It began with a 6-hour bus ride that paused at a hauntingly beautiful temple in Chiang Rai and ended in a cute little guesthouse in Chiang Kong. The next morning we took a boat across the Mekong river and stepped off onto Laos soil! We waited for awhile for our visas, did some more driving, and then hopped onto the boat that would take us to Pak Beng. The boat-ride was absolutely beautiful, and it was extra enjoyable because we were the only ones on it!
We docked for the night at the teensy little town of Pak Beng, and after settling in at our hotel, Keara, Eden, Erin and I went exploring. We walked for quite awhile down Pak Beng's one road. Once we got of the touristy area we ran into some really cool locals and some adorable Lao children.
Obviously, none of us spoke Lao and none of them spoke English or Thai, so we just stared at each other and smiled for a good five minutes. Finally we waved goodbye and kept walking, but since there is only one road in Pak Beng, eventually we had to turn around and so we inevitably passed them again. This time Keara gave each of the kids her sunglasses to try on, and they got a real kick out of that. When we tried to leave again, they kept following us, so we took their hands and continued on our way. Erin has that picture, so I'll post it for you when I can.
Later that night we (Me, Erin, Eden, Keara, and our new friend from Mexico, Marcella) decided to crash the town's only bar, The Hive. They gave each of us a free shot, but Marcella was the only one who drank and there was no way she could do five shots, so Erin and I went back to the hotel to get the rest of the crew so that Amanda could drink the rest. And also because we love them.
It was a fun night. We got to choose the music, so we were totally dancing it up. By ourselves. But whatev. We were rockin.
Thursday morning we got back on the boat and headed back up (or maybe down?) the Mekong all day long until we reached our final destination, Luang Prabang. To pass the time we debated whether or not giraffes and cows can swim and other important topics.
In Luang Prabang we put our stuff in our rooms and then headed out to hike up a mountain to catch the sunset. Laos is unique because it was colonized by the French, so there was a lot of French-influenced architecture and food. I loved the cobblestone sidewalks and the baguettes.
Halfway up the mountain, five of us decided that it was not worth the energy/80 baht, so we walked back down and went to eat at a little restaurant called The Coconut instead. I got a fabulous baguette sandwich and we had a lot of fun talking and laughing. We also got a kick out of the Lao waiters just standing around and smiling at us as we ate.
The rest of the trip included excursions to two awesome waterfalls (one of which involved a rope swing), a jammed/bruised finger, and a couple toilet fiascoes. There was also night-market browsing, early morning monk-feeding, baguette-eating, bar-chilling, bear-watching, elephant-petting, and joke-making. It was a great little getaway and I totally want to go back some day.
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