Slowboat to Luong Prabong

At 1am we leave Chiang Mai in a small bus, accompanied by a nice Colombian couple, as well as an Englishman named Simon. Simon's a fellow nightlife affeccionado, gentleman, and music nut... we hit it off immediately. It takes 3 hours to reach the Laos border. Morning reveals a river crossing. After cold showers and a brief breakfast we enter Laos. Board a wooden boat and begin the 2 day journey down the Kaan River. Destination Luong Prabong, a UNESCO World Heritage city since 1976, and 1 of the top 10 must-visit destinations according to the NY Times and Town and Country travel magaazine.

The journey is beautiful. I never get bored, whole time surrounded by prehistoric mountains covered in tropical trees, trees covered in thriving vines, then a bamboo forest appears and after that a small village where the people are in the shoreline. Men on rocks casting out nets. Kids in the river splashing each other, and as we pass they smile huge "HA-LOW!" and wave high, and my wave back fills them with earnest excitement, like they've been waiting all day just for that moment. I join the boys on the bow.

After an extent I return to Jen and Bradon. The incessant splash beneath the boat and purring motor calms me. I mellow. I'm lounging on a wooden bench in a quaint, slow-moving boat. I'm floating through terrific primal country. I lean my head out over the water then gaze up toward the sky, it's dimensionless, only the brightest parts of clouds are definite, an eggshell hue, the whole sky is teal-eggshell. Thick haze sheathes everything and horizons wash away, the valley seems endless, an extension of the sky, teal-greyness veiling the next bend (perhaps 1 mile away), mountainous green silouettes on infinity

I'm enjoying breathgiving surroundings. See a blue-white checkered fabric (as if torn from a shirt or ripped from a flag) drifting on the breeze. Watch it float toward me and get caught on post just beyond my face. There it stalls fluttering, waving, and then floats off again.

After 8 hours we arrive in Pakbeng, the half way point in our journey. Book a small room for $3 then go out to dinner with Simon. The waiter brings over a bottle of free Laoatian whiskey a.k.a. Lau Lau, and we eat well and polish off nightcaps. Then find a small hut and see locals watching an English soccergame. Simon's hometeam is playing so now we're shouting and singing to the television. Jen teaches a little girl how to spin fire balls.

Wake the next day and after another long boat ride arrive Luong Prabong.