Mekong River Cruise

We've just arrived in Luang Prabang, the historic capital of Laos (prior to French colonial rule, when they moved the capitol to Vientiane).  The last two days have been cruising on a classic "slow boat" a long 300km of the uppe Mekong River as it winds it's way through northern Laos.  This has been planned as a long awaited highlight of our trip this winter, and it didn't disappoint!
Our first day wound along the Thai border for about 50km before heading deep into the Lao mountains.  We stopped and visited a small village for about an hour just to get a glimpse into local rural life (pretty basic! But not very stressful either...). Finally, we finished the day at a small town called Pak Beng, which pretty much exists to see be the river traffic. We booked our cruise with a little splurge that upgraded our hotel to a "4star," and in this case, it was definitely worth the extra $50 or so ... We stayed in a place called Le Grand Pak Beng, which is honestly a bit pretentious, but the place was wonderful!  It was located on a bluff another 300" above the river, with spectacular views at sunset!
On day two, we rolled the remaining 150km down to Luang Prabang, with the day starting cool and foggy, and clearing to another very warm and clear (but smoggy) day.  The temperature range here is pretty substantial, going down each night into the mid 50'sF, then clearing 95F by mid afternoon!  
Before arriving at Luang Prabang, however, we stopped at another small riverside village to see local weavers work, as well as a local "craft" distillery, where Lao rice whiskey is made.  Nasty stuff, but the locals are definitely fond of it! Finally, we finished the trip wit a stop at Our Caves, just upstream from Luang Prabang. These were two good sized natural caverns carved out of the limestone cliffs and used by local tribes, and later Buddhist monks, for several thousand years.
Finally, we arrived at our destination in time for a dinner o the riverfront.  We're now planning to spend the next 5 nights here exploring the city, which has be a UNESCO world heritage site since 1995.  That's all for now---
Cheers from Laos!

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