It began with a pick up from the Thai side of the Mekong, where I was eating a lovely breakfast alongside the river.
At 8:00 a van came to pick me up and my bag was tagged!
The Nagi is the name of the boat I cruised on. You can do the slow boat to Luang Prabang the cheap way or the less cheap way, and I had opted for the less cheap way ($140 USD). Among other things, the beauty of doing it this way is the border crossing process is smooth.
The van dropped us at the Thai border, where we exited the country. Then a shuttle bus takes travelers from the Thai side of the river to the Laos side, across the relatively newly constructed friendship bridge.
In Laos we queued to buy our visas. For some reason, of those eligible for visas on arrival, Canadians pay the highest fee of anyone else in the world! (albeit only by $2 USD)
Once through the Laos border, we were picked up by another van.
Before getting in, most of us Nagi travelers tried using the ATM to get Laos kip, and some did so successfully, but many of us for whatever reason could not get any cash. So, I changed my remaining baht to at least have some kip.
The van drove through the town of Huay Xai to the port. We were now basically right across the river from Chiang Khong, a little upstream from where I had spent Saturday night.
The Nagi looked more or less the same as the other boats from the outside.
But inside, it was a real beauty...
Throughout our two day trip, the fruit basket was always full (albeit not always so perfectly arranged) . . .
. . . and there was always hot water for tea or instant coffee.
We could also purchase Laos's famous Beerlao (note the "Driking" sign to the left of the TV).
Behind the bar were two toilets, basic but clean and comfortable enough.
Then there was the engine:
An older couple own and operate the Nagi, the husband is the captain and the wife the cook. I peeked into their living/cooking quarters, which took up the back third or so of the boat (note the basket of chili peppers!).
And, at the front of the boat, is the captain's spot.
All 14 of us passengers and our guide, Xay Phon, were on board quickly and around 10:00 we set off.
Within minutes we were sailing by my Chiang Khong hotel on the right (west) side of the Mekong.
And a minute later we were approaching the Friendship Bridge we had crossed an hour or so earlier.
Soon we rounded a bend, and left Thailand behind.
At this point, more or less, there is a checkpoint of some kind, so we moved towards the bank. We did not have to get off, but the stop gave me the chance to photograph this boat that was behind us. In some ways the shape of these boats reminds me of an gangling insect, but they manage to look graceful and sleek in the Mekong.
Somehow I found the trip on the Nagi both wonderfully relaxing and totally thrilling, even though for the most part the scenery was the same: brilliant blue sky, chocolaty brown water, and deep, textured, greened hills.
I loved the pace, and I got a lot of inspired writing done sitting at one of the tables as the Laos countryside drifted by.
I also made friends with many of my fellow passengers. It was a perfect environment to talk and get to know each other, and (of course!) travelers who take trips on the Mekong tend to be pretty interesting people!
Around 11:30 we pulled back ashore, this time to visit an Indigenous village.
The children were excited for our stop!
While I cannot deny that the village was interesting, the idea of a boatload of mainly white people stopping for 45 minutes to trample through a village snooping and taking pictures makes me very uncomfortable. The children (who are adorable) did seem to genuinely enjoy our visit (many of them were holding some of my group's hands by the end of our visit!), but they are also stocked with little bracelets they are trying to sell.
This monkey, however, was more interested in showing off his climbing skills than making sales:
Anyway, despite my discomfort with the itinerary, I took plenty of pictures.
Back on board the Nagi, we were served a delicious lunch and had the rest of the afternoon to enjoy the Mekong.
And, of course, some beerlao!
Around 16:00 we started approaching our stop for the night, Pakbeng.
Once ashore, we walked up the hill.
Our cruise fare included the hotel for the night, the Mekong Riverside Lodge, so we checked in there, and then most of us headed over to the Pakbeng market.
There were two ATMs here, but neither worked for me again. Anyway, there was nothing at the market I wanted to buy, but it sure was an interesting place!
In the pictures below you can see what is a live rat, with tied up legs and looking very dazed, or perhaps just exhausted. It did not have much fight in it, such that I thought it was dead. The hilarious part about seeing this rat is that one of the younger guys on the boat decided to play hero, and bought the thing so that he could let it go! Apparently the poor thing limped slowly away, so I am assuming it was doomed to be somebody's dinner anyway.
This is water buffalo skin, which apparently is prepared as a salty drinking snack, perhaps something like beef jerky?
After the market, my new friend Nuna and I went for a walk down Pakbeng's main street, which seemed to go on forever.
On our way back, we met up with other friends from the Nagi at Hive Bar, where apparently children work (see the kids out front).
Hive bar turned into dinner, which then led to Pakbeng's only other bar, Happy Bar, where a game of jenga proved surprisingly fun.
Jenga turned to beer pong, and Xay Phon, Nuna, and I made up a team that ended up beating some other obnoxious European guys who had dubbed themselves "champions of the boat." Since we beat them, their "title" became ours, and our group of friends enjoyed referring to ourselves as "champions of the boat" from then on.
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