Been There, Done That

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” – Mark Twain

So that’s it then. We’re done. Eight months have passed in what seemed like the blink of an eye and as we write this we’re at 35,000 feet above the Atlantic aboard our nineteenth flight, our last flight, and in the final leg of our complete circumnavigation of the globe…the conclusion of our around-the-world adventure.

What a trip. It has been a truly memorable journey and an experience we will cherish forever.

We’ve seen some amazing places…

We’ve watched the sun rise over the ancient Temples of Angkor in Cambodia and watched it dip below the trees in the African bush. We’ve seen snow-topped mountains, verdant rolling hills, and white sandy beaches. We’ve been lost in the chaos that is Bangkok and Ho Chi Minh City, we’ve chilled out on deserted beaches in Thailand. We’ve visited some of the most amazing historical sites in the world and seen more World Heritage Sites than you could shake a really, really old stick at.

We’ve done some pretty cool stuff too…

In New Zealand we held on for dear life in a white water raft on Grade 5 rapids and then jumped out of a plane. We camped with dingoes on the largest sand island in the world and then wiped out learning to surf in Australia. We dined on insects in Bangkok and went on an elephant trek in Northern Thailand. In Laos we jumped into a waterfall, went tubing into an underground cave, swung into a river, and fell off of a motorbike. We had our feet cleaned by fish in Cambodia. We motorcycled along the coast from Hue to Hoi An in Vietnam and partied all night with the locals in the tiny fishing village of Mui Ne. In South Africa we went wine tasting on bicycles, tracked the big five on safari, and watched our boys compete in the World Cup Finals.

And along the way we’ve met some wonderful people…

During our trip we’ve visited over 50 places in 11 different countries. Although we were only really passing through on many occasions, we were fortunate enough to meet some amazing people. Like Pop (P-O-P as he would say) the 8-year-old street bookseller from Cambodia who goes to school in the morning and then sells books in the afternoon to help make money for his family. He had the biggest smile you’ve ever seen, a great little personality, and he could teach you more about world geography in 5 minutes than you ever learned in school! And the Vietnamese woman who, after chatting with us briefly one day, invited us back to her home to meet her family over some tea and coffee. We met her mother and father and some extended family over a cup of strong Vietnamese coffee and she told us how she’s trying to help put her daughter through college in Danang by selling nuts and coconut treats that she makes in the streets everyday. And then there’s the 25,000 South Africans that we danced and sang the night away with in Rustenburg to celebrate the opening match of the first ever World Cup Finals in Africa. Black, white, rich, poor all came together to celebrate the World Cup and get behind the Bafana Bafana. Magical.

“A journey is best measured in friends, rather than miles.” – Tim Cahill

Of course, the trip wouldn’t have been the same without some of our fellow travelers that we met along the way, like the slow boat crew in Laos who helped make Lee’s 31st birthday one to remember, Chris, Sarah and Shop-run Gary who we chilled out with in Southern Thailand and who inspired Lee to get some new body art, the cyclists who cycled the length of Africa and then boozed their way around South Africa with us, Foxy/Moonhead/Taff/et al who made the football much more enjoyable even though our teams were terrible, and last but certainly not least are our favorite travelers – our partner’s in crime, our trip buddies, our travel companions, Kate and Lizzie, who we’ve had some brilliant times with over the last 8 months and we feel like we’ve known them forever (we mean that in a good way guys ☺)

It really has been the trip of a lifetime. We already feel incredibly lucky to have had the opportunity to do this but it will be over the coming weeks and months, maybe even years, that it starts to sink in how enriching this experience has been for both of us.

“No one realizes how beautiful it is to travel until he comes home and rests his head on his old, familiar pillow.” – Lin Yutang

Round-the-world in numbers: the story so far

Most of the counting we have been doing on this trip has been related to money - how much is this hostel room?  What is the exchange rate? Lee you've already spent this much on beer already, Courtney if we forgo using moisturizer we'll save this much money, etc, etc.

