the next chapter: Australia: The SLOW Boat

J, Kelly, Georgeanna, Bridget and I chose to take the SLOW boat into Luang Prabang, Laos. A choice that I don’t regret, but I would never do again… why? Because it was so very, very slow! However, the scenery along the Mekong River was breathtaking, and really offers a true view of rural Laos (well, most of Laos is rural). We departed our lovely guesthouse BaanRimtaling in Chiang Kong, the small, mountain border town in Thailand, and crossed the Mekong River in a tiny boat to reach Huay Xai, the border town in Laos. After immigration, we were shuttled to a restaurant type area, where all slow boat passengers were briefed on how the slow boat days would go down.

The slow boat into Luang Prabang would take two days, eight hours each day! By hour six, we were going a little crazy. We even resorted to playing M.A.S.H (reminder: Mansion, Apartment, Shack or House). We played cards, mind-reading games, drank a few beers, slept, read, listened to IPods, took tons of pictures, chatted with fellow passengers, shared stories, and still we always seemed to have at least a few hours left with nothing to do.

I suppose it wouldn’t have been so much to complain about, had the slow boat seating arrangements at least been comfortable. Rather, the boat, itself, was overstuffed to a point where passengers had to sit near the engine, and in the back of the boat, where people usually aren’t meant to be. It was two people to a seat, or rather – a bench, a little, tiny wooden bench that had a very stiff, straight back. The seat part of the bench was only wide enough to fit half of your butt cheek. After hour two, half of the passengers were passed out or reading on the boat floor. We did a switch-off, with one person on the floor leaning against the uneven, interior side of the boat, and the other bench partner stiffly sprawled across the bench, with legs sticking half off into the ‘aisle’.

Somehow, though, it all seemed to work … and I don’t regret our decision to take the slow boat at all, because, well – the photos speak for themselves: http://picasaweb.google.com/Lia.Brezavar/LaosSlowBoat#.

We spent the night (in between the two slow boat days) in Pak Beng, Laos. This is a nothing, nowhere, small, mountain town, that I believe only exists because of the slow boat. It is half-way between Huay Xai and Luang Prabang. When we stepped off the slow boat, in the dark, we were bombarded by flashlights shining in our eyes and bargaining voices all around. The guesthouse ‘bargainers’ were out in full force to greet the slow boat passengers with places to stay, poster boards full of pictures and amenities that are offered, and prices to bargain with. However annoying this may sound, it actually worked out best, as it was dark out, and it allowed for great deals! We were instantly surrounded by at least four men trying to sell us a room in their guesthouse for the night, and we went back and forth from one to the other, until we got the best deal. The other men kept lowering their offers to compete, but we eventually went with the guy who made the first, lowest offer. We followed him up the single, main road, lined with guesthouses, restaurants with menus in English, and little ‘bodega’ shops.

After a comfortable, relaxing, candlelit, delicious dinner, we tucked ourselves into bed, in two separate rooms. A few hours later, Bridget (my roomie) and I awoke to pounding on our door. It was Beyonce, the young man that sold us the guesthouse room, probably drunk and knocking on our door. His bed, oddly enough, was right outside our window. He then proceeded to try and get in through the window. Bridget and I froze in our beds in silence, until he finally gave up and fell asleep. Only an hour or so later (who knows, because we were sleeping), we awoke to drunken, hymnal songs in the hallways. The next morning, we found out that Georgeanna, Kelly and J also had awoken in the middle of the night to random pounding on their door. It was scary in the night, but we could only laugh about it the next morning. And, then… back onto the slow boat for another eight hours.