Rock-Awn Meanders along the Mekong

This latest adventure of Rock-Awn 3.0 starts and ends with a tuk tuk. The first tuk tuk takes us from our guesthouse in Luang Prabang to a boat dock. Prior to this trip DawnO floated the idea of taking a slow boat while in Laos. She’d heard some “interesting” stories about the set up which only intrigued us. Of course we had to go! The slow boat runs between LP and the town of Huay Xai. Huay Xai is a border town overlooking Thailand across the river. Most people cross over from Thailand to Huay Xai and take the boat to Luang Prabang. We went the opposite direction because . . . . well . . . that’s just how we both tend to travel.

We boarded the boat just outside of LP, spent two days (8-8.5 hours each day) on the boat with a stop in between for the night in the town of Pakbeng. We were on different boats each day, but the set up was mostly similar with movable car seats to nestle into for the day.

It was nice to be able to move around, yet at the same time it’s surprising how tiring it is to not do too much. I slept a bit, but for the most part I just took it all in and watched everyday life happening around me on the river. I love flying, but it’s nice to sometimes get a glimpse of lives I don’t always think or know much about.

I had the opportunity to see the subtle changes in scenery, . . . .

. . . . . different animals along the way, . . . . .

. . . . the places where people live, . . .

. . . people simply carrying on with life, . . . . .

. . . . and the sunset over the Mekong.

We saw so many signs of life, but we also saw signs of destruction and abuse (which is not unique to this country or even this area of the world). Farmers in these hilly areas have used the slash and burn method for a very long time. It happened to be the time of year where burning was happening and we saw different stages from the smoke of the initial flames, to fires engulfing vegetation to the blackened charcoal and cinders of the land that was left behind. Ash fell from the sky and the lingering smoke in the air was always with us from LP straight to Chiang Mai where the air quality seemed to be the worst.

Near the end of the trip for a short stretch we motored along a section of river which was actually the border with Thailand on the banks of one side and Laos on the other.

Eventually we found ourselves under the Chiang Khong (Thailand) – Huay Xai (Laos) Friendship Bridge which we were set to ride above and cross the next day.

After a full two days, we stepped off the boat, found an $8 guesthouse, bought a beer, toasted Laos and felt extremely grateful for our time in this beautiful country and the opportunity to take this river journey.

The next day we said our goodbyes to Laos (for now!), crossed the bridge into Thailand and went on a different journey of a 5 hour minibus ride down winding twisty, turny roads to eventually arrive in Chiang Mai (and happily get out of the van!) Both of us had separately been in Chiang Mai in 2018 and we both looked forward to returning. We essentially only had a day and half, so we set out to do the things we were eagerly anticipating such as simply walking around and relishing in the familiar charm and magic of Chiang Mai, . . . .

. . . . visiting temples to soak up the energy of the environment, chanting of the monks and simply sitting for some quiet moments, and . . . .

. . . . and checking off the list all the things I needed to eat at some of my favourite spots.

On the last day we celebrated mine and B-Rod’s wedding anniversary. This had also happened at the time that the first Rock-Awn took place, so DawnO already had experience playing the role of B-Rod for anniversary day dinner!

As the second tuk tuk enters the story, the third chapter of Rock-Awn comes to a close. It’s great to have a buddy that travels in the same way, has similar values and ideas about visiting different places and who you can completely trust. There will be a Rock-Awn 4, the question is just simply when and where!

For now, we set off on different journeys. DawnO takes off to continue her travels, (so follow her journey at http://robodawno.com to see the new and different adventures she embarks on) while I go off to play the stand-by game (which is proving to be a bit more creative work than I’ve been used to lately) So I guess I’ll see you sometime soon . . . . maybe?!