After just 2 days in New Zealand we realized that we were going to have a tough time keeping track of our daily expenditures, and therefore our budget, so we invested in a cheap calculator to help.  With the assistance of that same trusty little number crunching device, we decided to look at some other numbers related to this trip and the result is the following summary.  Our trip by the numbers...

5 number of continents visited
11 number of countries explored
144 number of days traveled
43 total number of places that we've stayed in
2 number of motorbikes rented

before the "incident"

50 percentage of rented motorbikes that were crashed
20 number of books read
18 number of flights taken
4 number of different cameras used (so far)
2,195 number of photos taken
10 different modes of transport used

One of the higher quality buses we rode on

35,317 number of miles traveled
24,901 distance in miles around the world at the equator
1 bag of insects eaten

Yum

15,000 height in feet from which we jumped out of a plane
15 number of beaches laid on
3 number of public rallies/riots/protests we have witnessed (civil unrest seems to be a theme on this trip)
9 number of UNESCO World Heritage Sites visited

Sydney Opera House - UNESCO World Heritage Site

190 cost in US dollars of one speeding ticket in Australia
26 number of bus journeys taken
23 percentage of bus journeys where we feared for our lives

This was a contender for worst bus trip

65 percentage of bus drivers in New Zealand named "Peter"
10 number of capital cities visited
8,500 approximate weight in pounds of the elephant we rode in northern Thailand

53 current age of former England captain and all-round footballing legend Bryan Robson, who we saw hanging out near our hotel in Bangkok
171* number of canadians met while traveling (*estimate.  actual number unknown but it felt like at least that many
27 number of new facebook friends
8 average cost in US dollars of a beer in Australia
0.45 average cost in US dollars of beer in Vietnam
15 number of dorm rooms stayed in
36 percentage of dorms that had smelly and/or noisy roomies
7.5 size of the flip flops Lee inherited after his were stolen from outside an internet cafe in Laos (they are a bit snug)

With only 3 days to go until the start of the World Cup, we'll likely have plenty more statistics to think about over the next 4 weeks.

Things Seen on the Back of a Motorbike in Southeast Asia

4 Upside down dead pigs
1 television
1 family of five
50 dead ducks
1 full size refrigerator
1 six foot ladder
100 plus coconuts
1 Courtney
4 five foot tall porcelain vases
1 glass display case full of pastries and danish
1 large spool of chain link fencing
2 ironing boards
1 sleeping child
1 Lee
100 plus sheets of rice paper
1 Monk smoking a cigarette
10 large truck tires
60 plus pots and pans

The Magical Mystery Tour: Laos to Vietnam

We had originally planned to get a bus direct from Tha Khaek to Hue in Vietnam.  Our LP book informed us that this was possible but upon arrival in Tha Khaek we couldn't find any information about what days the buses run, what time they leave, or if there even were any buses going to Vietnam.  We were pretty confident we could get a bus to the border from Savannakhet, a town 3 hours south of where we were, so we headed for the bus station to catch the next bus south.

Our luck was in.  We arrived at the station minutes before a bus was scheduled to leave for Savannakhet.  We grabbed a couple of waters, hopped on board and we were on our way.  Off to a good start.  We pulled into Savannakhet 3 hours later and headed straight over to the ticket office to purchase tickets for the next bus into Vietnam.  It's a 12-hour, overnight journey from Savannakhet to Hue in Vietnam and there were several options - the VIP sleeper bus, the regular air-con bus, and the local bus.  We were hoping to travel in relative comfort on the sleeper but it was a Saturday and it only runs on weekdays.  Same story for the regular air-con bus.  That left us with the local bus.  We'd heard quite a few stories about the local bus but hadn't yet had the pleasure of riding one.  Now we'd get 12 full hours on one!

We were scheduled to leave at 10 pm so we killed some time in Savannakhet before heading back to the bus station.  Our ride rolled up at about 9:30 pm.  Didn't look too bad.  A bit shabby but pretty much in tact.  Nobody seemed in much of a rush to get on so Lee jumped on to check out the scene and try and secure some decent seats.  The seats only went about halfway back in the bus, the rest of the space looked like it was for transporting cargo.  On this particular bus there were 2 large spare tires and a number of boxes including one which contain several live chickens.  A hammock was also strung up between 2 poles toward the rear.  Most of the seats had boxes jammed under them which didn't leave much space for your legs.  We grabbed one of the few seats that had a bit of space below.  Much to our surprise the bus left on-time, the windows and front door were all open so there was a nice breeze flowing through the bus and we started to think this might not be so bad after all.

