Cruising down the Mekong, Day 1

The bus journey from Chiang Mai to Chiang Khong was perhaps the funniest one yet. We were all picked up from our guesthouses and taken to the travel companies offices to get the Laos visa sorted there. As it was still only 1500 Baht I went with it. When we all got back on the minibus there was a Thai woman sat in the front, who hadn't been there before. Obviously, she wasn't the driver - not only was she a) a woman, but she b) wasn't behind the wheel. Instead she managed to squeeze snugly in between the poor girl having to ride in the front, and the driver himself.

We stopped soon after, so that madam could hop out for 5 minutes and get the two of them (her and the driver) some snacks for the journey, which she then tenderley fed him, oblivious to the 9 bodies sat right behind them, unable to look anywhere else but directly at them. She snuggled up to him, he put his arm around her, and she nuzzled into his nook. He'd gaze into her eyes, and almost kill us all by veering off the road. Then she began getting a bit fresh. I'll spare you the details, but suffice it to say, the driver was given a bit of light relief. What the hell are you supposed to do with that happening right in front of you?! All I could do was put my Ipod on and pretend to read.

Full moon over Laos, reflection in the Mekong

Towards the end of the journey, we made a detour to drop her off at her house, and we all wished her a fond farewell. Eventually we arrived in Chiang Khong, and our guesthouse was right on one side of the Mekong, looking out into Laos. Dinner was an all-you-can-eat buffet, which I, of course took full advantage of, but the Israelis in our group universally hated. We all went out in the evening and ended up at a place called 'Madame's Country Bar'. It was awesome. There was an entire band of ladyboys on stage, and I was gutted I'd left my camera at the guesthoue. Especially so when they responded to the Israeli request of 'play something English' by singing the Nottingham Uni classic 'Numa Numa Yei' (by Macedonian legends Ozone). One of the Israeli girls kept on bugging me saying that I wasn't smiling enough (well, perhaps that's because you keep talking to me) and took it upon herself to attempt to drag me onto the empty dancefloor with her. (Turns out she's doing the same circuit as me, and I'd later have to dodge her in Luang Prabang, Vang Vieng, and probably Krabi too. Damn my irresistable charm.)

On the slow boat down the Mekong

There were 2 ghekos in my room, and just as I was about to launch a serious offensive against them, one of the Irish guys from the minibus told me that ghekos are good things to have as they eat insects and mosquitos. Needless to say, the ghekos were then named, and the legends kept me bite free all night.

Me being fearless on the slow boat

The next morning we crossed the Mekong in the flimsiest of narrow boats, and made our way to the slow boat departure point. The slow boat really was very slow. The most slow thing about it was the departure. With everyone on board, we all waited for over 2 hours before the driver rocked up, and then for another 1/2 hour before anything approaching movement. It pissed down for the first hour, but after that the journey wasn't too bad. It only took 6 hours (not the 10 that had been rumoured and feared) and we arrived in Pak Beng amidst massive celebratons after some big boat race. Strangely, one boat team was wearing Real Madrid shirts, and another was wearing Man U. Got another guesthouse with gheko in room. Sweet!

Cruising down the Mekong, Day 1

Chiang Khong, Thailand