Crossed the border and hopped on a slow boat that travels along the Mekong river. The boat has seats for 60, but we had 90, so there were people everywhere. By the end of the first day people were lying on the floors, in the aisles...everywhere! The boat ride was definitely an experience...awesome! Imagine....a boat overpacked with a bunch of laid back travellers from all over the world for 8 hours with nothing to do but chill. We drank too much beerlao and rice whiskey (some with cobras and scorpions in it...see the picture below...by day 2 the whiskey tasted like meat...ew.), chatted, played cards and just hung out. The best part was we kept stopping at places along the river where 1 or 2 families were living to pick up cargo and mail! The aisles ended up being loaded with bags of rice and we even took on a motorcycle and 2 refrigerators! The bags of rice ended up as seats and people even hopped up on the refrigerators and slept :)
The boat stopped for the night at this little tiny village where the electricity went out at 10pm for the rest of the night/morning. I have a story about unpacking the bags and finding accommodation in the dark...for later!
The second boat day they said was 10 hours long but was really 7 hours and I switched my bench seat for a place on the floor at the front which was wicked...lying around on pillows in the sun with a breeze listening to a girl from Minnesota play the uke.
Got into Luang Prabang around 6pm and found a cheap guest house down a little alleyway. Had some food with a nice Aussie (that actually just sat down next to me at the internet cafe!), did a little shopping with him then headed to the bar to meet people from the boat for beerlaos! The bars here give free shots when you walk in of rice whiskey and have all these crazy drink deals (3 for 1, etc.). Its really surprising considering the laws are SO conservative here! There is a midnight curfew, so all the bars close at 11:30 to get the workers and people home in time. Most guesthouses actually lock thier doors at 11 to encourage people to get home! You can only go dancing at 2 bars here because apparently its illegal! Foriegners also arent allowed to rent motorbikes because too many have been in accidents!
So got to the bar at 10:30 and left at 11 to get to my guesthouse before I was locked out. Three really nice irish guys from the boat walked me home. Thing is...the stalls i used for my reference point were taken down and it was pitch black and I couldnt find my guest house! We wandered down random alleys that all looked the same and in the end I just ended up sleeping on the floor in thier guesthouse because they were about to get locked out of THIER guesthouse. LOL I definitely owe them some banana pancakes!
About to head to kuang si waterfall to go for a swim, then see some bears at a nature reserve on the way back. Meeting up again with the boat people--we are a rowdy crew of about 15--at the bar for dinner and drinks after. Am going to wake up early tomorrow to give to the monks during thier morning procession, watch the sunrise from the wat on the hill here and then hop on a bus to Vang Vienne. I hear that they pass out puke bags before the trip because it is such an awful ride...the locals apparenlty have the weakest stomachs....and the buses are notorius for breaking down....we'll see how it goes!
Laos and Thailand are similar but so different at the same time. Laos is sooo laid back...super chill. Less tourists, more local feel. The power goes out a lot. They drive on the opposite side of the street. Its WAY hotter. Small. Conservative. I like it :) Still figuring out the cash tho...no change, all bills. 1 CDN = about 6500 kip. ...LOL hard to convert! Dinner here is about 10,000 kip. A tshirt 20,000 kip. A fruit shake 5,000 kip.
UPDATE> On the bus to the waterfalls met a girl named Kat that was volunteering teaching english at a drop in center in Luang Prabang. She said they were always looking for people, so I stayed an extra day and volunteered with her :) It was awesome...if I wasnt already running overschedule I would definitely be staying longer! After teaching, Kat and I explored the streets, sampled tasty street food (ummm street noodle soup!) and watched the sunset from the top of punsi temple... A nice way to end my time in Luang Prabang!
