Into Laos…
Day 50 - 54 Chiang Mai/Chiang Kong/Huay Xai/Pak Beng/Luang Prabang
There is a direct bus from Chiang Mai to Chiang Kong, which prior to arriving at the station we didnt know (we were expecting to change in Chiang Rai). If you do want to go via Chiang Rai, book the day before as they were booked up that morning we arrived and i dont think they go every hour as we heard and the buses to Chiang Rai. It was of course an uncomfortable 7hr trip but as we got off the bus we greeted by a woman from a guesthouse with her truck (i will add the name later as i recommend this place). Nearly a dozen of us packed into the truck and were taken to her lovely guesthouse overlooking the river. It was clean, cheap, good food, big portions, nice atmosphere and she was really helpful and chatted to us about places to go.
The slow boat left from Huay Xai at 10.30am so she took those of us heading across the border in her truck to the river crossing. You go through Thai passport control, cross the river and a minute later are at Laos passport control filling out visas forms ($35 for UK). Then you have a short tuk tuk ride to the ferry port and note they will tell you the boat has left already to try and get you to take the speed boat! We were slightly confused as to where all the backpackers were…thinking ah this will be sweet - a spacious 2 day journey. No. They were all on the boat already and had been for a good hour at least…well we managed to get seats at least. They are cruel benches, tiny seats and a single slat for the upper back, but hey whatever. The view was good, the same over the 2 two days but nontheless it felt like you were surrounded by so much land and space, seeing only bamboo huts every now and then, and a few villages. As for comfort it wasnt too bad actually, but i did spend the 2nd day on the floor. Bring something to sit on, a good book and some water as it is expensive on the boat. The night stop in Pak Beng was fine, we found a cheap guesthouse with disney princess bedlinen (?!) oh yeah, and had a dinner with the 3 Chileans from our hostel.
Luang Prabang is a great place and we are happy to be here, and because it is a World Heritage site and apparently the best preserved city in South East Asia the pavements are mostly intact, which is nice. No more than that obviously, it just has a certain feel about it, the buildings are pretty, nice architectural detailing, the place has charm, and it is completely different from being in Thailand. We spent our first day exploring, sat in a couple of cafes, and went to the night market.
Today we went to Tat Kuang Si for 130,000 Kip return for 2 of us (7/8 quid), which is where you will find an absolutely beautiful waterfall, with many tiers and small areas of gorgeous blue water to swim in, and a one with a tree you can jump from. We walked to the top of the waterfall, I say walk, scramble or climb are more appropriate for some parts. It was well worth it as between all the trees you could just see down to bottom and out across the landcape of the wooded mountaneous hills fading with the distance. Needing to cool down headed for one of the pools, which was full of monks by the time we arrived there. The orange of there robes, which had been thrown over branches while they wore fabric tied into shorts, was striking against the blue of the pool. It was not a sight or sound we had expected, 30 odd young monks jumping from the tree trunk into the pool, some shouting laughing, and the crash of the landing in the water. It took me one failed attempt and then Emily standing next to me to get me to jump in. Emily took a jump from the mini waterfall on the other side with a monk who was chatting to us earlier. Intially we felt slightly uncomfortable about being in swim wear but i guess it didnt really matter in the end. Although a very young monk with his camera phone was a little suspect.
It was a fine and memorable outing.
