Luang Prabang by slow boat

The greatest adventure so far has been our journey over the past two days to get to Luang Prabang! Our story begins this past Tuesday, when after crossing the Mekong River by small ferry from Thailand to Laos and dealing with passport control, fifty of us young white backpackers (from U.S., Australia, Israel, New Zealand, Sweden, Germany, France, etc.) bought suspicious-looking handwritten tickets from a shady Laotian man with darting eyes. We were then made to wear bright orange handwritten stickers that said “SLOW” (to distinguish us from the more expensive speedboat ticket holders) and crammed like cattle into a very long and green barge boat that had definitely seen better days. No one could (or would) tell us how long it would take to arrive. Our seats were 6-inch wide hard wooden benches painted in nauseous and peeling lead-based colors.

The passengers ranged from solo German women travelers — you know, the type who keep their noses constantly in their guide books and their eyes on their watches (what for, after all??) — to quiet young Italian couples and dread-locked Australians with dirty feet and mysterious-looking smoking apparati. Our voyage totaled 17 hours (over a period of two days) via this loud, smelly diesel-powered boat from hell! The “slow” boat barely generated enough air movement to cool us off in the jungle heat. From 11:30 AM until 8:00 PM the first day (and 8:30 AM-5:30 PM the second day) , we had only the meager food and water that we had brought with us. Unfortunately that meant warm soggy sandwiches and several packages of very weird cookies and crackers. We spent most of the time draped painfully over the benches or hanging out the ‘window sills’ like pitiful war prisoners, trading dirty jokes and commiserating about the nasty conditions of the toilet. Erin and I and Carly renamed ourselves “Achy”, “Sticky” and “Stinky”. The only consolation on the first day of the trip was the ice chest of cold “Beer Lao,” hawked for outrageous sums by the smirking Lao man who seemed to double as bartender and engine mechanic. The passengers quickly rid the galley of beer, just before the boat broke down (twice!) and we gratefully jumped onto the sandy bank to watch the ‘crew’ bail water from the engine compartment while the captain forged a new piston out of a length of bamboo and an old machete. Meanwhile, a herd of water buffalo, ever chewing, backed themselves into the safety of a nearby stand of trees to give us dirty looks.

The first night, the boat docked at a small village named Pak Beng, which was where we were all to sleep. Erin and Carly and I had read the guide book while on the boat so we could decide in advance which guest house we’d make the mad dash for. Fifteen extremely stressful, sweaty and uphill minutes later, we found ourselves at the (supposedly) nicest of all the guest houses. We paid the equivalent of US$1 each for two tiny rock-hard beds in a room with a decrepit fan that only worked when the village’s generator was on (meaning never). Poor Carly slept on the floor, but said it was more comfortable than the bed. The “hot water shower” was never hot, nor was it actually ever water. I ended up scrubbing what I could using the sad trickle from the sink. The food was terribly overpriced, but we did get to try “curry buffalo,” a yellow soupy concoction in which I found fish bones. Hmmm”¦. And because we were so thirsty, were forced to make a choice between two brands of bottled water, one called “Deth Drinking Water” and another called “Yellow Surprise”. The walls of the guest house were made of wooden boards, constructed in such a way that you could both easily see and hear into all of the surrounding rooms. We were eaten alive by extra large bugs, and kept up awake by the British girls who played a very loud and dirty card game and smoked opium all night. At about 3 AM tripped out in the hallway because they “˜couldn’t find their room’ and thought they were being attacked by monster rats, which might actually have been true.

Finally, we arrived yesterday in beautiful Luang Prabang!!! This is definitely my favorite city in SE Asia so far. It is a very relaxed and slow-paced town. It makes your mind wander to sentimental thoughts just to stroll up and down its sleepy streets. Luang Prabang is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site because its buildings and temples are so well preserved. With its aging French colonial architecture and coconut palms bending over the Mekong, it is truly a town frozen in time — and also the sort of place that makes you want to spend all day in a hammock.

The night market is particularly nice. At dusk when the air becomes cool and fresh, a main street in town is closed to motor vehicles, and the women lay out gorgeous Laotion handicrafts on mats on the ground. It is the most quiet and relaxing place to shop, and it is lit only by small lanterns. People barter in whispers and even the babies just stare at you drowsily from their mothers’ backs.

I’m leaving for Phonosavan in the morning so I can get to Hanoi in time (Monday) to start my internship. I also want to see the famous Plain of Jars near Phonosavan. Erin and Carly will be just a day or two behind me, because they are waiting for Erin’s Vietnam visa. Stay tuned for more adventures”¦