Chiang Khong

I woke up well before dawn. My plan was to catch the first bus of the morning to the border, cross into Laos, and then make my way to the boat pier to catch the 11am boat to Luang Prabang. While I was in Chiang Rai, I resisted the urge to buy my passage there as I read that it gets cheaper closer to the departure point.

I took the 6am bus bound for Chiang Khong near the border for 65 baht. There were about a dozen travelers, plus some locals, on that bus. The conductor collected 65 baht from all the westerners without ascertaining their destination, and then froze when she came to me. Ah, the joys of traveling as an Asian in Asia. People often hesitate because they know I'm not local, and they are unsure how communicate with me. Sometimes, the confusion deepens even more when I speak in fluent English or, in the case of Thailand, in their own language. Anyway, I told her pai lao. You could see the momentary confusion on her face as she processed the fact that I spoke to her in Thai, then she smiled and collected my fare.

The bus ride took about two hours. About 4km before Chiang Khong, the travelers were let off the bus where a fleet of sawngthaew was waiting to take us to Thai border control for 50 baht. After exiting Thailand, I had to pay 20 baht to take a standing room only air conditioned coach across the Friendship Bridge - overkill, really, as I would have been more than happy to walk across the bridge.

At the Laotian side, I finally gave in and paid 1,100 baht for transport to the pier and the two day boat ride to Luang Prabang. Total cost for two days of transportation - 1,235 baht or ~USD 39. Not bad.

While waiting for the sawngthaew after clearing Lao immigration, I heard an American accent, and then another. There were four of them - Emily and Kit from Kansas City, MO, and Casey and Greg from Colorado. I joined the conversation. I was stoked to have company and to not have to speak s-l-o-w-l-y! In the sawngthaew, another American couple - Liz and Nate from Seattle - surfaced.

All the people who had booked the slow boat with this agency were taken to a compound in Huay Xai (I came to think of it as a holding pen) where the trip was explained to us. Basically, we would set out at 11.30am and reach a town called Pak Beng in the early evening. We would overnight there and then set off for Luang Prabang the next morning. When I saw how many people would be on the boat through this agency alone, I grew concerned about accommodation, so I booked a room in Pak Beng for 500 baht through the agency. The pictures of the room looked too good to be true for that price. I also bought water and stuffed baguettes similar to banh mi.

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