Luang Prabang to Muang Pakbèng
We woke up early only to discover it was pouring rain outside which was extremely disappointing because we were about to embark on a 10 hour journey on a slow boat on the Mekong River. A bunch of us piled into a Tuk Tuk that was going to transport us to the slow boat. Needless to say we were freezing and wet before we even got to the boat and if we are being perfectly honest a little hungover from last nights events.
Since there was no avoiding the rain at this point we boarded the slow boat soaking wet, only to discover that the slow boat was an ‘open concept’ slow boat, so the ‘windows’ were tarp draped over the sides of the boat. Oh, I am not exaggerating in the slightest. It was freaking cold. We quickly changed out of our wet clothes and added as many layers as possible. Anna and I decided to curl up together with some blankets and watched The Notebook on my tiny Ipad. And so our journey began…
Now I am not going to sugar coat the whole experience because it was really not a pleasant one. It was a long, cold ten hours. But it was an experience needless to say. The hosts of the boat was a local family that actually lives on the boat and they do this kind of trip all year round.
We finally arrived at our homestay and of course as soon as we were meant to leave the boat it started raining. So we trudged through the rain and headed for our homestay for the night. It was very educating to see how the people in this little village lived. They use solar panels for their electricity and would have to boil water if they wanted any sort of hot water, for bathing and etc. As a North American it’s easy to see how much of our lifestyle we take for granted, we don’t realize how little some people have. And these people need very little to make themselves happy. It is definitely an eye opener. We had brought soccer balls, books, pens and some other things for the kids in the village, but sadly we didn’t get to see them because the weather was so bad.
We got to enjoy a home cooked meal from our hosts which was chicken curry with rice. Simple but delicious. We then had such a lovely chat with our tour guide about his lifestyle and his work. I think he has been my favourite travel guide so far, he is just so nice, such a gentle soul. We headed to bed pretty early because it is lights out at 9pm in the village because most people wake up quite early to work in the morning. My friend and I moved our beds together so we could keep each other warm in the night. We would fall asleep and drift apart and then as soon as one of us would wake up we would shuffle closer together. That’s how cold it was.
ABROAD WITH LOLA 