To get to Huay Xai, requires a 2 day trip on the slow boat. Other options include 2 days on a bus, which is not wise (see previous post) or the speed boat, which is extremely cramped and takes 6 hours, but allegedly comes with a not inconsiderable fatality risk! I like being on, in or near water however, so 2 days on the fairly scenic slowboat it was. On the first leg there were comfy seats, and the scenery was good, but the journey was punctuated by occasional downpours. The Mekong at this point is not a very treacherous seeming river with rocks breaking the surface andmany currents and eddies showing the presence of more underwater. I have great respect for the drivers because it was certainly not just a case of steering up the center of the stream (though I did hear the bottom scrape once or twice!). On the first day we passed a fire on the shore where they were burning the foliage. I found it amazing the heat coming off it - though we were 100 yards away I felt as if I was cooking!
The night was spent in Pak Beng, not much of a town - mainly a selection of guesthouses catering to this boat route. I stayed in a fairly cruddy but cheap place and ate in a restaurant with nice views of the river.
On the second day the boat was different and gone were the comfy airline style seats and in were the spartan wooden benches. The rain had cleared and the scenery wasn't so good. I read a lot and tried to unnumb my bum. That evening we got into Huay Xai which lies on the riverside with Thailand on the other bank. Again the town has no sight of its own but is a bit of a travel hub. At 830 am the next morning it was off on the Gibbon Experience, of which the next post will tell all!
This is the boat.
A similar boat we passed.
Pak Beng where the night was spent.
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