Into LAOS

We left at 8.30 to cross the border into Laos. I knew there would be other tourists but I hadn't expected quite as many. They ended up having to take two boats as there were too many for one boat and all the backpackers were having visions of another newspaper heading about an overcrowded boat sinking on the Mekhong or some such thing. It was a two day journey on the slow boat with a night in the village of Pakbeng. I have met some good people, especially Tina from Australia who I met on the bus out of Chiang Mai. We are now also sharing a room with Jayde (also Aus) who we met on the boat. Tina has been buying loads of fabrics for setting up shop in Australia, so I have had a lot of fun going around with her and helping her spend some money. I got a beautiful piece of fabric too.

A couple extracts from my journal as we made our way down the river:

'I've been chasing an elusive rainbow down the Mekhong. I finally snapped a photo but am not convinced that I got it clearly. The river is brown and flat with whirlpools and waves after passing traffic. Especially after passing close by one of the speedboats that roar deafeningly by and seem to provide their passengers with crash helmets! The banks of the river have been brown and muddy but now have developed into more sandy mudbanks and rocky outcrops of fantastic formations that make me wish I had remembered / learnt more of my physical geography. Above this the low hills remain verdant and green; however the bright banana trees are missing along this stretch and there are some tall white topped grasses in amongst the trees. Occasional villages dot the otherwise apparent wilderness alongside the Mekhong. Banana trees dot a shadowed valley like green flowers embroidered on a little girls green smock dress. There is plenty of time to just sit and observe the sunlight causing leaves to glow. The contrast of greens, the layers on the sand banks and the vertical shadows and patterns of the rocks that look like layers stuck together sideways. The houses in the village we just passed were all raised, on stilts. They looked like they were bamboo or wood and the roofs were thatched with what looked like it could have been dried banana leaves'.

'We have just passed some people along the sandy banks - the children waved. Some with both hands to make sure we saw them. A boat with four wee boys evenly spaced out briefly had a mad rowing spurt to catch us but gave up very quickly!'

'A soft warm orange sunrise glowing through the low lying cloud that creates soft fuzzy edges over the top of the low hills across the Mekhong river from our guesthouse'.

Luang Phabang

'First impressions of Luang Phabang have been formed in the rain and the dark. However even still it seems like a nice little place. I had somehow not expected it to be as small as it is...maps without scales can be misleading! But I like it'.

'I am sitting by the steps of one of the Wats, that leads all the way down to the Mekhong. Boats are passing on the wide river that laps aginst the bank just below me. It is dusk and I soon won't be able to see to write on this page. There is a breeze that carries whispers through the trees, audible above the diminishing drone of a boats engine, up the river. I am alone here - now that the boat with young boy and older sister has left after an awkward manouvering to come and collect a bicycle. It feels very peaceful - a pause, a moment, a now. The sky is still cloudy and though it's dry and there are a few brighter patches, it still fells like the possibility of rain is in the air. It is getting too dark to re-read what I have just written. Time to stop writing and just be'.