We chugged along at a steady pace for the first couple of hours.  We were the only foreigners on the entire bus and we stuck out like sore thumbs, but nobody was that interested in us at all and they went about their business.  The seats on this bus were tiny, probably half the size of a normal bus.  But that didn't stop most of our fellow passengers getting comfy by contorting their bodies into seemingly impossible positions and nodding off.  There were feet everywhere.  Locals weren't shy about using the armrest of the seat opposite to stretch their legs.  Those who weren't sleeping were passing the time chain-smoking and flicking their butts into the aisle.  The chickens pretty much kept to themselves, save for the odd bit of clucking.  Only another 10 hours to go.

1am rolled by and we were feeling pretty good about the public bus.  That's when things started to get a bit....bizarre.  First a tough-looking little old man sans shirt (sounds like an oxymoron but he was a muscley little fella) came back through the bus collecting passports.  Everyone else handed them over without a fuss so we assumed this was standard practice but we knew the border didn't open for another 6 hours so we were obviously a bit concerned giving ours up to this character who was clearly NOT an official representative of the Laos government.  We reluctantly handed them over figuring as long as we're all on the bus they can't go anywhere.

A short-while later we pulled over in the middle of nowhere and everyone but the chickens piled off and proceeded to relieve themselves in a field - men beside the bus, women behind.  All very organized.

At around 2am, the bus stopped in a small town, outside what looked like someone's house, and once again everyone got off.  We initially thought it was another "comfort" stop.  Not so.  After several unsuccessful attempts at communicating with other passengers we finally figured out that we were already in the border town of Davannsah and that's exactly where we would be staying until 7am when the border opened.  Out of nowhere a woman appeared and started rustling up noodle soup for everyone (except for us).  Once snack-time was over people started making their way up some stairs at the back of the building.  Noodle soup lady made a sleeping gesture to us and pointed to the stairs.  Watching too many episodes of Nat Geo's "Locked Up Abroad" has made us a bit paranoid about leaving our bags unattended, especially when a border crossing is involved, so we grabbed our bags from the bus and took them upstairs with us.

We slept in what we can only describe as an unfinished attic.  Set up around the room were blankets and pillows on the floor along with mosquito nets covering them.  And it was HOT.  We eventually managed to fall asleep for about 2 hours.

By this point of course we have no idea where our passports are.  Grandad muscles is wandering around but the passports are nowhere to be seen.  Just as the nerves were creeping in a smart looking mustachioed man zipped up on a motor-scooter.  He marched right up to Lee and asked for his passport.  Lee could see it in his hand so pointed at it.  Mustache smiled and said " See you at border.  7am."  And with that he hopped back on his scooter and was off again.

The border was chaos.  Lee eventually found Mustache and asked for our passports.  He pointed at another man we'd never seen before who was wearing a lovely matching denim jacket and jeans and holding a big stack of passports.  When he saw Lee he magically produced both our passports from an inside pocket of his 80s stonewash denim threads. 

We had to walk from Laos to Vietnam. Every time we got a stamp in our passports it cost us a $1.  There were probably close to 50 people crossing at the same time as us but we were the only ones diverted to quarantine.  Not even the chickens were subjected to this!

Finally in Vietnam and back on the bus headed to Hue, we thought nothing else could possibly happen.  About 30k out from Hue, the bus stopped at a little roadside cafe for some food.  At this point we were informed that the bus wasn't even going to Hue!  We were told we'd have to get on a motor bike the rest of the way and pay another 20,000 kip each!  We politely insisted that we'd got a ticket for Hue and that's where we would be going on this bus.

