A slow boat down the Mekong

We decided that rather than fly from Chiang Mai in Thailand to Luang Prabang in Laos we would take the two-day boat ride from Huay Xai in Laos, a distance of 320km.

Getting to Huay Xai involved a 10 hour van ride (with several stops) which detoured to Mae Sai, the northern most town in Thailand that is situated on the border with Myanmar. In fact, the immigration and customs checkpoint is at the end of the main street. After Mae Sai we headed across to the ‘Golden Triangle’ where the borders of Thailand, Laos and Myanmar all converge. We eventually spent the night in Chiang Khong on the Thai side of the Mekong River.

An early start was required to get us through immigration and to our boat in time for the 10am departure. The border crossing did not open until 7:30am and in true Cliff and Ruth style we managed to get there a little early. Once our departure formalities were completed we boarded a bus that transported us across the ‘Friendship Bridge’ to the Lao border post. Being early had its advantages on this side. Rather the usual crowd of 200+ waiting for their Visa to be processed we had the ‘visa on arrival’ office to ourselves – it was a very quick and painless exercise. The immigration officer was bemused by our New Zealand passport but after a quick conference in the office someone seemed to be familiar with our strange document and all was well. Then it was onto the Mekong for a great two day experience.

CLIF1833 — The White Temple at Chiang Rai was one of the stranger places that we have visited. The work of local artist Chalermchai Kositpipat is was dazzling to say the least – we though that it would be a great template for President Trump when he remodels the White House – plenty of glitz.

CLIF1858 — The Golden Triangle. Picture taken from Thailand – Myanmar on the left – Laos on the right

CLIF1871 — Everthing you ever need to know about opium could be found at the ‘Opium Museum up at ‘The Triangle’. There were plenty of police checkpoints along the surrounding roads to catch those attempting to smuggle drugs or immigrants into Thailand.

The early bird gets into Laos with little hassle.

CLIF1883 — Ours was the one with the four white posts – none looked like particularly sturdy craft.

CLIF2006 — Not long into the journey we got our first taste of how varied the river was – plenty of rocks and even ‘white water’ to negotiate the ‘sturdy’ craft through – the further we went the more dramtic the rocks and fast water comibnation became. I mentioned to Ruth that I hoped the motor did not cut out.

CLIF2032 — We stopped off to visit one of the many hill tribe villages that are dotted along about a 200km stretch of the river. It felt very intrusive and just plain wrong. These were subsistence farmers barely feeding their families.

Pakbeng, our overnight destination, was the only town en-route and had a distinctly ‘frontier’ feel to it.

CLIF2084 — Winter in Northern Laos has meant a very cool and misty start to the day – combined with the boat generated breeze that made for a bone chilling few hours as the boat windows are sans any covering. As soon as the sun burns off the mist the temperature rapidly climbs into the high 20s low 30s. Pakbeng clings to the hillside above the fast flowing Mekong.

CLIF2077 — A couple of Elephants were enjoying the cool morning across river from Pakbeng.

CLIF2088 — The river flows are surprisingly strong in many places – the beaches and rocks that were visible are below river level during the rainy season – roughly 15 metres higher than shown in this image.

CLIF2123 — There was always some form of activity whether onshore or in the river…

CLIF2106 — we wondered as to how many lives the river claims each year – the local dugout canoes were either paddled or powered by a small two stroke engine with little freeboard.

fullsizeoutput_589c — or there were the speedboats powered by V8 engines that roared past us. The driver usually wore a crash helmet (the passengers did not). This skipper obviously had superior boat handling skills and did not need the head protection. The passengers do what they can to thwart the early morning chill – compounded when you are belting along at over 30knots.

There were lots of brightly covered slower boats that were often moored in the remotest of locations.

The boat often felt as though it was going to smash into the large rocks that in places almost blocked the river but at the last minute the skipper always avoided that ‘Titanic moment’.

fullsizeoutput_58b3 — The impressive limestone cliffs at the convergence of the Mekong and Pak Ou rivers

CLIF1882 — Early morning on departure day – Chiang Khong, Thailand

CLIF2201 — Arriving in Luang Prabang late afternoon.

