Tuesday, October 08, 2013
Epic Adventure days 4-6: I'm on a boat.... STILL!!
After sleeping for 15 hours straight and waking up not really feeling any better, I decided to take it easy on the 4th. Other than heading out for food, I pretty much stayed in bed and blogged and caught up on other stuff. Not exactly epic, but I thought it might help (it didn't). I had booked a service to get me to Luang Prabang, because I decided I was too lazy to work out all the logistics myself. They picked me up an hour and fifteen minutes later than originally planned. After several other stops and bouncing around in a songtaew for over an hour, we finally loaded into the minivan to take us to the border.
The van wasn't full so it was a pretty comfortable ride. We arrived at 2am (the website said we'd get there at midnight) and were shown to "dorm" style rooms that seemed reminiscent of summer camp. Crappy beds, dirty bathrooms with only cold water, and only one outlet (because we clearly don't need to charge any devices before getting on a boat for two days) in the room which was for the fan... no air con. In the morning we had a fairly decent breakfast of scrambled eggs with toast and coffee. After some scrambling around to make sure everyone had what they needed for the border crossing (they require a passport photo for the immigration form), we did the stamping out of Thailand, hopped on a ferry and crossed the river to Laos where we went through the immigration process. It was all very easy and super quick in comparison to other countries I've been to.
We were then corralled onto another songtaew and taken to a little shop where we could buy food and drinks for the boat. Finally we were on the boat!! (There should be a video embedded, but I'm not convinced it actually worked, so just in case.... http://youtu.be/yyLKVZVZyhk)
We arrived at our stopping point for the night a little earlier than expected and were immediately bombarded by people offering rooms at various guesthouses around town. Another girl and I had already booked a place with the guide who got us on the boat. I'd read that you can get a better deal if you wait and do it there, and I think that's true, but the other girl wanted to book it and I wasn't sure I could get a better deal if I had to pay for a single. It worked out and the place was alright.
The town itself obviously survives strictly on the fact that the slow boat stops there on the way. Beyond the places to stay, you get tons of people telling you that their restaurant is the best etc. We ended up eating at a cute place with good food and a free whiskey sample (okay!). There was also the super adorable little girl who I wanted to stuff in my backpack and bring home.
Most people were tired from a long day on the boat and called it an early night. I used the free wifi to skype with some people before turning in myself.
The next day was pretty much the same. Floating down the river on a boat.... For 8 hours!!! Once we got to Luang Prabang, a group of us shared a songtaew to the hostel that one guy had actually booked in advance. We got lucky and they were able to accommodate the other 7 of us who just showed up! We got settled in, found a nice place for dinner and called it a night.
Day 4 - 1996 baht ~ $64.38USD (includes hotel pick up, slow boat ticket and 1night shitty hostel)
Day 5 - 360baht + 143,000kip + $36USD ~ $66.58USD (includes visa to Laos, $35USD + 1 for weekend overtime - no joke, hotel at slow boat stopping point, beer for the boat - very necessary, meals and all the other normal crap)
Day 6 - 275,000kip + 540baht ~ $52.67USD (includes next day's tour, and all the other normal stuff)
Labels: Laos, Luang Prabang, slow boat
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