Back on the bus it seemed that our protests had been successful as we continued on towards Hue.  Suddenly the bus stopped again and we were told to get off.  This time they weren't having none of it so we grabbed our bags and made our way to the door.  Just as we were getting upset, a woman who was somehow involved with the bus company (not sure how but she seemed to know everyone and was the main person insisting we get off) handed us some cash and said it was to pay for the rest of our journey.  We got off, completely baffled by the whole exchange and sat by the side of the road.  Not 2 minutes later, a mini-bus showed up and we were bundled on it.  We handed over the money we were given and before we knew it we were right in the center of Hue, much closer than if we had gone to the bus station.

Overall one of the most bizarre experiences we've had on this trip or otherwise.  At the time the scariest thing about it was being completely helpless - we couldn't communicate with anyone and had no control over what was happening.  In the end it seems that there was a system in place the whole time and although chaotic and confusing to us, seems to work fine for the Lao and Vietnamese folks who regularly ride the local bus.

Get your motor running, head out on the highway

We'd been dying to rent a motorbike and get out onto the open road, wind in our hair and all that, and we finally decided to pull the trigger in a place called Tha Khaek in Southern Laos.  There's not much in the town itself but there's plenty of things to see and do just outside.  Route 12 is part of "The Loop" a 3-4 day tour popular with backpackers on motorbikes.  We didn't have that much time so we decided to rent a bike for the day, head east out of town and take in some of the sights along Route 12.

We rented our wheels from a small shop across from where we were staying in Tha Khaek.  It was a pretty small operation run by a friendly Lao guy.  He had 3 bikes to choose from - old, crap, and old and crap.  The shop owner must have sensed we were looking for a bargain as he immediately offered us old and crap.  He said it would be perfect for our day trip and there would be no need to spend the extra 10,000 kip for one of the slightly better bikes.

As neither of us have any experience riding motorbikes Lee asked for a bit of a rundown on how things work - how do you turn it on/ where do you put gas in/ where is the brake? - that sort of thing.  He showed us the gas tank first.  He did this by lifting up the seat to show us where to put gas in.  The thing is the seat wasn't even attached!  He just lifted it off and put it on the floor!  Not a good sign.  The he tried to start it.  The electric starter wasn't working so he said we'd have to kick-start it.  After a couple of attempts he got it purring...and then it died.  He eventually got it started again but it kept dying.  It seems the idle was set too low or something (again, we know nothing about bikes).  After a bit of a think he suggested we take it down the road to have the mechanic adjust it.  That's when we decided it might be wise to pony up the extra 10,000 kip (about $1.25) to secure his best bike - the Fuma.  125ccs of raw, unadulterated power!  We still had to take it to the mechanics for a "tune-up" but after that we were ready to go.

We headed east out of town and into the countryside.  The scenery was beautiful.  We passed through small villages, between limestone karst cliffs, through rice paddys.  We dodged cows, held on for dear life as massive trucks rumbled by covering us in thick clouds of exhaust, and waved at small kids as they played by the side of the road.

Our first stop was at The Falang, a section of river that is a popular swimming spot for tourists and locals.  It took some finding as the signage isn't great but we eventually got there.  Unfortunately, as it's dry season the water was pretty low and it didn't look too inviting so we passed on the swim and hopped back on the bike got back on the road.

Another few miles down the road we stopped off at the Nang Aen Cave, a huge cave with concrete staircases constructed throughout.  It looked like something out of David Bowie's "Labyrinth."  Next we went to the Xien Liep Cave.  There's no real road or path to the cave but a little boy appeared out of nowhere and beckoned us to follow him saying "cabe."  We followed out little tour guide through the woods for about 10 minutes.  Along the way he stopped to capture a pretty decent sized beetle which he peeled the wings and legs off of and ate.  Mmmmm.  After making our way across some fairly tricky and rocky terrain (which our 5 year old guide easily managed to traverse...barefoot) we got to the opening of a large cave with a river running out of it.  Very cool.

We decided to take a few minutes to take in the scenery before heading back.  While resting Courtney taught our little guide some English words using the "Let's Speak Lao" guide we'd picked up in town.  He was quite the little student, Courtney wanted to take him home.

