Day 2 on the Mekong River and we were pumped to hop back on our long tail boat! The slow boat proved to be such a pleasant way to travel. No wifi and virtually no cell reception meant we had no choice but to unwind. We couldn't have been happier for the experience.
Chilly Start
We woke on Sunday to a chilly, overcast day. Doug motivated for an early morning run. He left even before the sun was up, and said it was amazing to see the river views and women & children making the trek into town from villages afar with produce on their backs to sell at the Pakbeng market. Check out his run recap here.
All Aboard
We hustled to gather our things and snag a few croissants at one of the bakeries in town before our 7:30am boat departure.
It was great to see our boat "family" again in the morning. With the cool temperatures and any sun warmth masked by the clouds, virtually all of us jumped at the chance to snuggle into the boat's cozy, colorful blankets. The first (of our two) stops of the day wasn't until closer to 2:00pm so we had about 6 hours to while away.
Paige (ever the aspiring waitress) mixed up a cup of coffee for me & Doug once the boat got moving. (Side note: the coffee continues to be all instant coffee. Blech!) We passed the hours in a similar way as yesterday . . . a little blog writing, Rat a Tat Cat card game, Solitaire card game (with Paige for bonding time) and chit chat with other people on the boat. At one point Sadie created a cozy fort (a forte of hers) and read her Kindle, while Paige wrote a creative story about kangaroos on the iPad.
Thankfully the sun made an appearance just before midday. I could finally start to feel my fingers! It was probably about 50 degrees out, but a cold & foggy 50 degrees, with wind whipping through your hair, makes for a chilly few hours!! I was literally wearing all my long sleeve layers and still couldn't manage to shake the cold. The warm sunshine was a welcome change in the weather :)
Pak Ou Caves
Blankets & one long layer shed, it was time to enjoy the buffet lunch. Shortly thereafter we pulled up to the Pak Ou caves. There was a Lower & Upper part to the caves and we checked out both. Hundreds upon hundreds of small buddhas filled each of the caves. At one point we came across a creepy huge spider which stopped us all in our tracks & provided some entertainment.
Xang Hai Village
Our final stop of the trip was Xang Hai village. Kae had given the girls a heads-up that the village specialized in woven textiles. He told the girls they'd be able to find nice scarves for as low as $3 USD. The girls seemed excited at the prospect of picking out their very own pashmina, so we told them they could get one. It was hard to discern which scarves were actually made in Laos, versus imported from the likes of India or China. With Kae's help we narrowed it down to a row of scarves and the girls deliberated on which color they each wanted. Paige ended up with light blue and Sadie with purple. They wore them proudly the rest of the afternoon & evening (and most evenings since).
The village also had a stand of whiskeys made by the villagers in a variety of "flavors" including scorpion, snake, etc. Eek! We passed on getting any souvenir bottles. Kae had mentioned previously that kids start drinking as young as ~9 years old in Laos, and often get married off as early as 14/15 years. He described Lao people as a generally lazy bunch who drink & smoke a lot. His comments actually reminded me & Doug of rural America in many ways; no real industry, little to no real opportunity to break away, and kids getting sucked into drinking & drugs from a young age. Kae's anecdotes of Lao culture also reminded us of this recent NYT article on the opioid epidemic wiping out generations in rural America.
Cheers ສຽງຮ້ອງ
Back on board, Laos beer in hand, we all toasted to our amazing (332 km) Mekong River experience and the people we met on board. Kae busted out a few stories & zingers which we struggled to understand (he spoke quickly, had a strong accent and didn't pause to make sure you were following along) but entertained us nonetheless.
Shout out to our Mekong River Alums! Trace & Shilpa, Rajiv & Dharma, Luke & April
Goodbye Mekong Cruise Family
We pulled into Luang Prabang late afternoon and said our "see you later!"s to our boat family. All of us are in LP for some part of this week, so we hoped to all meet up again! Turned out hotel was just a block or two from where Shilpa & Trace were staying. We ended up popping over to their riverfront hotel bar/restaurant for one drink, and ended up staying on for dinner. We chatted far too much about toilet etiquette and toilet experiences across the globe; hilarity ensued and it was a super fun night!
I'm fairly certain the Smile Cruise down the Mekong River will go down as one of more memorable & enjoyable few days in this entire year of travel. The stellar views + stellar company + relaxation + untouched nature of Laos made for a fantastic time all around.
p.s. Saw Shilpa & Trace again for a pre-dinner goodbye drink at their hotel terrace. Here's to toasting in another corner of the world one day!
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