Our 2 day slow boat down the Mekong river was a very relaxing journey and we made some great friends in the process. The
journey started off at the Thai border at Chiang Kong (far north east) where we spent the night. We had great views of
Laos on the other side of the river. The next morning we got our exit stamp then took a small boat journey across the
river to Houay Xai in Laos. We sorted our visa's then took a short walk to the ferry landing and bought our tickets to
Luang Prabang. We got on the boat very early and secured some great seats at the front. The boat was full with other
backpackers and it wasn't long before we got talking to other groups with similar itineries to us. After 6-7 hours on the
Mekong we arrived at our overnight stop in the town of Pakbeng. Almost instantly we were offered opium and majauana but we
declined! We found a nice cheap hotel then went out for food. We bumped into several people from our boat at the cash
machine and before we knew it we were in a group of about 20 people going for a meal! Things started to liven up and
whisky shots were getting passed around before our food had even arrived! We finished our food, had a few more beers then
called it a night around midnight although half of the group were still partying! The next morning there was a few
hungover faces on our boat but everyone was still up for socialising and everyone got to know eachother a bit better.
We spent around 8 hours on the boat and enjoyed some fantastic senery before arriving in Luang Prabang late in the
afternoon. A group of 14 of us decided to stick togerther and arranged tuk tuk's into town.
Me and pete went straight out for food and enjoyed some delicious yellow fried noodle with duck which cost just over a
pound! We met a couple of irish irish girls and went for a few drinks in the main bar called Utopia. All bars in
Luang Prabang close at 11pm but we heard if you're still thirsty for booze you've got to head for the bowling alley
(open till 2a.m) and is just out of town. So after Utopia went bowling and bumped into the other 12 people from our group.
The bowling alley was packed, (more so because it's the only place that sells alcohol rather than keen bowlers!). We split
into teams, things got a bit messy (including my bowling) but we all had a great time. The next morning we paid to go to
a nice swimming pool where we spent the day chilling out and enjoyed some cocktails. It was a bit cloudy but still warm
enough. That evening we had an exact repeat at the bowling alley and I was happy that my game was showing signs of
improvement!
On our last full day we all took a mini bus from our hotel and visited the Koung Si waterfalls. This place was truly
spectacular! I've seen a few waterfalls on my travels but this is defo right up there. The main fall was about 60m high
and the water was crystal blue, this cascaded down to more crystal blue pools and more waterfalls. We all had great fun
jumping off rocks and climbing up the tree to swing out into one of the pools. Well worth the 20,000 kip entrance
(under £2!).
On our last night we went for a group meal as it was one of the lad's birthdays out of our group. We each threw in some
money and bought him some stupid clothes and a hat to wear. He got some funny looks later on at the bowling alley (before
he got carried home drunk!). I finished on 112 which was more than double my score on the first night, I think I drank
more whisky which must have helped my game! All of our group had plans to head south to Vang Vieng for our next
destination so after 3 nights we decided to stick together and we booked 14 bus tickets. Our new group consisted of 3
jersey girls, a welsh girl, an ozzy lad, canadian lad and the rest were english lads.
Tubing in Vang Vieng here we come!!!
