Yet Another Boat Trip

Waiting to Go
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We crossed the river and entered into Laos from Thailand into a town called Huay Xai.  Not much of anything to look at, just a jumping off point to other destinations by way of the Mekong river.  We had hoped to catch a boat north to a small town near the China border that specializes in ecotourism, but since we had to charter our own boat at a cost of $110 we scraped that idea pretty quickly.  Instead we decided to take a two days boat down the Mekong to the World Heritage City of Luang Prabang.

Laos Border Crossing
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This seemed to be what everyone else was doing, so of course it had to be a really enjoyable experience...right?  Well, to make sure we got a good seat we broke the cardinal rule of Asia and decided to get down there an hour early thinking that we would actually leave on time.  It started off great!  We each had our own seat, which was good because they really only fit about one person anyways.  As the scheduled time of departure neared we were feeling great because they were very few people on the boat.  Then it happened.  At about fifteen minutes until we are supposed to leave busses of people started pouring into the boat.  By the time everyone had finished getting on every seat was filled with two people, the rows were filled with people on foldable chairs, and the back and front were filled with the unfortunate souls who happened to be the last of the last; these people were sitting on the hard floor deck.

Laos Border Crossing
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All of the overcrowding might have been ok had the boat ride have been a one day few hour ferry, however this was scheduled to be 7 hours of travel each of the two days.  Misery.

For the overcrowding, and the hard chairs, and the 90+ degree weather, the boat ride was really not as bad as you might imagine.  The same can not be said, however, for the nights stay at the village midway down the river.

After a long and painful journey, the only thing that we could imagine wanting was some cold beer, good food, a cold shower, and a place to rest our head.  I guess it seems wrong to say that we did not get these things, because in reality we did get each of them...kind of.  The guesthouse we chose was a reasonable $3 a night, and since we were really really tired we did not really do a stellar job of inspecting the room prior to agreeing to stay there.  The room is a hole, barley passable as a place that you could charge money to stay at.  And as this becomes painstaking apparent Sus is growing more and more agitated with the situation (and who could blame her).  I headed into the bathroom to check it out and yelled out to Sus, "hey, did you notice there is no sink in here?  I mean there is a place where a sink used to be, and there is a drain and faucets hanging from the wall, but there is no sink."  to which Susannah replies, "what the hell do you need a sink for anyways?"  Good point.

Looking at Thailand
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After a mediocre dinner and some warm beer, we thought that the best strategy was to take a shower and go to bed so that we could get the whole thing over with.  Sus showered first without complaint.  I went in, sat down on the toilet to do my business, and all of a sudden Sus ripes the door open and spits her mouthful of toothpaste onto my feet looks at me and says "what difference does it make?"  I guess she was right, it didn't make a difference.

Since we didn't have mosquito nets (in this malaria region), and there where holes in the walls big enough to stick your finger through, the night ahead was looking torturous.  "Thank god for the fan" we though, at least that will keep the bugs off a little.  And then, without warning, almost as soon as we laid down to try to get some sleep, the electricity to the town was shut off (saving energy you understand).  And that was it, the act that finally broke our spirits.

Entering Laos
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We woke up quickly the next morning determined to get better seat on the boat.  Thankfully we succeeded in doing this (an actual padded seat), buried our heads in our books, turned on the ipod and before we knew it we were arriving in Luang Prabang.  God how beautiful a sight it was.