Saturday December 6, 2014
Saturday December 6, 2014 We boarded the slow boat to Huay Xai, Laos on Thursday and quickly settled in for our 9 hour trip to Pakbeng. It was very fun and relaxing to just sit on a boat and watch the world go by on the Mekong River. Pakbeng is the midpoint and all passengers must find a guest house for the night. We unloaded all our gear and bikes and settled on the first one we came upon. At $7 per night ($8 with the air conditioner remote) it was clean and we immediately met another cycling couple across the street at an Indian restaurant. Eric and Amaya have been cycling since 2006.
Friday morning we once again boarded, on a different boat, and left for Huay Xai for another 9 hour cruise. We arrived close to sunset and decided to enter Thailand at the town of Chiang Khong. This took a bit of finagling with transportation to the Lao exit point on the Friendship Bridge. This bridge does not allow walkers or bicycles so after exiting Laos we had to take a bus across to the Thailand border. Once there we checked in at our 25th country and since it was dark we hired a taxi to take us into town. The previous night I received an email from another cycling couple, Bruce and Andrea, saying they were staying at the Ban Rimtaling guest house. Jocelyn directed the driver and by the time we unloaded everything we were exhausted from the long two days. Fortunately there was a restaurant on premises so we settled in for a delicious Thai meal and several beers. After dinner we met Bruce and Andrea of
(http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/?doc_id=14607)
and enjoyed much conversation about Thailand. We also decided to spend today in town and start our ride to Bangkok tomorrow.
