Slow boat

To get to our next destination, Luang Prabang, Laos, we took the slow boat down the Mekong River. We were a bit sick of buses and couldn't afford to fly, and we'd heard that the slow boat is a great experience if you have the time. It's all in the name really... s l o o o o w!

The first part of our journey was a 6-hour bus to Chiang Khong in Thailand (where I fell asleep on something nice and soft...it wasn't until the driver moved his arm I realised I was asleep on it...!) The next day was 7 hours aboard our boat, stopping overnight in a village called Pakbeng, then another 9 hours on the boat the next day. The boat is basically the public bus for villagers living alongside the river, and there is no more to it than what you see below. All the seats were loose and appeared to be stripped straight from a bus, which meant if you were bold and early enough you could shove the seats in front of you together and give yourself extra leg room! Even so, it did get a little uncomfortable at times!

It was a great introduction to laid-back Laos, and it was so peaceful meandering down the Mekong with lush hills either side, with nothing to do but read, talk, think and snap some photos. The best part about the boat is spotting the local villagers going about their lives on the side of the river...men fishing, children playing, whilst the women were chatting and washing clothes. Part of the reason it was so slow is because of the amount of times it stopped on the way to collect people, bags of rice/supplies and at one point a cat fish the size of a small child, and whiskers bigger than my fingers (the whiskers being the only reason for my calling it a catfish...I've no idea really). All the village children came running out to see the boat when it arrived, and watched on with fascination.

Here are some things I spied from our slow boat...