…….or should that be medication on the Mekong? This question arose a couple of days ago after breakfast when we were once again reading our ‘Lonely Planet’ travel guides and Marilyn came across the following “Boats should hold about 70 people, but captains try to cram in more than 100…………..it is wise to see the boat in person” so that you are not cramped and have a disappointing experience. We also heard that you could rent a speedboat but because of so many accidents on the river it wasn’t recommended……..so we decided to take the slow boat, ie. two days down the Mekong from Huay Xai to Luang Probang with a one night stopover in Pak Beng. First, however, we had to get across the border from Thailand to Laos……..and that actually was quite simple. It just involved a five minute ferry ride across the Mekong in a boat that was about the length of three kayaks and on board were probably forty of us with loads of luggage, lumber, jugs of water and almost anything else you could think of. The crossing however was very smooth and very brief.
Once in Laos it was very similar to many border crossings minus the guns, the threatening guards, the lineups and the searches of your belongings or your body. Just give them your passports, your money and wait for your entrance visas. There were people at the crossing from France, Switzerland, Holland and at least five of us from Canada and our visa fee was the highest, ie. $42 US each which of course begged the question why was Canada the highest of all the countries in the world………..none of us knew the answer but agreed to check it out with Mr. Harper and wondered if it had anything to do with our foreign aid(homework to do upon our return). Also picture this! There were two young girls traveling on their own, ages 19 and 22 we later found out, and they were quite attractive and joyful and very quickly noticed by the boarder guards. It was a very hot day and rather than wait for our visas we all wanted to sit and have a beer…….and before too long that’s what Maddie and Candace(we later found out their names) were doing with the border guards……..can you imagine that happening at the Canadian or US borders? We all laughed and finally Candace came over to get her passport and commented that the guards(with whom they were flirting) were trying to get them to stay the night……our immediate gut response was protective and from then on in we were bonded.

We all stayed in Huay Xai in Laos for the evening(but not together and not that bonded)and the plan was to take the slow boat to Luang Probang the following morning. Once again great food, good accommodation, another amazing wat( temple) and joyful people especially the children. In Laos we have learned patience and the quote Jim told us was the following: In Vietnam they plant the rice, in Cambodia they watch it grow and in Laos they listen to it grow. And we found out the next day, and ever since, that in Laos you need patience! We went to catch the 9:30 boat at 8:15 to find out there was no 9:30 boat but an 11:30 boat  so we paid our fare and began the wait.   Before too long Maddie and Candace came along and by about 10:30 we were all aboard trying to find seats and were pleasantly surprised that the boat didn’t just have benches but old car seats from vehicles that probably came from a scrapyard somewhere……..and a whole boatload of interesting people that we grew to know a little about over the next two days……….and what we didn’t know we kind of imagined their story as what else do you do for fun with such a fascinating crew of people from not only Laos and Thailand but also Canada, Switzerland, Denmark, Germany, Australia, Ireland, Japan, Korea, France, England, Holland, and we think only one American…..and we thought that was interesting.

Like I mentioned earlier  the Laotians listen to the rice grow and we were listening to the chatter on this lovely boat as 11:00 came and went and then the tour guide, at least that’s what he called himself although we never saw him again, announced that the information was wrong and the boat would not be leaving until noon as they continued to sell tickets and add more people to the boat.    And then he added in his very broken English, which was better than my usage of his language, that all of us should ignore anything we read in the lonely planet because the boat was safe and had room for more than 70 people and “no need to worry” so we did!!!   And before too long and once the boat was packed we were off and Jim looked at me and said “you always wanted to go on a cruise!” and I thought to myself this is probably just as good as those two cruise ships that had major problems just before we left Canada……….the one that went ashore in Italy and the other one that had other issues that I can no longer recall…….stay tuned and I’ll fill you in on the issues with this one tomorrow………..or whenever I get a new sim card as this one is just about done.
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though the sign said 11:00