My plan was to cross two borders and then catch a slow boat to Luang Prabang, Laos. I had done some internet research on how to do this. In reality it worked but there was no mention of how long each leg of the trip would take. Needless to say, I missed the slow boat.
Crossing from Myanmar to Thailand wasn’t too bad. Although there were long lines on each side of the bridge that I had to walk across. That added an hour to my time limit. On the other side of the bridge is a different time zone. That added a half hour. In all of my research on how to make all of this work, there was no mention of how far it was from this border crossing to the Laos border crossing. 1 1/2 hours by taxi driving at or over the speed limit. For $66. When I finally get to the border of Laos, I have already missed the boat (pun intended). It’s another bridge but this one is as long as the Golden Gate. So you have to take a mandatory bus across. Everything goes smoothly on both sides of the border crossing because I had prepared all of my documents ahead of time. Had the required $35 and one photo. Since I missed the boat I had no hotel reservations here. So me and about 6 others pile into a Tuk Tuk (with all of our luggage) and we drive for half an hour to a street lined with shops and small hotels or guest houses. The driver tells everyone to get out. This is where you will find a hotel! Of course the one German couple on the Tuk Tuk demand to be taken to the harbor where the slow boat leaves from. “They have already booked” seats on the boat. I guess nobody told them what time it leaves because it left 2 hours ago. So I walk down the street and find a hotel for the night. $10, A/C, toilet and a hot shower (oh and a bed).
The “drop off street”. The black spot in the road is a dog scratching his back.
View from my room.
Just checking my text messages
I’m off in half an hour on the “slow boat” on the Mekong River. It’s a 2 day trip so I probably won’t post for a couple of days.
Peru - The Amazon 