Our last stop was Pa Fa Cave - the Buddha Cave.  The cave was only discovered in 2004 by some guy looking for bats.  When he found it it had several hundred Buddha statues in it (hence the name).  Now Lao people and monks regularly go to the cave to pray.  To get to the cave we had to travel about 9km along a dirt road through a number of villages.  The road was pretty tough to drive on and every time a bike or car passed us we were covered in dust.  Great fun though.  Well, it was great fun until we were on our way back.  We got to the last turn before the main road and we ate dirt...literally.  We took the turn a bit wide and a bit too fast and before we knew it we were halfway down a ditch!  We were both fine save for a couple of scratches but the camera didn't make out so well.  Court had it out to take some photos of the scenery and unfortunately some dirt got in the lens as we went down.

All in all we had a great day and would definitely recommend it to anyone out in these parts....just remember to ease up off the gas as you get to the last bend on the dirt road coming back from the Buddha Cave.  Oh, and bring a little gift for the unofficial Xien Liep tour guide, you'll make his day.

Vientiane

Things we saw in Vientiane:

1. Vietnam Embassy
2. Super Minimart
3. Hospital
4. Pharmacy
5. Several bad movies on HBO Asia

Unfortunately we were still suffering from our stomach bugs so we didn't get a chance to get out much.  Luckily they'll sell you anything in the pharmacies here so we got ourselves some antibiotics and we're finally on the mend.

The VIP Bus

The VIP bus is anything but.  The only indication that it is in fact the VIP bus are the huge letters emblazoned across the front windshield that read "VIP."  The seats are all made of the plastic pleathery material that makes you sweat when hot, the seat numbers are scrawled in permanent marker on the backs of the seats, and the rest of the interior is in various states of disrepair.  As I write this an unknown liquid substance is dripping on me from a crack in the shelving above my seat.  Attempts to stem the flow of the dripping with the ugly green curtains have so far proved unsuccessful.

 A sarcastic thumbs-up from Court

Several of the windows are cracked from what appear to be bullet holes but are hopefully just from stones being thrown at the bus by kids as it passed through one of the many villages that line the road.  Probably not though. I'm pretty sure I saw one of the guys that loaded our bags onto the bus carrying some sort of machine gun over his shoulder, loosely concealed by his jacket, which seems to suggest that buses being shot at is not completely unheard of.

Bullet or rock?

 

Court is asleep next to me, mouth open wide, catching up on the sleep we missed out on last night on account of our 5am start to go and watch the monks receive their morning alms.  I don't know how she does it.  The roads are so windy and bumpy, I struggle just to stay upright in my seat.

I finished my book an hour ago and it looks like we still have several to go.  A stop for lunch was promised when we bought our ticket but I'm not so sure now as we pulled over a short distance back, apparently so that anyone needing to relieve themselves could do so in the bushes.  The break was not a moment too soon for one young Lao woman who proceeded to throw up several times on the ground beside the bus as she held her baby next to her so he could go potty.  Now there's some multitasking.

Looking around the bus to occupy myself I notice that the emergency hatch in the roof that is commonly found, and probably mandatory, on buses is sealed shut with what looks like a piece of kitchen countertop.  Also just noticed that the holder for the little hammer that is supposed to be used to break the window in an emergency is missing.  Apparently once you're on the VIP bus, you're on it.

The curtain seems to be holding for now but I fully expect it to collapse at some point, one drop too many, and soak me in my seat.  Court is still sleeping.  Lucky girl.  Maybe if I put the pen down I'll be able to catch a few winks before the curtain gives.

Update:
We've been on another VIP bus since this was written and it was sooo much better than this one.  The windows were in tact, seats comfy, no leaks, TV.  It even had a quite fetching design on the outside.  Apparently not all VIP buses are created equal.

Now THAT'S a VIP bus!

We're currently experiencing technical difficulties

Unfortunately we managed to pick up a virus on one of our memory cards so we're having a bit of trouble uploading all of our recent photos.  Hopefully we'll get it fixed and have them all up there soon for your viewing pleasure.

p.s. if anyone has any suggestions for removing viruses from memory cards let us know.   As you can imagine, "I have a virus on my memory card, can you help me remove it?" is a bit of a tricky sentence in Lao.

