Stories to tell the grandchildren.....

We were picked up by the bus to go to Huay Xai, the point for crossing the border to Laos at 10.30. We were squished between the bags at the back of the van (of course) which meant we had one and a half seats for the two of us :) We stopped somewhere to get something to eat and met Graham, an Australian man who was on our bus and was travelling across the world by land to met his family in Toulouse. We had a nice chat about how travelling used to be - he had travelled when he was in his twenties, which would be about 30 years ago now, and he said that things were so different without phones and internet - he said that once he had to book a week in advance to make a phonecall in Israel. How times have changed. Anyway....we stopped again at a market for 15 minutes and had a look around. Some of the stuff was SHOCKING, like live frogs being suffocated in a plastic bag in the baking sun (see photo) Can't stop thinking about it :( Poor little things. They also had barbecued ones - they look like they're just whacked on there alive to to cook.....eeeek.

We got to Huay Xai at about 17.00 and were shown to our guesthouse, which was even more shocking than the frogs. You couldn't even call it a 'guesthouse'. There were millions of insects and the toilet and shower were outside, IN THE MIDDLE OF THE JUNGLE. There was a massive, massive spider in the toilet. Luckily however we met a great couple from Ireland who we had dinner with and some beers and they helped us to attach our mosquito net to the roof by sticking the metal pins into the roof and secruing it with their roll of elastoplast (see picture) - thank god! But it was still a terrifying night - we slept (well kind of as we were bunched up in the middle of our two single beds pushed together) with the light on and were so glad when it ws time to get up, especially when we heard some kind of animal scratching about inside the walls. Never ever again.

We crossed the river to Laos the morning after, which took only a couple of minutes, but it took about 2 hours to get over the border crossing because they want to check your passport about a million times, despite the fact that the immigration point looks like a beach hut. We hung about a bit after getting through and were taken to a cafe (see picture) to wait 'while the police checked our passports' AGAIN. We have our suspicions the tour group were just making fast copies of them though..... at the cafe there was a shop which sold whisky with scorpions and snakes in it - the stuff they eat here just gets wierder and wierder.

The worst however was still to come; the trip along the Mekong river to Luang Prabang, stopping by Pak Bang, which took 13 hours in total. There were around 120 of us (mostly young people - see picture) packed onto this boat from 10.30 in the morning to 17.00. We are surprised it didn't sink under the weight. It was rickety, deafening because of the engine, and not enough seats for everone. The seats were just hard wood. Luckily though we got a seat for the first leg and we had a cushion each, which were advised to buy at the 'guesthouse' in Huang Xai. Silvia's said "Happy Holiday" on it.....oh the irony.

The scenery was beautiful, really amazing (see picture), but after about 2 hours it does kind of cease to have the 'wow' factor anymore. We made a short stop to let some kids on to sell us stuff, they all came on with baskets of pringles, pineapple, juice, beer etc, but the boat sold all that anyway (although we were told at the cafe that it didnt and that we had to buy LOADS of food and stuff there to survive the trip) so people didnt really buy anything, which was kind of a shame:)The kids were about 10. Or younger.

After having a few beer Lao and a few games of cards with the Irish couple (we created a little 'bar area' at the back of the boat), we arrived in Pak Bang around 17.00 and were greeted by loads of guesthouse owners wanting us to stay in their apartments. We had decided as soon as we left the previous 'guesthouse" that we would get a nice place, and luckily it was really nice, and for just 2 Euros each! We had dinner with Graham, Walter (a 75 year old English retiree who is travelling the world for 18 months) and the Irish couple, and incidentally the restaurant was manned by the same guy who sold us the room (see picture), everyone just seems to swap round what they do..... the electricity in the village went off at 10.30 though so we just had to go to bed!!! So there was no fan :( Boiling.

We got on the damned boat again at 9 o'clock, (after a pain au chocolat - would you believe it? It has reached the Lao jungle?!) only to find there were no seats. We thought we were going to have to sit in the engine room, but luckily we found a seat by the toilet. I, Amy, was sitting in a plastic seat right next to the door - I looked like Madame Pipi in the Pullman, sitting there chatting to people as they went in. Didn't get any money but had some nice chats though :) The ordeal was over after 6 hours 30 minutes. Justin, one half of the Irish couple, actually kissed the ground when he got off the boat and we were running around with our rucksacks, sooooooo glad to be released.

We all found some accommodation close to each other in Luang Prabang and met up for beers once we had recovered. The curfew in the city is midnight so you have to be in your room by then or the police will send you home (which is of course a bit strange for us). Luang Prabang is lovely though, it has been in the world heritage list of Unesco since 1995, due to of its collection of French colonial architecture. it really is beautiful. It is very laid back and quiet, you feel like you can really relax here and take it easy....... The people are lovely too :)