A day on the water.

After Andy managed his customary 10k run along the waterfront of Chiang Kong before 8am, we were then off to the border crossing into Laos.

The process of leaving Thailand and entering Laos was somewhat convoluted, with multiple forms to be filled in, photos to be provided, and then the all important 40 US dollars to seal the deal.

Once in Laos we had a short minivan drive before we arrived at the Mekong River and the boat that was going to transport us over 300k into the jungle.

Thankfully we were met by porters who quickly transported our bags from the minivan to the boat in next to no time.

These guys whilst petite in size are as strong as ox’s and lifted two bags at a time.

Within a few minutes we were off on the start of Day 1 of our Mekong adventure, with 7hrs gently motoring down river taking in the scenery.

It’s fair to say this is one of the most remote and breathtaking parts of our trip to date.

After a couple of hours, we made a short stop to had over papers to a Laos official and as we moored up we came across a couple of water buffalo’s relaxing on the shallow water.

Whilst the beauty of the area can’t be understated, there is another reason for people inhabiting the area, the existence of gold ore. We have seen a number of locations where prospectors were searching through the silt.

Sadly the extent of the mining for gold started to become apparent as we saw ever more sites with trucks, diggers and large scale machinery excavating land adjacent to the river, as well as parts of the river itself, searching for gold. The majority are Chinese owned operations who have been trawling the river for years searching for gold. The impact to the land and river is already clear to see, with gravel and dirt flowing back into the Mekong in huge quantities.

After a relaxing and peaceful few hours on the boat, we eventually arrived at our nights stay, the town of Pakbeng where we are staying in a modest hotel.

We said goodbye to the boat and the family on board are watched at the luggage was unloaded by local porters who had to navigate up the steep steps to the road above.

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We then picked a ride with the local taxi and experienced a bumpy ride up the makeshift road to the hotel stop.

Once at the hotel, we dropped off our gear and then went for a wander around the town to see the market and meet the very friendly locals.

The town comprised one main street with a number of small shops, restaurants and hostels along with a food market where the last of the produce from that day was being sold. Despite being in a rural backwater, the variety of vegetables, herbs and fruit was immense. Meat and poultry is much more limited with fried rat one of the ‘delicates’ on offer. We visited a temple up on the hill and took in the views of the Mekong River below. In the evening we took a short stroll to the adjacent restaurant and tucked into some Laos dishes along a couple of Beerlaos, the local brew.

It was one of our parties birthdays today, an Aussie lady called Michelle so we were all treated to some chocolate cake which was a nice treat and was quickly consumed!

Tomorrow we are back on the boat to travel the final half of our 300k sail, before we arrive at Luang Prabang, where we will be staying for the next couple of days and plan to do some exploring.