Vang Vieng - taken down by one of our own

After a month of living dangerously, dining out at street stalls, pointing at unknown foods and saying "yes please, I'll have some of that," munching on hairy pieces of pork, and thoroughly enjoying every minute of it - we were finally taken down by one of our own.  Craving a bit of a change from rice and noodles we decided to treat ourselves to something delicious, familiar, and undeniably western - steak and ale pie and chips.  Yum. Seemed like a great idea at the time but what followed suggested otherwise.

We spent the next 48 hours inside our room.  Well, that's not entirely true.  We surfaced briefly to move to another guesthouse just down the road so that we could have the luxury of television to occupy us when we weren't on the toilet.  Based on how we both felt we knew that we'd be bunkering down for a while so we justified the extra expense.  Incidentally, the Domon Guesthouse in Vang Vieng is a lovely place with big, bright, and airy double rooms with ensuite bathrooms and satellite TV for only 80,000 kip.  Highly recommended for the sickly and happy and healthy alike.

Despite our condition, we still managed to squeeze in some fun while in Vang Vieng.  The most popular activity in town is getting as drunk as possible while tubing down the Nam Song River.  It's basically spring break SE Asia.  We decided to give that a miss and go for something a little more, er, sensible.


We booked a 1-day excursion with a company called Wonderful Tours.  All the companies seem to offer pretty much the same excursions for similar prices but this outfit seemed to be the most organized, and besides, we liked the owner who was full of energy and spent about 20 minutes persuading us that his company was the BEST in all of Laos.


He was a man of his word.  We really enjoyed the tour.  We spent the morning tubing through a cave, then after lunch we kayaked about 10 kilometres back to town, with a brief stop for some "carb-loading" at one of the many bars that line a small section of the river and mainly cater to the aforementioned tubing crowd.  The whole day cost us 100,000 kip each and was well worth it.

Monks with Umbrellas

Prior to getting on the slow boat we decided that after being crammed on to a boat for 2 days straight we'd need a few days in one place to relax before moving on again.  A UNESCO World Heritage Place and described in our trusty LP guidebook as "a tonic for the soul", Luang Prabang seemed like the perfect place.

We ended up spending 5 days here and really enjoyed it.  When we first arrived on the boat we were greeted by the usual cluster of touts attempting to get us back to their guesthouse.  As we hadn't done much research we didn't have anywhere in mind to stay so we shopped around with a couple of the touts to see what was on offer.  We eventually chose one that looked decent and decided to check it out.  The place was ok and we spent the first night there (Lee even watched Man U v Liverpool on a little TV with some of the guesthouse staff) but it was a bit basic even for us and was located a bit far from the center of town so we decided to look for somewhere a bit better the following day.

After stopping into a few places we finally found Chanhthaphone Guesthouse, a great guesthouse on a little side street just off of the main road where the popular night market is held each night.  Our room was immaculate and the bathroom was nicely decorated and large.  The shower was amazing - the best we've had in southeast Asia, possibly the whole trip.  The owners were also lovely and they had a cute little dog called "Dodo" which Courtney played every time we were either coming or going.  We got the room for about $9 a night which is a pretty good deal in Luang Prabang as prices have been rising sharply the last few years as tourism has grown.

It might not look luxurious but this bathroom was amazing!

We spent most of our time walking around town exploring the old quarter and soaking up the laid back atmosphere.  Laos was under French rule until 1953 and the French influence can definitely be seen in the architecture and cuisine of Luang Prabang.  Beautiful Chateaus are interspersed with huts constructed of wood and corugated iron and gourmet French food is served alongside traditional Lao dishes.

Talking of food, there are tons of restuarant choices in Luang Prabang but our favorite place to eat was the narrow alley just of the main street with the night market.  During the day it was lined with empty wooden tables but at night it was packed with street vendors serving all kinds of delicious local food.  Pretty much any appetite could be satisfied here.  Our favorites were the all-you-can-eat vegetarian place (put as much as you can on a plate for about a $1) and Sum Noodle which had delicious bowls of noodle soup made by Mrs Sum herself.  The soup cost about a $1.20 but Mrs Sum's smile was free.

