Mekong River to Pak Beng
The ferry from Huay Xai to Pak Beng took about six hours. It was very pleasant. I was surprised at how few villages there were along the way. The surrounding hills, apart from being logged at one time, were untouched.
'Gate to Indo - China' the exit point from Thailand.
From here I crossed over to Huay Xai, Laos by ferry.
Huay Xai, Laos where you check in with immigration.
I took a ferry similar to the ones shown here. They are all very similar in size and shape.
The ferry was public and made stops along the way picking up people. It started out full. When they needed more space, they would take out some seats an put them on the roof. You can fit more people in when they are sitting on the floor.
At some of the stop children selling drinks and snacks would hop on.
Every so often a 'fast boat' would buzz by. The passengers wear crash helmets, life jackets and some looked like they were wearing survival suits.
In some places the river was wide and calm.
In others, it was narrow and very fast. When the boat turned sharply, it would lean to one side. The crew would direct people to get up an move to the other side to help keep the boat upright.
There were many people fishing along the banks.
People waiting to be picked up by our ferry.
The man in the grey coat jumped from the boat in his bare feet onto the jagged rocks to keep the boat from hitting them.
Onlookers as we picked up the passengers.
A view from Pak Beng, looking upstream from where we came.
A view downstream where we will go the next day.
The main street into town was lined with guest houses and restaurants.
At the far end of town you could see some 'non tourist' places.
In the morning there was a market where people came from the hills to buy provisions.
A small restaurant near the docks were I had dinner and breakfast. It was family run and they were really friendly. I avoided the hotel where they wanted me to put in my food orders as I check in!
It had a spectacular view of the river. This is after breakfast as I waited for the ferry.