A Trip up the Mekong ...

I had to share our slow boat trip up the Mekong River into Thailand from Laos. It took 2 days, 9 hours a day, we were travelling against the current which makes it longer. We met some great people and had a fun time. Here are some of our photos.  

Enjoying the sun and the scenery. We got down to the river to buy our tickets very early. We read on a blog that the boat gets very full so we got to the ticket issuing office early to avoid ending up down the back of the boat with a very loud engine.  

This is David from Reunion Island, a Department of France. I was so excited to meet him. lucy and I went to Reunion Island together at the end of her mission. She served 9 months on Reunion Island and 9 months on Mauritius Island. I had never heard of either before lucy was called to serve there. I really enjoyed flying out to meet her and travel round both of these islands and meet the people that she had grown to love and who loved her. David has done a lot of travelling through Thailand and suggested we go up to Pai and stay at a hot springs spa that he and his partner stayed at, which we did. David and Patricia, his partner, are coming out to NZ to work for a year and they are going to come visit. Start brushing up your French lucy. Pete interviewed David while we were travelling on the boat. He really liked David's story on how he became a massage therapist and people love sharing their stories with Pete. 

Gardens on the banks of the Mekong River. Vegetable gardens are big right through SE Asia.

This is what our boat looked like ... without the covered sides. The people who drive these boats live in the back with their families.

The front part of the boat. The locals sat here and all the tourists sat down the back. The boats use car seats for seating which are very comfortable to sit in for 9 hours.

These people are from the UK. James, Steph, Rose and Connor. James and Steph are coming out to NZ in June for a month and will be coming down to the South Island to visit us. We really enjoy meeting people and hearing their stories. The conversation starts a little like this ... 'What part of the world do you come from?' 'How long have you been in ... for 'what do you do back in ...?' People are a little more open and easy to talk to while travelling and conversations are deeper, more authentic and easier to start because we are all travelling together and there do not seem to be many barriers. The fact that we all stand out from the locals makes it an easy starting point for a conversation as well.

Early morning of day two on the Mekong. The long boats are getting ready to head off on the next part of their journey ... some to Thailand and some to Luang Prabang, Laos. Pete insisted that we get down to the boats early again so that we secure a seat up the front. We were 90 minutes early and for a while the only tourists waiting for our boat! It was beautiful waiting on the water front and watching the day start.

I am disappointed that this photo is blurry. We thought this woman looked spectacular working with her stick getting their long boat ready to leave. So strong and competent.

An early morning trip to the river for a drink. I love elephants and was thrilled to see this one drinking from the Mekong, I took so many photos, too many. Then along came another one and there were two elephants standing on the bank of the Mekong drinking like friends. Just as our boat was leaving they headed up the hill back to their village with a loud sounding roar, like something from Jurassic Park.

There is a lot of debris on the Mekong, all kinds. I am pretty sure the toilet flushes out to the river, but I did not ask.

Docking at the end of our trip. The boats just move themselves apart to let in the next long boat. Our boat on the second day was very, very loud. I am glad we were not sitting down the back by the engine.

Goodbye Laos ... one of our favourite countries in SE Asia. As we were going through Laos customs there was a $US2 fee for overtime, working on Saturday and Sunday?!