                                                                                    Mrs Sum's Noodle Soup

Monks with Umbrellas
Another enduring image of Luang Prabang is the Buddhist monks with their umbrellas walking around town.  All Lao men are expected to enter into monkhood at some point in their lives and it, judging by the amount we've seen, it seems like all of them go to Luang Prabang to do it!  It's so interesting to watch them going about their business.  Courtney is fascinated by them and has been inspired to learn more about Buddhist monks just by being around them for the last few days.  Tomorrow morning we're getting up at 5am to watch the morning almsgiving, a ritual involving people giving rice to the monks.

Kuangsi Waterfalls
On our 3rd day in LP we rented a tuk tuk and headed out to the famous Kuangsi Waterfalls.  The waterfalls are about 32k outside of the main town and it cost us about 60,000 kip ($8) to get there and back.  There are several falls with the biggest being about 180 meters high.  We hiked up the very steep slope to get to the top of the biggest fall (probably not worth the hike in the end), crossed at the top and then back down the other side.  The best part of the day was swimming in the beautiful turquoise pools at the bottom.  There was a smaller waterfall near the bottom that we jumped off a few times and also a rope swing that was great fun.  A great way to cool off.

The infamous Slow Boat

There are so many stories about the slow boat online and in the guidebooks and the majority of them say how bad it is - overcrowded, ancient boats, unsafe drivers, scams, unpredictable schedules, etc, etc.  Faced with the prospect of another long and bumpy ride on a crowded bus on dodgy roads, we decided the boat would be the way to go.  Besides, we'd also heard that the boat afforded riders with views of some great scenery along the way and a glimpse of many Laos villages that are scattered along the river.

Most of what we heard about the boat was true.  The boat was decrepit, it didn't leave anywhere near on time, and it was crowded.  In fact, crowded is an understatement.  It was bursting at the seams.  From the time got on and the time we finally departed, the boat dropped about a foot or more in the water.  Luckily we were among the first people on so we had our choice of places to sit.  We chose to spread out on the floor in the front of the boat, away from the noise and fumes of the engine and more spacious than the rickety wooden benches that were crammed together in the middle section.  This was probably our best decision of the trip so far.

Just when we thought the boat was full, another tuk tuk would pull up and unload a bunch more backpackers.  Then another...and another.  They just kept coming.  Along with a few others, we attempted to protest to the driver that the boat was too full and a second boat was needed to accommodate everyone but we were completely ignored and soon after the engine was fired up and we were off.

Despite all that, we had great time!  We met a fun group of people on the boat and together we created a bit of a party atmosphere in the front section (the people stuck in the back hated us).  Day 1 of the boat trip was also Lee's birthday which Courtney wasted no time in telling everyone.  Midway through the day Lee went to the bathroom and when he returned he was surprised with a full rendition of Happy Birthday from half of the boat which concluded with Lee performing a keg stand on a can of Beerlao (orchestrated by a hilarious Belgian guy called "T-Bone" who ended up being the unofficial Entertainment Director for the duration of the trip).  At 6pm we finally arrived in Pak Beng, the midway point of the trip and the place we would be staying for the night before continuing on in the morning.

Day 2 was a little more subdued as the boaters recovered fromthe Day 1 festivities but we still enjoyed a pleasant meander down the river to Luang Prabang.

Thailand to Laos

Crossing the border
Although Thailand was amazing and there was still so much we hadn't seen, we had to keep moving to stand any chance of completing our ambitious itinerary and seeing Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia in little more than 5 weeks.  We decided to cross the border from Chiang Khong in northern Thailand to Huay Xai, a small riverside town in northern Laos.  From there the plan was to travel south either by bus or boat to Luang Prabang - more about that later.

Pai to Chiang Khong
After a bit of research we decided the best option to get to Chiang Khong from Pai seemed to be the overnight "VIP" minibus.  We purchased tickets for 650 baht each which also included a room in Chiang Khong as we would be arriving at approximately 3am (we read that buses rarely stick to schedules so we were prepared for an arrival time anywhere between 3am and 6am).

