After a long wait with the tuk tuks 8 of us wait for the boat. Frist and family from seattle and the two japenese tourist go. That leaves Nicola and I. Thank god I was with him...we wait...we wait and we wait. Next a bus of six tourist come along and get on the speed boat. Nicolas and I we wait...we wait and we wait.
Finally, and its getting near 11 now a laos guy comes and says..."two of you no good, you pay more money and we take you". Panic now starts to set in, as its a 7 hr boat ride and I haven't been to the loo yet. No stops we are told as well.
Nicolas says dont take your money they are trying a fast one we wait....
we wait...we wait they come over again same thing "two of you no good you pay 2000B each...Nicolas shows him the money he has and says thats all we have between us (1000B), remeber we have already paid for this in Bangkok. Nicolas says we wait.
So we wait... we wait and we wait.
Sorry about that the compuer just went into hebrew then... dont ask, it's laos!
Eventually the guy comes over and says we both buy ticket for 1000B. We get to the boat to find its not just nicolas and I its with all the locals. There are two children that I wave at, and they start crying (strange western woman, I know) they look at nicolas, and start crying, so he buys them sweets. They still thought we were scary, but liked the sweets. I discovered later which is not what you want to do on a speed boat after 4 hrs and not much water, no shade and a numb bum, is that they are sweets with chilli in and very hot.
Well by 11 o clock after being up since 6 we get this speed boat. An english girl who was taking the slow boat said watch the speed boats, your bags are known to bounce off into the water when you hit the rapids. Great, I would rather have not known that info.
They rope the bags in and all of us are crammed into this boat. You have a little cushion your day bag squashed between your legs and no room for you legs excpet your feet by your bottom with your knees in the air.... no shade and they are suppossed to give you life jackets and a helmet... not on the local boat they give you just the life jackets which the laos people use as a cushion and believ me you need it.
After 1.5 hrs they stop you stnd up for 2 minutes they fill your gas tank you go off. This was the routine for 7 hrs... I now experience NBS, which I discover is a disease only for those that travel by speed boat. Its NUMB BUM SYNDROME... starts of with numbness in the cheeks which spreads to the back and the legs. Next it turns to pins and needles then back to numbness then severe pain that you wouldn't ever expect just when it gets to you can stand no more the boat stops. You get up then the whole process starts again.
Its the best thing I have ever done though... two days slow boat although comfortable is too much. Same scenery, but you just do it in less than half the time.
The scenery I cant describe, sand two tone banks, cattle or byson grazing in the streams. Fires burning in the distance and the people down on the river. Traditional Loas people panning for what looks like gold as their are sparkerly bit in the water. Or fisherman casting their nets out or on the boats fishing. Then the kids playing with old inner tubes in the water without a care in wthe world. Although in severe NBS at that point I wouldn't swap those views for the world. Pictures don't do it justice.
Then just when you think the views can get any better your their at sunset tand the whole thing starts again but with a glowing red sun around you... wonderful.
Just to add the driver did extra stops because of the locals and the fishermen hail him down when they have a fish. He buys it and then sells it marked up at loang probang.