Meandering down the Mekong

This area of the world has experienced more than its fair share of turmoil in the last century. Its people have witnessed unimaginable brutality in wars and revolutions. Thankfully, peace now reigns in the majority of lands that the Mekong River runs through.

The Mekong itself snakes down through South East Asia from its origins in the foothills of Tibet. The mighty river has sections that plunge down spectacular gorges and whip up powerful white-water rapids before it empties into the South China Sea. But as we floated along it on Friday morning, it too was in a more peaceful state.

We were travelling across the border into Laos. The previous night, after our escapades on the mo-peds, we had driven to the border town of Chiang Khong. There we would rest for the night before bidding Thailand farewell and hopping on to a slow boat bound for Luang Prabang.

Unfortunately the accommodation that greeted us in Chiang Khong wasn't quite what we hoped for. Don't get me wrong, we weren't expecting the Ritz or the Hilton - just a place to rest our heads, but as we got off the minibus just before midnight we were faced with a scene that bore more resemblence to something from a low budget horror movie. Had we been able to see the walls of our room in the dimsy light, we probably would have been staring at 'help me!' pleas written in blood by former cell mates.

After braving a trip to brush our teeth we lay down on what felt like mortuary slabs, which were, in fact, polystyrene mattresses and tried to sleep. Our bus left for Laos at 7 the next morning.

Surprisingly we actually slept quite well. Not that I'd recommend a polystyrene bed, of course, there are slightly less rigid mattresses on the market. We were woken by the sound of the rest of our party waiting outside our room. It appeared that our schedule was incorrect - the bus left at 6:30am.

Mild panic ensued as we gathered our belongings and race outside. As it happened, we needn't have bothered as the bus that was sent didn't have enough room for all of us. We sat for another forty -five minutes alongside the dead flies, cockroaches and other incumbents of this fine establishment.

Once we finally got to the border crossing, we had to deal with queues. Lots of them. A queue to pick up the departure card, a queue to give in the arrival card, a queue to pay for our visas, etc. As Brits we were quite happy to queue - it's in our DNA to find lines and complain quietly as we wait. We were in our element. The Chinese, however, were not. This was made most apparent to us by one man we nicknamed 'Shiny Coat Man' (a genius nickname as he was wearing a shiny coat. And was a man). Shiny Coat Man, who didn't really understand the concept of personal space (at one point I think he may have actually rested his chin on my shoulder) became more and more agitated as we waited for our passports to be checked. Every now and again he would try to push in but we held firm and were happy to get our visa first. We'd won the battle, but the war was far from over. 

Somehow, this man seemed to be one step ahead of us for the rest of our journey down the Mekong. Every bus we got onto, every boat, every hotel we stayed in - there he was, two minutes ahead of us.

In contrast to our hectic morning, drifting down the Mekong on a long boat was a serene experience. Our journey would take us two days, but I could've spent longer watching the dramatic scenery pass by. It was like looking at the land time forgot; jagged limestone cliffs towering over thick, untouched jungle. Small villages perched next to pristine white beaches - this was the sort of landscape I had imagined when I dreamed of coming to South East Asia.

We stayed in the little town of Pakbeng for the night before continuing our journey towards the cultural capital of Laos, Luang Prabang. It was a long, lazy day spent reading books, listening to music and marveling at creation.

I was sad to get off the boat, apart from a few annoying Englishmen who had been loud and rude, it had been a very relaxing few days.

What made it better was that, as we queued for a tuk-tuk taxi into town, I spotted Shiny Coat Man's boat arriving.

We won.