The Sloooooooooow Boat to Luang Prabang

Having arrived in Huay Xai in northern Laos, we needed some way of getting to Luang Prabang, one of the main towns inland. There were 2 options - the speed boat or the slow boat. My faithful Lonely Planet guide informed me that 'fatalities are not uncommon' on the speed boat, so I quickly came to the conclusion that as uncomfortable and unappealing as the slow boat may be (I've read it described as a coffin, with toilets specifically designed to scare the farang), at least it would get me there in one piece!

I can happily inform you that it's definitely not as bad as some people have made it out to be - not exactly comfy given that you're sitting on wooden benches which are designed for Lao people, thus about 5 inches wide with minimum leg room, but bearable! And having watched several speed boats go by, mostly with just the driver wearing a crash helmet and life jacket and passengers hunched over or holding on, I'm pretty sure I made the right decision!!



Inside the boat

One of several stops at which we took on beers, Pringles, Oreos and sweets - just the essentials really!!

Trekking in Chiang Rai

We went trekking from Chiang Rai, just myself , and Hannah and Laura (2 English girls I met on the train from Bangkok to Chiang Mai) and the guide. It was so much fun, though pretty tiring at points, especially as it was monsoon season so the mountains we were climbing up and down were incredibly muddy and slippy, as ably demonstrated by Hannah following a 12ft fall down an area covered in sharp bamboo sticks and other nasties! Fortunately she was absolutely fine - a bit shaken up and muddy but she's lived to tell the tale!
We stayed overnight in a Lahu hill tribe village which was a brilliant experience - everyone in the village was really pleased to have visitors (mostly since they got special 'farang' (tourist) food, I think) and it had such a nice community feeling to it. The house in the photo above was built by one man in a week - pretty impressive, eh?!

A waterfall we trekked up to.

Before we set off we had to put on these attractive 'socks' to protect us from leeches when we were going through the many rivers and also to stop our legs getting too scratched as we walked through the grasses.