pak beng

I thought it would be nice to exit Laos and enter Thailand by boat so I enquired around as to getting a boat. There were two options; slow boat and fast boat. I had heard the fast boat would take six hours but was pretty dangerous as the boats are no more than slightly large canoes with a huge outboard engine. Plus you had to wear a motorcyle helmet which I didn´t fancy much given the sweltering heat. Instead I choose the epic and strenously boring slow boat that takes two days. It stops at Pak Beng over night. In retrospect I should have risked my life and spent a few extra dollars by travelling by the fast boat.

The Mekong river is pretty and all but looking at it for some 22 hours isn´t. I envied those suicide boat pilots as they flew past our chugging little barge. It was hot, noisy and boring. After a twelve hour journey I arrived at Pak Beng. It´s a small little town by the Mekong that it is no more than a staging post for those travelling to Thailand. The Electricity cuts out at 10am. There are a few overpriced eateries. My hotel was expensive and came with the added thrill of rats happily roaming around my hotel room. One ended up running across my back at one stage. Cheeky little rodent. Further bliss was sensation of being eaten alive by swarms of nasty insects who seemed actually attracted to my insect repellant. Just lovely.

So the next morning I was glad to leave the place and figured I would try to switch to one of those boat missiles. Regrettably nobody could understand the request so I had to board another slow, slow, slow boat for another day of water watching. It could have been worse I suppose; the boat could have sunk.