Huay Xay, Laos

My last stop in Laos. I took the speed boat North yesterday, it was a six hour trip racing up the Mekong. The day started a bit stressful. I got a tuk tuk, to get to the speed boat port. I have no idea what this man was thinking but I gave up on him after he took me to two different places, neither of them being where I wanted to go. I got another tuk tuk, and this driver knew where he was going. I arrived in time (I wasn't sure), and got a ticket North to Huay Xay, one of Laos' border towns. The first half of the ride was like a pleasure cruise. There were 3 of us in the boat, we stretched out and enjoyed the ride. The landscape as we twisted our way up the river was marvelous.

Then we stopped for lunch. The alternative to the speed boat is the slow boat (no shit), and what we covered in 3 hours takes a day on the slow boat. We stopped at this halfway point for a quick lunch. I didn't really pay attention with the fiddling with luggage on the boat.

After lunch, I learned that we had some more passengers on the boat. 5 more. I was scrunched into a square of space roughly 18" on each side. As was everyone else, but I had a good 3" on anyone else in the boat. Pain. We tossed on guy overboard shortly after setting out (into another boat), which gave us a little more leg room but not much.

Anyway, I've made it up to Huay Xay. I found the Gibbon Experience, and learned that the next spot available is next week. I'm not staying, I must say, I simply detest this town. I've got to run, more when I get back into Thailand.