July 5th, 2011
In the morning, our shuttle driver to the fairy is nowhere to be found, and the staff at the hotel doesn't seem to no what is going on. A staff member gets on the phone, and moments later our driver comes in on motorbike, still taking his helmet off as he turns the key on the ignition in the shuttle.
When we get to the Mekong, he does not seem to know where to drop us off, despite the hotel staff saying they know where it is. Jen gets frustrated with driver, and he finally figures out where to drop us off. When we get on the boat, we find out we are the only ones on the private boat along with a French family. Ahh, room to stretch out! A necessity when you were going to be on a boat for two days.
As the hours stretch on, it is easy for the mountains, river, and water buffalo to look all the same. The scenery is majestic though, even if the water could be clearer. All the mud and sediment falling in doesn't exactly give the Mekong a blue glow.
The hours pass, and the rocking of the boat does not do wonders for my already unstable stomach. This is when I realize that the stomach virus that had been plaguing Andrea since Bangkok has definitely caught up with me by now. Anne would have similar issues that night. I tried to consume as much rice as I could to ease my stomach a little.
By nightfall, we we in Pakbeng, beautiful view- not such a great town apparently. We were in the "ritz" of Pakbeng and we were sharing rooms with uncomfortable single beds and no mosquito nets despite being in a place where I saw the most insects in the entire trip. Ants were attacking other bugs and biting humans, and the Gecko population far outnumbered the human population due to the insect buffet they had at their disposal. Add to that no air-conditioning, and a fan that sounded like a helicopter, did not add up to a goodnight sleep. Still better than the flea bag guesthouses that were our other options. So I counted my blessings.
July 6th, 2011
On thr next day's journey, it was just our group on the boat, as the backpackers crammed into the public boat gawked at our decadence as we moved away from a fueling station. Alex and Andrea joked about re-enacting a Grey Poupon ad for them.
By late afternoon the next day, we arrived in Huay Xai- the Laos border town with Thailand. They dropped us at a dock that wasn't directly at the border and had to resort to taking an overpriced tuk tuk to the border ferry crossing which was a few minutes away. We bargained him down, and he did not seem to realize that maybe you should get your vehicle up a steep hill first before overloading it with people and luggage. Alex and I ended up helping push it up the hill but I banged my head on the way in.
We crossed the border a little after 4pm, and of course we were charged a premium by the border officials for crossing after 4pm. When we got onto the Thailand side, we had a confusing conversation with a minibus operator but after stopping briefly convinced them to drive our group to Chiang Mai then and there rather than waiting
until the next day.
Linda called Baan Orapin, and arranged an extra night in Chiang Mai. After that, we were full speed ahead, in a sometimes queasy ride as we winded around the mountains.
We arrived in Chiang Mai after 10, and settled in for the next day.
Next time... "Chilling in Chiang Mai"
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