Onwards – slow boat on the Mekong

Day 39 – Luang Prabang, Laos

I was awoken this morning by the rain falling outside. Although we are in the rainy season, it doesn’t rain all day long, and until now it has been more like an hour here and there, usually in the afternoon.

I like the noise of the falling rain, I find it soothing, and there is something about being on a balcony, protected from the element, while there is a curtain of water sliding down the eaves, that it strangely comfy.

And lo and behold, the guesthouse I moved to from my hostel has a veranda with hot water and teabags, and a comfy sofa, and instead of going back to sleep, I curled up with a hot cup of tea and my book, and took the time to wake up properly.

(Notice, on the picture, how a half coconut can make a nice flowerpot.)

Going down to breakfast under a parasol was another, similar comfy situation. Finding that the meatballs are stuffed with hot chilli was a lot less comfortable, but thanks to the bright red colour, I took them out and ended up surviving the experience.

I have done almost nothing these last days. But finally, my stuffed nose and sore throat have gone, and my small meanderings in the neighbourhood have yielded several bakeries with real bread, strange bacon rolls (like, imagine cinnamon rolls, but with bacon), and the occasional lemon-mint shake.

There is also the time I went to a restaurant with in mind to choose a dish with rice, and ended ordering two dishes without rice -fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me!

I also ordered a sandwich in a bakery asking them to be sure not to put mayo on it, and I suspect that they were really accommodating, and put mustard instead. (Soft, so I couldn’t really taste it, fortunately.) Travelling in other countries is always full of surprises.

Speaking of surprises, I was happy to see a bag I liked but didn’t buy in Vietnam here (supposedly a local craft product, of course, one of a kind), so I enquired about the price ; it was 3 times as expensive, and also a product of local artisans. Always fun to know where things stand.

Tomorrow, I leave early to take the slow boat up the Mekong; it is a two-day journey towards Thailand, slow because the bus make the same destination in 10 hours, and because the quick boats make it in 6 hours (and are small, 6-passenger boats, reputed to leave you deaf at the end of the day). There is nothing to do all day but wait, there is little food to be had, and according to some accounts I read on the web, the boat is prone to stop in the middle of nowhere to let local people disembark. It will be fun.

Oh, and I saw a nice car today while walking around. It bears the name of the restaurant it was parked in front of.