the runway, it felt a little like the island watching a plane land for entertainment. Later I went back to the guest house and had a nap, I still can't seem to shake this cold I've been harboring for what seems like weeks now. It comes and goes, always turning up at the most inopportune times. Oh well.