Day 1011 – Chiang Kong - Pakbeng, Laos
Day 1011 – 14th March 2008 +7:00 GMT
Another early morning up before 6am and checked out, the guest house owner drove us to the pier where visited Immigration and departed Thailand.
Sunrise Over The Mekong river
Jill On Balcony
Me At Breakfast
The Cute Kitten
Our Guest House Baanrimtaling
We met our guide and they took our bags and boated across the Mekong into Laos. We then waited around for the rest of the tour group and we were checked into Laos through customs and Immigration. We thought we would change up some money into Laos Kip so changed about £80 and was give 1395000 Kip in 10K notes so we had a huge wad of cash which would not fit in our wallets.
Me with 1.4 Million Kip
Then we were packed into the back of trucks and driven a couple of kilometres through the town of Houy Say and to the boat. The board we had choosen was a VIP cruise run by Loung Say We paid around $330 each for he trip or we could have gone on the normal boat and pais $30 each but would have too share with 200 people and sit, sleep and eat on the same spot on hard wooden seats and on a boat with one toilet if your lucky and 2 days like that did not really appeal to Jill and I so we opted for the posh boat. We boarded the slow boat and sat around while we were given an introduction.
Laos Customs and Immigration
The Slow Boats
Jill And I On The Slow Boat
The boat had 34 people which was made up of 1 dutch, 2 germans, 2 scottish, 4 americans, 24 french and me a lonely Englishman. Everyone who spoke English were lovely, we got on very well with the 3 Americans (The Tennyson Family, they wanted a mention in my blog so here it is ). I am sure the French were lovely too but we did not really speak to any of them. On the boast we had large seats and cushioned benches and 2 sets of toilets and a nicely stocked bar. We were given drinks and snacks when we boarded and we set sail down the Mekong. The Mekong River is full of life with locals all along the shore either fishing, farming or panning for gold. We made a stop as the boat has to purchase a pass and then the boat got swamped by children trying to sell us crisps.
The Children Trying To Sell Crisps
At 12pm a full lunch was served which was really good and then at around 1:30pm we made a stop to visit a local village.
A Hmong Village
Hmong Children
Hmong Children Looking After The babies
The village had running water and lots of animals running around, mostly chickens, turkeys, pigs and dogs they had a few vegetables growing and the houses were made from bamboo. The baby pigs were adorable and all the animals seemed so tame.
Pig
Pig
Baby Piglets
Turkeys
A Cockerel
The village seemed quite poor but we were told that this was a moderate village as it had houses and running water. The children in the village were great and loved to pose for photo’s. The children usual get married around the age of 15 and all the work is shared out so children were caring for the young and also preparing rice and other food. The village used to produce opium for heroin production but this was outlawed by the Laos government in the 90’s. It was a fascinating experience and a true insight to how they live.
The Hmong Village
Beating Rice
Producing Rice
Hmong Children
We then got back on the boat and carried on down river until we reached Pakbeng just after 5pm. The hotel is about 1km out of Pakbeng owned and run by Luang Say tours. We checked into our room and had a hut to ourselves with a large bed and a small en-suite bathroom.
Another early morning up before 6am and checked out, the guest house owner drove us to the pier where visited Immigration and departed Thailand.
Sunrise Over The Mekong river
Jill On Balcony
Me At Breakfast
The Cute Kitten
Our Guest House Baanrimtaling
We met our guide and they took our bags and boated across the Mekong into Laos. We then waited around for the rest of the tour group and we were checked into Laos through customs and Immigration. We thought we would change up some money into Laos Kip so changed about £80 and was give 1395000 Kip in 10K notes so we had a huge wad of cash which would not fit in our wallets.
Me with 1.4 Million Kip
Then we were packed into the back of trucks and driven a couple of kilometres through the town of Houy Say and to the boat. The board we had choosen was a VIP cruise run by Loung Say We paid around $330 each for he trip or we could have gone on the normal boat and pais $30 each but would have too share with 200 people and sit, sleep and eat on the same spot on hard wooden seats and on a boat with one toilet if your lucky and 2 days like that did not really appeal to Jill and I so we opted for the posh boat. We boarded the slow boat and sat around while we were given an introduction.
Laos Customs and Immigration
The Slow Boats
Jill And I On The Slow Boat
The boat had 34 people which was made up of 1 dutch, 2 germans, 2 scottish, 4 americans, 24 french and me a lonely Englishman. Everyone who spoke English were lovely, we got on very well with the 3 Americans (The Tennyson Family, they wanted a mention in my blog so here it is ). I am sure the French were lovely too but we did not really speak to any of them. On the boast we had large seats and cushioned benches and 2 sets of toilets and a nicely stocked bar. We were given drinks and snacks when we boarded and we set sail down the Mekong. The Mekong River is full of life with locals all along the shore either fishing, farming or panning for gold. We made a stop as the boat has to purchase a pass and then the boat got swamped by children trying to sell us crisps.
The Children Trying To Sell Crisps
At 12pm a full lunch was served which was really good and then at around 1:30pm we made a stop to visit a local village.
A Hmong Village
Hmong Children
Hmong Children Looking After The babies
The village had running water and lots of animals running around, mostly chickens, turkeys, pigs and dogs they had a few vegetables growing and the houses were made from bamboo. The baby pigs were adorable and all the animals seemed so tame.
Pig
Pig
Baby Piglets
Turkeys
A Cockerel
The village seemed quite poor but we were told that this was a moderate village as it had houses and running water. The children in the village were great and loved to pose for photo’s. The children usual get married around the age of 15 and all the work is shared out so children were caring for the young and also preparing rice and other food. The village used to produce opium for heroin production but this was outlawed by the Laos government in the 90’s. It was a fascinating experience and a true insight to how they live.
The Hmong Village
Beating Rice
Producing Rice
Hmong Children
We then got back on the boat and carried on down river until we reached Pakbeng just after 5pm. The hotel is about 1km out of Pakbeng owned and run by Luang Say tours. We checked into our room and had a hut to ourselves with a large bed and a small en-suite bathroom.
The Mekong River
Our Room In Pekbeng
View From Our Room
We had an hour to freshen up before dinner and then headed to the restaurant. The food was fantastic and we had a couple of bottles of wine. After dinner everyone turned in for the night.
posted by Simon at 8:48 PM
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