After our hill tribe experience in Thailand, we headed for the Thai/Loas border to cross over and follow the Mekong River into the heart of Laos. We made a one-day stop at a town called Chiang Sean and the Golden Triangle - famous for the opium growing/trading that occurred here 30 years ago - and visited the opium museum. The Golden Triangle is where the borders of Laos, Burma and Thailand meet at a river junction...a cool place to say you've been, but not really too exciting. We also ran into our
friend Jean Francois here again (see Chang Mai blog entry) - he'd been delayed getting into China, so was also spending a day or two in Chiang Sean. We all had dinner together along the bank of the Mekong and had insightful conversations about the state of the world, the role of the USA and then eventually talked a long time about religion and spirituality. All topics we've been interested in exploring during our travels - and JF, also traveling for a long period and just having finished his 21-day meditation retreat, had some very interesting opinions. 
From Chiang Sean, we high tailed it to Chiang Kong, the official border crossing with Loas. We had an interesting truck ride that took almost 6 hours...turns out the first truck only takes you half way, then drops you at a random town in the middle of nowwhere to wait for a second truck that is supposed to come at 2PM. We weren't so sure, but luckily after an hour of waiting, it did show up and we arrived safely and crossed the border the next day.From here, we decided to take the 2-day slow boat to the city Luang Prabang - known for it's easy access to trekking and adventure tours and remnants of French colonization (especially the great coffee and pastries). The slow boat was packed with Farlang (Lao translation: foreigners), but a few locals also hopped aboard. The seats were hard wooden benches with worn cushions...not exactly comfortable. Turns out the best seats were at the back on the floor where you could sprawl out a bit. The first day's 5 hour ride was uneventful...some nice scenery along the river, lots of small villages of thatched homes and children playing in the river. We arrived to the town where we'd spend the night - Pak Bang - around 6PM.
Pak Bang is a lovely little town right on the river with a ton of guest houses for the daily boats that come through. It cost us around $2.50 for a really nice room...though the electricity only runs from 6-10PM because everyone is on generators. So much for the fan. What we were struck by most in this town was the children - there were a TON of them, and a notable amount of pregnant women as well. Must be something in the water - or maybe too much spare time for 
"extracurricular activities." The kids were great though...incredibly friendly and full of life and energy. At one point when walking up the road, we were acosted by a gang of about 7 or 8 little ones between age 2 and 4 all screaming "sabqai-dii" ("hello"). At first we thought maybe they were going to put out their hands for money, but instead they were much more interested in playing. We picked them up, swung them around, gave them high fives...they laughed and laughed. Most kids in the town run free, some half-clothed and most a bit dirty from their playing, but all the adults and older children seem to look after them and it's very accepted. Kinda like a cool neighborhood gang.
"extracurricular activities." The kids were great though...incredibly friendly and full of life and energy. At one point when walking up the road, we were acosted by a gang of about 7 or 8 little ones between age 2 and 4 all screaming "sabqai-dii" ("hello"). At first we thought maybe they were going to put out their hands for money, but instead they were much more interested in playing. We picked them up, swung them around, gave them high fives...they laughed and laughed. Most kids in the town run free, some half-clothed and most a bit dirty from their playing, but all the adults and older children seem to look after them and it's very accepted. Kinda like a cool neighborhood gang.In the morning, when looking for a place to have breakfast one guy lured us into his restaurant.
I was craving french toast, which he didn't know how to make. I told him that I could teach him and then he could put it on his menu. He eagerly agreed. Turns out his wife was out of town for the day (she usually does the cooking) so he was a bit stressed from all the multi-tasking. I ended up cooking our meal and couple other customers' as well...and had him and his friends running errands to find the ingredients. It was pretty comical, but we got a great breakfast out of it, and they have put french toast on the menu. Yet, despite my cooking for us and others, he still charged us almost full price for the food...ah well.
I was craving french toast, which he didn't know how to make. I told him that I could teach him and then he could put it on his menu. He eagerly agreed. Turns out his wife was out of town for the day (she usually does the cooking) so he was a bit stressed from all the multi-tasking. I ended up cooking our meal and couple other customers' as well...and had him and his friends running errands to find the ingredients. It was pretty comical, but we got a great breakfast out of it, and they have put french toast on the menu. Yet, despite my cooking for us and others, he still charged us almost full price for the food...ah well. 
The second day of the boat ride was a bit more eventful...about 10 minutes after departure from our dock, the boat pulled over to the river bank and two canoes filled with bags of barley pulled up alongside. We assume cargo transport is a side business for the captain and a way to earn additional money to paying passengers. The Lao people on board proceeded to load 50 plus huge bags of barley onto the boat leaving hardly any room to move. Some people had to sit atop the bags and you had to climb over a large mound to get to the toilet. At one point the boat was a little lopsided, but we got them to at least rearrange things so it was a bit more steady. After the canoes departed, they went to start the engine...no go. We waited another hour while they tried to start the engine, then had a local mechanic row over in his canoe to finally get it working. At least we weren't stuck there all day!Then it was hours and hours of sitting, laying and trying to relieve butt cramps from too much sitting on hard surfaces. I finished my book and Eric made a good dent in his. We chatted with a couple locals on board and shared some food with them. I also spent some time with one little
local girl about age 3-4 teaching her how to say colors in English using a colorful pillow. She never quite repeated any of the words, but seemed to enjoy the attention and the game. We also met a lot of other travelers about our age from Europe, UK and Australia and formed a group of about 10 of us that have been hanging out together since we arrived in Luang Prabang. The last hour of the boat trip was the most exciting...we came across a wild boar in the water swimming to avoid a boat of fisherman hunting it. It swam right up along our boat and was in complete distress. In the end, they of course captured and killed it - slightly disturbing to witness. As we continued, the river widened, the sun began to set and the scenery became more stunning. I spent the last hour with my feet over the side of the boat listening to my ipod and creating a soundtrack in my memory of the perfect setting and moment.
local girl about age 3-4 teaching her how to say colors in English using a colorful pillow. She never quite repeated any of the words, but seemed to enjoy the attention and the game. We also met a lot of other travelers about our age from Europe, UK and Australia and formed a group of about 10 of us that have been hanging out together since we arrived in Luang Prabang. The last hour of the boat trip was the most exciting...we came across a wild boar in the water swimming to avoid a boat of fisherman hunting it. It swam right up along our boat and was in complete distress. In the end, they of course captured and killed it - slightly disturbing to witness. As we continued, the river widened, the sun began to set and the scenery became more stunning. I spent the last hour with my feet over the side of the boat listening to my ipod and creating a soundtrack in my memory of the perfect setting and moment. Next time...tales from our time in Luang Prabang...stay tuned!
Mariah
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