Floating up the river in a little hard seat

I can't seem to do these one by one! Don't forget to check the previous post as well!

All the guidebooks mentioned that taking a slow boat up from Luang Prabang to Nong Khiaw was one of the most scenic in Laos and since it would be my only chance to take a boat down the Mekong, which stretches all through Laos, I quickly booked the trip. I would only have a couple of days in Nong Khiaw before I flew to South Thailand so I wanted to fit in as much as possible (really a week isn't enough in Laos but I really wanted to hit the beach!).

The trip to Nong Khiaw was supposed to take about 6 hours, which I was totally fine with (better to soak up the scenery!) until I saw the little boat and the even littler seats. There were only 4 passengers so we didn't get to take the bigger, more luxurious boats but we were optimistic regardless. What's a little discomfort for the great views. And great they were! We were able to float right alongside these huge towering mountains that seemed to just drop suddenly into the water as well as small villages full of swimming kids, weathered fishermen and even gold panhandlers. We would have made it on time except we were caught in a wicked storm and had to dock for awhile. You could barely see 10ft past the boat because of all the water pouring down. And we were in this little boat! There were times I was sure we were going to tip over.

Fine for the first hour or so but 8? It hurt to even look at a chair once we got to Nong Khiaw.

So beautiful. We came across some of the most spectacular scenery I've seen on a boat. And I've taken lots of boats!

Some boys fishing. Most of the men working in the water seemed to do it in their underwear. Economical, I suppose.

This guy was fully clothed and also wearing the conical hat we saw everywhere. I don't know how his boat weathered that storm!

Ponchos were definitely necessary in this weather. The rain came so suddenly and so hard it was unbelievable. The water seemed to come from every direction!

The calm after the storm.

Most people just bathed in the water. The men in their underwear and the women in these sarongs. They seemed to be very social events with everyone doing it together.

But we got to Nong Khiaw fine and it was just as I had pictured it though it had a lot more guesthouses and tourist restaurants than I had expected. But I found this great little bungalow with awesome views of the river though the accomodations were a bit lacking. There was no shower but the owner was nice enough to leave a large bucket of water and a small pot so I could scoop water on myself. I won't even mention the swiggly, hairy bugs. But it was a small price to pay to soak up the town. I even rented a bike to ride around the countryside though I gave that up after an hour or so from the heat. I was dying! I ended up spending most of my time, reading and taking in the views. Pretty boring but time well spent.

Dusty Nong Khiaw but with a spectacular backdrop.

But everyone had a huge satellite dish! Better to watch those World Cup games or Thai soaps. Too bad the reception can be spotty.

I also got to see one of the most amazing sunsets I've ever seen. The rains came late in the afternoon but it cleared up enough to see this over the mountains. And this was practically from the deck of my bungalow.

A lone fisherman finishing up his catch before the sun fully set.

I came up with this Dutch couple and this Brit guy and we ended up having a great time, chatting over dinner and football (in case you guys didn't know, the World Cup is going on). We also spent a lot of time talking about cultural stereotypes (it always comes up with people from other countries) and the brit guy actually asked me, quite seriously, if I owned a gun. A what?? Are you serious?? Apparently, he really believed that every American owned a gun. Can you believe that? And it wasn't just him! The dutchies agreed with him! Maybe not every person, but at least every household. They were shocked that I didn't even know anyone who owned a gun. And this is how the world sees Americans. We're all apparently obese, drive SUVs and own guns. Great.

I took the bus back to Luang Prabang (my butt couldn't take another boat ride) to spend one more magical night in the special room. It would have been perfect except there was a huge storm and everything started to leak. The windows also kept busting open and I got soaked trying to reclose the shutters. It was like in a bad disaster movie. I guess that's the drawback of staying in an old colonial mansion. Oh well. It was great while it lasted!

And now I'm off to the beach!!! I'm so excited about it. I've been traveling for 7 1/2 months and I have yet to see a bit of surf or a grain of sand. All I want to do is lay on the sand and sunbathe all my troubles away. I'm also going to be taking a SCUBA course in Koh Tao so I can't wait for that! Those who have known me forever know that me and water are at one. I can't believe I've waited this long for this!