Just Rolling Down the (Mekong) River

Greetings! :) First, to the mother--I didn't inform you of this trip BEFORE becuase I wanted to save you the worry...so now that I'm safe n sound, here goes!

(As I type this, I'm sitting in a cafe with a mosquito the size of my hand hanging out behind me. Remembering I was just living by 8 precepts that told me NOT to kill, I'm leaving the dang thing alone...)

So, 2 bus rides, a 2-day boat trip, and a handful of anti-malarial pills later, Rachel and I find ourselves in Luang Probang, Laos. We decided to hop the boarder a few days ago and make the most of the 2-3 weeks we have. So, we boarded a fancy-dancy bus (I only call it that b/c of what follows...) in Chiang Mai and took a 5 hour bus ride to Chaing Rai. It was an easy ride with beautiful scenary to keep our attention. There were more rolling green hills and mountains then I expected and more rice-paddy fields then I knew existed! Once we got to Chaing Rai, we boarded a "regular" bus for the 3 hour journey to the boarder of Thailand and Laos. THIS bus ride was all about the...uh...experience! Think school bus...maybe from like the 70's or 80's. Then, pile WAY too many people on it (rach and I were sharing a regular size seat with another) and then drive it over some awesomingly bumpy and unsealed (only at times..!!) roads...and THEN, continually stop to pick up MORE people....and there you have it. Instant Thai experience! Once we got to the boarder, we sorted our visas (easy as!) and boarded a "ferry" to cross the Mekong River (thus going from Chiang Khong, Thailand to Huay Xui, Laos). Now...this "ferry"...hmmm...how does one describe a few pieces of wood?? Pictures will follow when the internet is faster! We crashed at a guest house in Huay Xui for the night and got our first taste of "Laos time" and the the pace of life in these parts. We stayed here before boarding a "slow boat"...which we knew would be a 2 day adventure. About 7 hours, a night stay in a village, and another 7ish hours the next day. From what we had read, we knew the boat would be a bit uncomfortable...but we also knew that it was meant to be great views....and really, how many people can say they've floated down the Mekong River?! A bit about the boat. Mmmm, well...pictures would prolly do best to describe it. But erase any image you may have about a boat that was taking us down a river for 14 hours. It was small...well, maybe even tiny considering the number of people on it. There were hard, wooden benches big enough for 1...for 2 (on day 2 we scored some car seats that were put in the back...you may never know the full benefit and awesomeness of this!). The boat iteself was probably made by the young village kids...and the motor...well, the motor....was prolly made by them too. It was a pretty easy decision for us, but due to the rains (oh yeah..it's been raining off and on since we left Thailand), many other backpackers who were meant to get on the boat with us, opted to go by bus. I decided that I like my odds of having a chance to swim if we flipped...over the alternative in a bus (since when do heavy rains mean driving is a better idea?! Put me in the river!). The boat trip was...well, pretty great. The views were beautiful, the rains stayed pretty well away, and the time flew by. Not to mention that the stay over in the village was far from the scary thing we were expecting! We loved it there! Anyhoo, we have since run into those people that opted for the bus ride...and we made the right decision..the bus turned out to be a 15 hour nightmare.

So, here we are in Luang Probang--an adorable, quaint little city that lays on the Mekong River. We are staying in an amazing guesthouse and eating amazing food! We decided to SPLURGE on our guesthouse...a whooping $7.50...AND on a delicious and huge French-ish dinner (this part of the country is known to have a "french ghost" and, for instance, baguettes line every street) for a crazy 10 bucks. We went to a waterfall today and will be going to another tomorrow. Our plan so far is to head south to Vang Vieng and then to Vientiene before making our way back to Chaing Mai.

Not to alarm the parentals but I figured it's better if you know that I'm aware. If you have been hearing about the Mekong River floods in the news know that we are fine (and have yet to see the effects)....there was some talk of things south of here getting pretty flooded...so, we are doing all necessary research and taking necessary precautions before moving forward. I'll keep you guys posted but Internet in Laos (along with everything else) is SLOW! So don't be alarmed if you don't hear from me for a bit. Hope all is well on the home front!!

PS. Did I mention that I LOVE Laos so far?! So much so that I think I'll be job searching when we get to the bigger city!!