June 7,

I woke at 0700. Jeff was already awake, and had been since 0530. We readied and set out on a walk about. It is a village. The few shops open last night were open again. We stopped in a shop and bought water. Then went back to our hotel and bought our Javas. When we finished, we went back to our room and grabbed our bags. I spoke with my sister and her family. They were all together celebrating her daughter's birthday! Happiest Birthday again!!!

We went downstairs and while waiting for our ride – we talked with the others on your tour. There's Richard from North Carolina, but lives in Boston now; Yony from NY and Leane from Trinidad/Tobago; Katie from Manchester and Libby from W? ; and lastly May from England. Around 0840, our van arrived. We loaded up and we're driven to a shop for lunch and snacks, which were not included. Jeff and I had stuff already. After we finished, we all loaded up; were each given a breakfast sandwich (like a Banh Mi); and then were driven to the Mekong River's edge. It was 0910. We boarded at 0940 for our 1000 departure. The seats have paper numbers on them and our tickets have numbers, but it didn't matter. People were sitting wherever they wanted. The seats are van seats bolded to the floor of the boat, so they were actually comfortable. There's a mix of locals and foreigners. The boat mostly filled up! There's seating for like 88, if we counted correctly. It's a crazy long narrow boat!! The driver backed up the boat and we’re underway by 1015.
     Cruizin' the Mekong, baby!
The morning drive was cool and pleasant. We had one brief shower and the locals started unrolling heavy, clear, plastic rain window covers. The rain did not last long and the covers went back up for the breeze to cool us. Anyway, we moved swiftly in the current and with the motor on the boat. We went under the Border Bridge we crossed yesterday when we entered Laos. We continue along the Laos/Thai border until the Mekong River turns east and the border continues south. It was 1119. The landscape changed, becoming just land, lots of forests, some terracing for farming on the steep slopes. No signs of towns or villages. There were rare houses scattered about. About the only living creatures we saw were lots of butterflies, occasional cows, rare water buffalo and goats. Then small buildings/huts(?) dotted the slopes. They were tiny with tarp for walls and wood frames with wood roofing. We did not know their use. Shelters for farmers?

About 1300, it started warming up, but the breeze still made it tolerable. At 1430, we were at our third stop letting off locals… but had a bit of a boat collision as we were leaving. The driver was trying to back the boat to get into the river's current and the current pushed us back slowly so the side of our boat hooked into another boat’s stern tied on the shore. The only damage seemed to be that our window covering had been loosened. A couple of people helped push us off ; one boatman fixed the covering; as the driver attempted to back up with more gas. All were successful and we were back under way.

At 1520, we passed under a second bridge in Laos. As we were coming closer to our destination, we saw fishing nets set up on rocks in the river, with people attending them, and more homes/buildings. Unfortunately we saw a couple of houses with some of their foundations just gone… the ground had slid down the slope into the Mekong.

Then at 1540, we were starting to dock… and chaos reigned with unloading. But we just sat until some order happened. Finally, we were off the boat, and welcomed to Pak Beng Town with a huge sign! Jeff found our pick-up person, and we loaded into the bed of his truck. He drove us to our lodging, Phone Many Villa at 1600. We checked in, paid and were escorted to our room. We unloaded and then went back out for some food. On the boat we had snacks of peanuts, pretzels, and I had an apple, so we were hungry. Jeff had researched a place and we went there – Sabaidee Restaurant. We had Pumpkin soup with veggies and ginger; and Water Buffalo Lap (same as laab or larb in Thailand). We split a water, plus Jeff had a BeerLao and me an Apple Somersby. The food was great and hit our spot. Others from the boat we had seen or met drifted in. We talked some with them, then left as the place would soon be full. We paid 300,000 LAK, which is $13.92. Then we walked a bit in the one main street village, but it was hot and we were ready for A.C. We went back to our hotel and cooled off. I blogged and Jeff read.

Great day!!