Chiang Kong (Thailand) to Luang Prabang (Laos)

After crossing the border into Laos in the morning, we finally inflated and loaded up the kayaks and hit the water at about 1430 (3/1/09). Between the two of us we had stowed tent, sleeping bags, mats, camping stove,gas, utensils, 7 days worth of food, 15 liters of water, first aid kit, kayak repair kits, 2 sets of clothes, one warm fleece, fishing gear, camera equipment, charts and maps, gps, hand held vhf radios, life jackets, mobiles and a variety of other items. The kayks have a maximium load capacity of 113kg (including passenger) and we managed to just about keep under this.


On the first day we kayaked untill dusk at 1730 taking in the beautiful sceneary. The first night we camped at a sheltered spot nestled amongst variouscropsandsome isolated famhouses.




It gets dark at around 6pm and is not light untill around 7am. The nights were a litle colder than expected and we werevery thankfulto have warm sleeping bags. In the morning we awoke to a very thick mist that hung over us and was so moist that everything was wet and you could feel the water droplets on you face as you walked. It was so thickthat visibility was around 100m and we couldnet see thailand on the oppoiste bank.

As we prepared a hot cup of tea, a few fishing boats appeared out of the mist and began casting there nets in the sahllows near the kayaks. Their catch consisted of catfish and a range of small perch-like fish.
At this point I was getting hungry and decided to dig up some local worms for breakfast. Ok just joking... Not that desperate yet. I was simply intrigued by what had dug up a huge area of the beach leaving mounds everywhere and was fascinated to discover these enormous worms.

By 080 we had packed up camp and were on the river again. It was cold at first but teh exercisekeptus warmand by about 1000 thesun came out and the river livened up with many boats passing us in both directions. The river traffic consists of many small fishing boats like that shownabove and most of these have small prop shaft engines. Thenext size up are the speed boast whichfly along the river at about 50kmh carting transporting tourists and locals upanddown the river. Then there are the much larger toursit and cargo boats that are called 'slow boats' whccih travel at 25kmh. The largest are the cargo boats such as that shown below. These were typically loadedwith rice and localporduce, timber or building materials. Someeven had a crane attached to the middlefor loading.

Then there was us, the only western style kayaks on the water and source of much interest and amusement to the locals. Every time we stopped they would crowd around and greet us calling 'Sabai Di' and then come and touch our kayaks.

The kids were allways thefirst to greet us when westopped at a village and would crowd around as we struggled with our phrase book to explain what we were doing. Virtually no one spoke any English and our Laos was entirely dependent on a few phrases from the book,which was fine except that we couldnt pronounce the words properly and half the time they couldnt understand us anyway.

(Below) One of the local childrenwho watched us pack up camp on the second morning.

The late afternoons are the most beautiful on the water as it is not too hot,any wind has died down and the water is still (below).

However, the river is not entirley calm and serene as shown here. Duncan learnt this hard way as we entred a narrow turn in the river and flow rate doubled. We thought we clear,but just after the bend the water was much more disturbed with large backeddies, upwellings and whirlpools. Duncans Kyak got spun rund in a whirlpool and capsized. I was about 30m ahead and quickly turned around and began paddling hard to get back to him and the kayak. Duncan was fine and all the packs were well strapped to the kayak and did not come loose. But with all their weight Duncan couldnt flip the kayak back over in the water, so he grabbed ahold of the back of my kayak and the front of his and I paddled like crazy to tow us to the shore.

This worked fine and their was no real problem, except that it had to happen in front of a local village and quite soon a large crowd had appeared on the bank to cheer us on. They were very friendly and helped retrieve the large water container that had come loose, and after a round of attempted communication,we were on our way again.

(Above) Back in calm water enjoying a leisurly float down the river.On the 3rd day of kayaking we went through some more narrow parts in the river and cameoff the kayaks a couple of times. But this time we had the gear stowed much better and could flip them over between the two of us and climb back in and continue on without evening needing to go shore.

This is where this type of kayaks isgreat. They are sit on top style and are self draining, acting more like a sleandour raft in the water. Due to the large airchambers running down each side and the high pressure they can be inflated too, they are extremely stable making it easy to climb back in whilst still in the water.

On all the nights so far we have cooked our own meals inthe evening. This consists of rice with TVP (textured vegetable protein), some Thai style Tom Yum stock cubes and local vegetable that we buy through out the day and is served in a stew or soup consitancy. It actually tastes really good!

For lunch there are plenty of villages where we stop and with a combination of our limited Laos phrases and some gestures, we ask for a resaturaunt or place to eat. Most villages have a basic restaraunt style kitchen set up to cater for locals trabelling up and down in boats or the odd tourist.

(Above) A slow boat moored bleow a small town where we stopped for lunch and to explore.

(Below) Here is the local communal kitchen where these ladies cooked us up a beautiful Laos soup with rice noodles, a bit of meat,local vegetables,coriander and a mix of spicesand chili. It was Delicious!

Duncan enjoying the localcousine as a group of the local villagers looked on.


We stopped for an hour at this village and therewas one man who spoke a bit of English. We learnt that the popualtion was around 200 and that this village was a student town with a school and boarding house where childrencome from sorrounding villages.

School wasnt going at the time we were there, but it consisted of one large building divided into 5 classrooms and a large dormitory which was full of children. WE were told the school had 3 teachers.

(Below) A curious student approaches us outside his school.

Around the village.

Village houses overlooking the river.

Our secluded camp site on night three. This spot was so quiet and beatiful.It was great to sit back and relax at the end of a hard days paddle and just watch the water go by.

On the water for the final stretch to pakbeng on Day 4. We built up travelling around 50km per day.

In places the river bank was shrouded in dense rainforest that I wished I could go and explore.

At the end opf day 4 we arrived into Pak Beng,the largest town on the route to Luang Prbang. The first sight we got was of this stunning resort at the outskirts of town. This is main entrance and dining room and the rooms are separate bungalows overlooking the river. After 3 nights of camping we couldnt resist the idea of a hot shower and a comfortable bed so we treated ouselves to a night here.

Sunset over themekong at PakBeng

View from the slow boat.

Local children selling cloth scarfs to tourists on the passing boats.

Inside the crowded toursit slow boat.

To be continued....