row, row, row your boat

After a week hanging out in northern Thailand, a group of ten of us decided it was time to move.

Destination: Luang Prabang, Laos.
Method of travel: overnight bus to the border, followed by a slow boat ride down the Mekong.

I had heard a lot about these 'slow boat' adventures. But nothing anyone had said really prepared me for the experience.

It was quite possibly one of the wierdest things I've ever been a part of.

After crossing the border at 8 a.m. and figuring out our visas, about 80 people were piled into a boat approximately 5 meters wide (and I'm being generous), and 30 meters long. Cozy.

Knowing myself, I decided to head to the back of the boat where there was a little outdoor 'deck' (again, I use the term liberally), which could have seated three or four people comfortably.

There were 10 of us back there.

And then the drinking started.
Now we all know I'm never one to shy away from a party, but this particular venue just seemed bizarre to me. Here's a big group of white tourists, crammed onto a boat, pumping music on their portable Ipod speakers, getting ridiculously drunk and ignoring the whole 'point' of the boat trip: viewing the Laotian country side and slowly savouring a new culture.

Those who have taken a slow boat before will know that as you travel down the Mekong, you pass by some incredibly remote villages (hamlets, really) - five or six bamboo huts stuck into the hills, hours and hours from anything that could be considered civilization.

And on a daily basis, hundreds of drunk tourists cruise by these isolated towns, throwing cigarette buts overboard, yelling and screaming, etc. etc. Really culurally sensitive.

All I could think of the entire time is "What must the Lao people in these villages think of us? "


Not to say I didn't enjoy the experience. It was just..different. Interesting, but I wouldn't do it again.

After the slow boat ride I spent three days in Luang Prabang with some of my slow boat buddies, and then a group of us caught an early bus to Vang Vieng, where I am now. Tomorrow we're going tubing....which I am willing to wager will be an experience similar to the slow boat. Minus the boat.



On another note, Laos is freaking gorgeous. Everywhere you look there are these fantastic rolling hills covered in lush tropical vegetation. Occassionally you see an elephant or water buffalo chilling out, and there are some of the most spectacular waterfalls I've ever swam in.

Life is beautiful.