Boat time..an serious eye opener

How crowded?!!!!
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I have decided that i HATE BOATS. Not all boats...just those god awful ones that i have spent about 3 days on.  That is way too much time to spend on a boat.  I got on a mini bus in Chiang Mai..it had aircon and comfy seats..so far so good i thought!! We drove to the Thai side of the border and got my visa stamp and got onto a little boat to cross the river to Huay Xia (i think), the Laos side on things!  This was where the fun began.  We all had to separate up into separate hotels because there wasnt one with enough room, and then i had to share with two south african guys becuase they ran out of guest house space...NICE! Luckily the guys were great, and i got one of the beds!  Next day it was down to the port where we got on the boats. and sat. and waited. for hours. It took 2 hours before they had CRAMMED enough people on, and i mean really, crammed. Some people didnt even have seats. Obviously we werent happy so people got off and refused to get back on unless we got another boat-thank lord!

Pretty boats...
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Away we go, very slowly down the mekong. It is hot..there is only crisps as food and i am bored to the extreme. There is only so much trees and water buffalo you can take! Arrived in Pak Beng and we had all never seen anything like it.  It was the sort of chaos you didnt think existed. absolute pandemonium!  Little kids pickig up the bags and offering to take them to the hotels for money, i had to rip mine out of a kids hands! Then there was the usual hotel touts aswell as the fact that we didnt land on a jetty but on the rocks.  So theres about half a million people clambering up for dear life, mainly in flipflops..oh dear..

Boats from HELL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Shared a room with the s.africans again and got some gorgeous noodle dish which felt so good after only pringles all day.  Next day it was much the same, only they immediately got us two boats.  I knew better this time and brought sandwiches before drinking myself to sleep on lao beer and waking up with drool on my face-how sexy is that!? Arrived and now am in  nice, clean guesthouse with a hot shower thank lord! Went to a cool bar last night after strolling round the night market, called the hive. Enjoyed some cocktails and then got carried home (not by one of the small children) woke up bleary eyed but feeling much more relaxed than i had the day before on the boat.

Today i have had a french breakfast at a cafe called JoMA and am now strolling up the main street looking for some nice things in the market...at least im not on a boat!