………..and quiet were what we experienced on the Mekong River trip.  It was a time just to sit back, relax, read your book, daydream, chat with your neighbor or whatever.  The first day was six hours with an overnight stay in Pak Ben and then another eight hours on the boat and must admit that although it was lovely, by the end of the second day we were ready to stand on land……..with very shaky legs and full bladders, at least Marilyn and I, because the ‘ladies room’ was not too welcoming.  At one point along the river we saw a family riding elephants, which was another first, and we made many stops along the way because this was not just a tourist boat but basically a local form of transportation.   We would pick up people, drop off lumber, deliver water, and God knows what else was going on and off.  I think the cost for this two day trip was around 240,000 kip which is the currency they use in Laos…….which reminds me…….when we crossed the border from Thailand to Laos Jim cashed some $$ into Laos currency and informed Marilyn and I that we had become instant millionaires.    The reason?   One dollar is worth 8,000kip which meant the two day boat ride cost around $30……….even with the less than perfect bathrooms and the  old recycled car seats, that it quite a deal!   And it was good news that we did not take the fast boat, ie. the speed boat, because  as Marilyn and Jim pointed out you lose your trust on those boats when the driver is wearing a helmet, and everyone else is not!

Generally on the boat there were two groups of people, and most were tourists.  The majority  were young people in their twenties/early thirties and then there were those of us in our 50’s and 60’s………we labelled us all as ‘before children and after children’.  There weren’t a lot of Laotian people travelling and there were just a couple of children and, of course, children all over the world have a universal language in that their cries and their laughter all sound the same.  Fortunately for us the  little 3-4 year old boy up front was full of laughter and excitement because one  tourist was showing him her camera and allowing him to take pictures of whatever he wanted and once he saw them he would scream with delight which brought smiles to everyone’s faces.   And speaking of laughing, Jim was reading a book that Andrew had given him  for Christmas and, he too, was laughing out loud…….which brought back memories of a trip we had taken almost exactly thirty years ago.  We went to New Zealand in February of 1982 and I was reading John Irving’s book The World According to Garp and would find myself laughing out loud and Jim, who is not a fiction reader really was curious and started reading the book as well.  The book he’s reading on this trip is non-fiction and I’m not much of a non-fiction reader but I’m definitely reading it when he’s done……….I had forgotten that memory and that NZ trip was our trip before children and this one is the trip after, I guess, in that they are now launched!!!!!!!!!

There’s not much more to say about the trip down the Mekong other than that it was a great experience with a pretty neat group of people and was quite relaxing.   Once we arrived in Luang Probang our goal was to find a pretty nice place to stay as we were all in desperate need of a shower and some good food as the lunches we had packed for the boat were just OK.   We found a great hotel in the heart of the downtown and after a clean up, a good meal and a pretty good  sleep we decided to go for a walking tour of the city and, of course, ran into many people from the boat.   But then I heard Marilyn say “my God, that’s not so and so” and there they were, friends of hers from Ottawa who are currently living in Vietnam.   They had come to Luang Probang for the weekend and, once again, you realize what a small world we live in.    Following a good visit with them we decided to go to the bus station to check out how to travel up north but because it was outside of town we took a tuk tuk which really, as Marilyn said, turned into a “putt-putt” because it broke down and the poor old driver was frustrated trying to figure out what was wrong and then he took the gas cap off, blew into it and it putt-putted into the gas station………..out of gas……..filled her up and we were off again to check out our next event.   Once that was over we were all ready for a little quiet time so when Jim was off for a little nap Marilyn and I went for a full body oil massage which was wonderful even though the little massage therapists were full of cold……….and we were hopeful that we wouldn’t catch them.    We’re leaving town tomorrow for Nong Khiaw but if we come back this way one of the things I would like to do is volunteer at the local elementary school for a couple of hours teaching English.  Apparently they like for English-speaking tourists to drop into the school to converse with children so they can practice their English……………we were concerned, however, that we would be leaving behind a couple of fast talking little Laotians speaking English with a Newfie accent……….things could be worse!