He told us to go over to the Luangsay office first, which we did. I asked for an immigration form that everyone else was filling out. I was told by a luangsay staff holing a stack of immigration forms to get the form next door at the immigration office. What? Again?
By then I have just about lost it. I got up at 5am, had no coffee, got snubbed 2 times and all this after planning my trip around this Luangsay cruise, and paying more than double the usual slow boat to Luang Prabang. I let my displeasure show and it became quite a ruckus, resulting in the other passengers (mainly European) not looking into my eyes for the rest of the day.
Anyway, the boat trip was nice. The slow pace of the boat allowed time for quiet contemplation of the Mekong river and its surrounding landscape. By the time I reached the Luangsay lodge in pakbeng that night, all angst in me had died. The manager at the lodge though, was very apologetic about the whole incident and offered us a bottle of wine as an olive branch.
We walked out to pakbeng town that night and saw a ton of decent guesthouses. That convinced that the premium we paid for Luangsay wasn't worth it. The boat was the same as any other long tail boat, albeit it is better outfitted. The Luangsay lodge is not exactly dripping with luxury.
***
Stopping by 2 tribal villages with the cruise was part of the itinerary. These villages are much poorer than those we saw in Chiangrai. Seeing the torn and worn clothes the children wore is enough to make your heart weep. Most of them don't go to school as each family only have enough money to send one child to school. And that is usually for only 5 years.
The Mekong
Wishing you were here,
Mr and Mrs Koh
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