On our bikes

Loo art – Twin Coast

Heading towards Opua

The long boardwalk to Horeke (and the pub)

Unique bike stand

We rode along enbankments, through rice paddies, bush, along dusty roads

Cycling Angkor Wat

Getting back on a bike again – Otago Rail Trail

Thu Bon Delta ( Vietnam): We used multiple forms of transport to cross to the many islands in the delta. We cycled across bamboo bridges, through rice paddies and small villages. A great ride

A paddle boarder breaks the reflection – Lake Hayes, NZ

Cycling along in Holland – Captured on the GoPro

Cycling Burgundy

Roxburgh Gorge

Riding to Gibbston Valley Queenstown

With the family

A cycle to Granity

We biked both along the moats at Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom, the latter is 12km. At least we were not the poor souls who had to dig them by hand.

One of the better “red roads” we biked along, it was far too dangerous to attempt to photograph the others while under way.

A more creative “statue” in Edinburgh

The muttering from further diwn the hill suggested that I was not her favourite person at that moment.

One of the many cycle paths in The Netherlands

A man and his bike contemplating the next ride

I would never be able to finf my bike

I had joked about the bridge being hidden in the fog, well not quite.

End of the road – Hawkes Bay trails

Another Chateau – Burgundy France

Ruth resting her dead legs on the Saar loop

A nice long flat section across the Maniatoto Basin

In the boots

Walking the Cotswolds, UK

Rural Devon

Chinque Terre – the climb from Manarola

Coming off Mt Tongariro

The crossing – looking back to Mt Tongariro

Good sensible mountain attire

Kepler track Fiordland

South Western Fiordland

Key Summit – Routeburn track

Wandering the Port Hills – Canterbury

Mt Taranaki wandering

More wandering around Taranaki

The mountain obliged by showing itself

Exploring the Mokau River inland from Mokau

Te Paki track near Cape Rienga

Te Paki track east of Cape Rienga

Abel Tasman track

River crossing near Awaroa on Abel Tasman track

Abel Tasman track

Queen Charlotte Track

Strolling across a farm on the Cotswold Way

The Priest who kindly offered us biscuits and Raki on our trip down the gorge. He put his hat on for the photo.

Rutth opts for the track rather than giving a demo of her skills at scaling rock faces.

The sun was just catching the tops of the White Mountains (Lefka Ora) when we arrived in Omalos for the begining of our walk.

While the wind blew at near gale force while on Skye this was a rare moment where it was not accompanied with cold rain

Ruth got plenty of practice at jumping between wet rocks at Glen Brittle at the base of the Cuillin mountains on Skye

Walking the Dunloe Gap in Killarney Ireland

The final descent to Bath (well so we thought)

A folly built for the owls to nest in, their natural habitat steadily reducing.

Some forced smiles to show how much fun it can be in the rain.

One of the many sections through woods on the Cotswold Way

WTF the track has got lost

Some magnificent beech forest on the early part of the track

The sand was beautiful to look at be hell to walk on.

Favourite Pics

Lavender in Taranaki, NZ

A rare action shot – An endangered Hectors dolphin surfing – Curio Bay, NZ

Sea froth, Granity, NZ

I don’t usually get up early enough to capture the shots – Fiordland, NZ

A fern in the back yard

Going tropo – Rarotonga

Another GoPro shot

Hello World – Matauri Bay, NZ

Angkor Wat – Ruth captured shot on iPhone

Those smiling faces, Angkor Wat

Motorcycle mayhem, Hanoi

The Cat Man near our lodgings in Istanbul

Graffiti, Islanbul

Eye candy at our lodgings – Bodrum, Turkey

Storm clouds over Santorini

You never know what you will pass – Samaria Gorge, Crete

Entrance to the Harbour – Chania, Crete

Bow Fiddle rock – Moray Coast Scotland

The Money Tree – Lake District UK

Oh I do love to be beside the seaside – Wales

Training the hounds – Galway Ireland

Studying the fine print – Versailles

It must be Paris

Boys at the beach, Hahei, NZ

A photogenic horse East Coast, NZ

High flying kite surfer as Cyclone approaches. Orewa NZ

Fun in the bath

Old boatshed Rangitoto

Hello waves – Matauri Bay

Montepulciano Italy

It must be Venice

Night shot in Paris

Autumn in Melbourne

three generations

Sunset over Agnes – Coromandel

A boy and his dog

Spirits Bay NZ

Dolphin lazing around – Kawau Island NZ

Heading to the Barrier

The launch we owned (Agnes) at Kawau Island

Sunflowers in the garden

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