| Mekong River Trip to Luang Prabang |
| Friday, 16 February 2007 | |
|
We found out that the fast ferry was both dangerous and probably stopped by the Laos authorities (speedboats with four to six wearing earplugs and helmets!!!) and that the slow ferry was a two days trip usually overcrowded and not very nice, the place to sleep on the way had monopoly and the state of the guesthouse was according to this; bad we were told.Then by luck we found an alternative. By going to Chang Saen and the Chiang Saen River Hill Hotel We could buy a package with hotel (upper midrange) ,visa to Laos and a luxury boat trip to Luang Prabang for 2300 bath which compared to 1800 bath (plus accommodations) for the slow ferry actually seemed cheap and way better. So of course we opted for this. After a bus trip from Chiang Mai to Chiang Rai we took a local bus to Chang Saen and our hotel. The hotel provided us with all the documents we had to fill in order to get a visa to Laos and collected our passports, documents and pictures so that they could arrange the visas. We got our nice room and went out to explore the small place of Chang Saen. That was easily and fast done and we sat down relaxing by the riverside until walking back to the hotel for a better dinner. The food here looked ( from the menu) so tasty that we opted for a little luxury and ordered steaks. It tasted as good as it sounded!! The next day we had to get up at 05.15 for breakfast at 05.45 before going at 06.15. The boat was very nice although a little chilly so we ended up taking on rain jacket in order to stay warm. The only 1 day boat trip took 8-9 hours but we were only 30 persons and there was room enough and we had our own guide following us all the way across the border. We reached Luang Prabang at 19.30 when it was dark and we had to balance a very narrow plank in order to get of the boat...not easy when the balance is not to good! We had booked a guesthouse in advance and they had said that they pick us up but we were half an hour late and nobody was there. When we asked several tuk-tuk drivers where this place was we were told that it was far away and we decided to try to get a guesthouse in town. We was lucky and found a very nice and cheap guesthouse Xayana close to the night market and went out to eat on a very nice French restaurant and went to bed early since the town closes down at 22.00-23.00 |
|
| Last Updated ( Sunday, 18 November 2007 ) |
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|