The Slow Boat (Luang Prabang to Huay Xai), Laos
The following morning we awoke early as our journey continued with a short Songthaew (a small pickup truck with a shell and benches in the bed) shuttle for a much anticipated two-day, one-night slow boat tour up the Mekong River. The golden morning light bathed the sky while the surprisingly crisp air chilled us, unexpectedly, as we made our way down the steep banks of the river to board our beautiful long tailed slow boat. The journey is comprised of two quite long days lumbering upstream, with two culturally fascinating detours and a night at a hotel in the peaceful town of Pak Beng, the midpoint along our journey.
Time seemed, for once, to slow down with the ambling pace of the boat journey. We spent our time sipping tea and coffee, taking in the varied scenery, reading, learning about Laotian history, doing school work with Oliver and getting to know a bit about the other thirteen kind fellow travelers and the crew of six (plus one of their young sons). It was both absorbing and disheartening witnessing both the old ways of the Mekong and the glaring signs of development, such as new bridges, high-speed rail, hydropower dams and heavy mineral extraction, particularly gold mining. Laos is a country still set in the previous century and it is finally waking up to the modern world with, unfortunate but inevitable, heavy investment from China and abroad.
The first day of the cruise included a short layover at the ancient Ban Pak Ou, home to thousands of Buddha statues and winding whitewashed concrete steps leading to both of the well-worn, but fascinating, caves and holy sites. After a long day on the river, with evening approaching, we at last found ourselves rounding the bend with the small town of Pak Beng in sight. After another short Songthaew ride we were warmly welcomed to our beautiful riverside lodging, with a breathtaking view of the same electric sunset we have enjoyed each night in Laos. We had a lovely evening, swimming, strolling through the exceedingly small town and enjoying an incredible open air dinner in the restaurant at our hotel. We curled up in our comfy beds and looked forward to another day on the river.
The next day was very much like the first, with the exception that by then we were all quite friendly as a group and spent a great deal of our time getting to know folks, playing games and sharing itineraries and stories and histories from home and abroad. The second day excursion was a stop at an indigenous Laotian village, where life on the shores of the Mekong closely resemble that of former times, deep in the past. Although it always feels somewhat awkward to intrude on the lives of others, especially when they are being showcased somewhat as a novelty for tourists, it was actually a quite engaging and warm visit. The local kids were clearly interested in Oliver and the villagers, as a whole, were quite welcoming. It’s somewhat surprising and somewhat intriguing to know that people in the world live in such simple conditions but are also, seemingly, quite fulfilled and maybe even happier than many in the West. As a last day detour it added rich cultural depth and keen insights into the varied Laotian peoples which we’ve been privilege to experience on our river adventure.
The second day, during the later afternoon, for the last 29 kilometers (~18 miles), the dramatic Mekong straddles the borders between Laos and Thailand, affording a clear juxtaposition between a underdeveloped nation and one fully in the modern century. It was fascinating and we looked forward to experiencing the modernity of Thailand after a few more days of adventure in northern Laos. After landing on the banks of the Laotian border town of Huay Xia, we made the absurdly short journey to our guesthouse for the evening. We were pleasantly surprised by the modest $12 guesthouse with the standard shit, shave and shower bathroom, plus both air conditioning and a 1980s television. Our evening in Hauy Xai was spent strolling through town, taking in the glittering hillside temple, enjoying another scrumptious Laotian meal and preparing our baggage to store and our daypack to bring along on our adventure to the jungle the following morning.