The VIP sounds luxurious but it was far from it.  The first few hours on the bus were cramped, bumpy and mildly terrifying but other than that pretty uneventful.  At about 1am we pulled into a 7-11 in the middle of nowhere (they're everywhere in Thailand) for a quick comfort stop - food, drink, toilet, stretch, etc.  After 15 about 15 minutes we were loaded back onto the bus in preparation for getting back on the road.  The driver however decided he wasn't ready to get going yet and proceeded to mill around inside the store checking out magazines and having one or two more cigarettes.  This went on for something like 15 minutes.  Originally we thought he was just taking an extra long break, which was fine with us as our main priority was him staying awake long enough to get us to our destination in one piece, but then we discovered the real reason for his lolly-gagging - he was supplementing his bus driver salary with a bit of side business in drug-running!  The pieces started to fall into place while we watched as he participated in a well-rehearsed sequence involving himself, a 7-11 employee and two teenagers who arrived (obviously slightly late) on a motorbike.  If we had any doubts as to what was transpiring they were erased when one of the teenagers gave our driver a little nod and smile as he peeled out of the parking lot on his motorbike - another happy customer.

Another successful transaction completed, we continued on our way.  A couple of sleepless hours later we arrived in Chiang Khong.  The room that was included in our ticket was, as expected, terrible but we were so tired that we really didn't care and fell straight to sleep.  The following morning we left Thailand on a longtail boat across the Mekong which cost us a whopping 40 baht ($1.30) each.

Laos
In Huay Xai on the Laos side we grabbed a room for the night at the Saybadee Guesthouse (very nice room with a huge bed and view of the Mekong from the balcony for $9) and then set about securing transport south to Luang Prabang.  We had heard that due to the Mekong River being very low boats were not running and the only option would be a 16 hour bus ride.  However, after asking around a bit we were pleased to learn that the Chinese had opened a dam or two up river and the boats would start running the following morning.  We booked ourselves a couple of spots on the first boat out in morning, a bargain at 250,000 kip each! (only about $27 for a 2-day trip)

Taking the Slow Boat
There are so many stories about the slow boat online and in the guidebooks and the majority of them say how bad it it - overcrowded, ancient boats, unsafe drivers, scams, unpredictable schedules, etc, etc.  Faced with the prospect of another long and bumpy ride on a crowded bus on dodgy roads, we decided the boat would be the way to go.  Besides, we'd also that the boat afforded riders with views of some great scenery along the way and a glimpse of many Laos villages that are scattered along the river.

Most of what we heard about the boat was true.  The boat was decrepit, it didn't leave anywhere near on time, and it was crowded.  In fact, crowded is an understatement.  It was bursting at the seams.  From the time got on and the time we finally departed, the boat dropped about a foot or more in the water.  Luckily we were among the first people on so we had our choice of places to sit.  We chose to spread out on the floor in the front of the boat, away from the noise and fumes of the engine and more spacious than the rickety wooden benches that were crammed together in the middle section.  This was probably our best decision of the trip so far.

Just when we thought the boat was full, another tuk tuk would pull up and unload a bunch more backpackers.  Then another...and another.  They just kept coming.  Along with a few others, we attempted to protest to the driver that the boat was too full and a second boat was needed to accommodate everyone but we were completely ignored and soon after the engine was fired up and we were off.

Despite all that, we had great time!  We met a fun group of people on the boat and together we created a bit of a party atmosphere in the front section (the people stuck in the back hated us).  Day 1 of the boat trip was also Lee's birthday which Courtney wasted no time in telling everyone.  Midway through the day Lee went to the bathroom and when he returned he was surprised with a full rendition of Happy Birthday from half of the boat which concluded with Lee performing a keg stand on a can of Beerlao (orchestrated by a hilarious Belgian guy called "T-Bone" who ended up being the unofficial Entertainment Director for the duration of the trip).  At 6pm we finally arrived in Pak Beng, the midway point of the trip and the place we would be staying for the night before continuing on in the morning.

Day 2 was a little more subdued as the boaters recovered fromthe Day 1 festivities but we still enjoyed a pleasant meander down the river to Luang Prabang.