Speed of Sound

After a day trip on a couple of bus rides from Chiang Mai to Chiang Rai, and then from Chaing Rai to Chaing Khong on the Thai border, we were ready to pass over into Laos. The morning came and we made our way across the river over the international border. From there we were to wait for a speed boat that would whip us down to Luang Prabang in double quick time (6hours).

When booking it seemed like a no-brainer as to which trip to choose - a 2 day slow boat or a 1 day speed boat for not much extra cash. As we got closer to boarding, locals were starting to notice we were waiting for the speed boat and, slightly discouragingly, were saying:

"Oooh Speed boat -Very Safe, Very Safe"

This didn't fill us with the most confidence, but we boarded the 25ft wonder nonetheless. We were told to wear ear plugs to drown out the engine sound. That was good advice. The boat put out some real grunt and before we knew it were skimming the surface of the river at speeds of around 55-60mph.

Just when we thought our rears couldn't handle anymore of the cramped conditions our journey ended in Luang Prabang; a city based amongst the typical Laos - jungle backdrop.

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During the boat ride we'd met a couple of guys; Dave & Andy who had invited us along for a fishing trip. The four of us set off via minibus and then long-motorboat to Muang Ngoi Neua - a quaint and picturesque mountain town based by a riverside. In typical style of arriving in a new town, we set to work on drinking some of Laos finest - BeerLao. The rest of the evening was spent slung up in hammocks listening to the crickets battle the iPod speakers for audible acclaim.

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Fishing Day - and I once again was stricken down with the "Delhi-Belly" probably caused by some bad "Laos-Chow" (that does rhyme by the way; Laos with a silent 's'). I battled my way through the day though only made it as a spectator as the others fished with old style weighted nets and more modern rods. We saw some great views as we paddled up and down stream - including a few Kingfishers flashing by in the bright sunlight. The following day we travelled back to Luang Prabang whilst I finalised my recovery.

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Out last excursion for this part of the country was a visit to a waterfall, we had heard you could swim there but upon arrival, there wasn't a huge expanse of water to play in - so we checked out the sights before playing Frisbee in the sunshine. This evening we travel on to Vang Vieng - mid-way between our current location and the Laos capital city Vientiane.