It's only been a couple of days since I last posted, but it's felt like much longer. I'm currently waiting for the feeling to return to my legs as I just spent seven hours tucked in the cannonball position on a boat to Luang Prabang - although, rumor has it the trip could have been worse.
I was on the fast boat, the slow boat takes 2 days to make the same journey with only slightly more comfortable accommodations, and supposedly taking a taxi/bus is even worse than the slow boat due to the lack of AC and the not so paved roads (i'll see more of the roads in a day or two as I think that's how I'm going to get to Vang Vien).
update: based on talking with a few different groups of people, supposedly taking the speed boat was quite a risk...numerous people told me that accidents happen weekly (it didn't feel that unsafe, but it didn't feel too steady either). Personally, I think the slow boat drivers are just jealous of the speed boats and they create all these urban legends to make the people stuck with them for two days a little happier.
Other than that...I found out my check card was suspended right before I was preparing to cross the border (thank god for a small backup of US dollars) to Laos. Upon arrival in Hua Xui (again, sp?) I learned that there weren't any internet connections until Luala Prabang (even though there were a few to be found right on the other side of the Mekong in Thailand!) And finally, contrary to what I was told in Thailand...there were NOT many boats leaving to LP once I got to Laos. I arrived in Hua Xui around 9am and I had already missed the last one...
Hua Xui did have one thing going for it...a live broadcast of the World Series. But even that didn't last too long :) The satelitte feed got dropped in the middle of the 8th - it did resume the next day though and I got to see the whole game till about the middle of the 5th, when I had to leave for LP.
The ride to LP was, although somewhat painful, absolutely breathtaking. The calm current made the water look like a sheet of glass (brown glass, but glass nonetheless) and the green hills that surrounded us would have made for some beautiful hiking (that is, until I remembered about the UXO's or unexploded ordances...aka bombs). And supposedly, it's even more scenic in the north.
Off to go see if I can keep my 2 day streak of 100 baht/night (or 25,000 kip) hotel room streak alive!
update: The streak has been broken! I had to break the bank for last night's room...cost me 40,000 kip (or about 4 USD). I might have continued to look elsewhere if it wasn't for those two girls next door...
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