How to get to Pakbenga:
On the boat
Most visitors come to this village exclusively for one night, along the river on the boat, and they follow in Luang Prabang or to the other side. The most common boat - SLOW-BOAT , that is, a "slow boat". These are long-passenger boats with roofs that can develop speeds up to 16-18 km / h. There are smaller slotes (but this is a rare phenomenon), there are medium (major major) and there are large, 30-40 meters in length.
The housing of the boat is usually made of boards, but sometimes metallic vessels are found.
Slaboot is sent at the end of Road 2 (RD 2) in Mekong. These boats sail, as a rule, in the morning and in both directions. Moreover, most likely, you have to wait when the boat is filled with people (just like our minibuses), but it usually starts in the area of 9 am. Come here early to get one of the best places. Do not customize the driver and swear: the boat will go, when the driver finds fit. It is best to relax and enjoy silence in such a situation. And drink beer, of course.
By the way, the marins, as we used to, there is no on Mekonda. Their construction would be problematic, as water in the rainy season is as much as 4-5 meters, and even 6, and with a lot of probability, it will fool all the surroundings. Who should then restore it? In short, boats usually just driven straight on the sand on the shore.
What is interesting, most of the slate (more precisely, the nose of the boat) is decorated with pots with flowers, and on long sticks (bamboo stems) Lao flag flutter.
Through this beautiful nose, tourists and climb the boat. When everyone plunged and threw out things, the floor of the boat in the cargo compartment is covered with an armful and a rug - passengers can stretch their legs in this part of the boat, very comfortable.
At the same time, things lie under this flooring, so get them during the following will be unrealistic - the camera is kept with you in this case. It is always warm and cool here, however, it can break the diesel fuel. And behind this cargo compartment is covered with an awning passenger interior, a la tram, with double wooden seats and a passage in the middle.
By the way, if you're lucky, there will be no climbers with folding bus chairs - WA, what amenities!
Here at all, how lucky. Sometimes you can offer pillows on which you can sit (really, everyone does not have enough), others will have to be content with rigid wooden benches. By the way, this pillow can be bought in coastal kiosks. Buy it - will help you out more than once, but you have a penny. In the passage, this, after you are sweeping, salting another cargo, for example, bags with rice. Do not worry, you can walk quietly on them, you will not be choke. On them you can sit. And they may not fold.
Interestingly, at the end of the long boat, there is even something like a buffet, where you can buy a drink (beer, cola), snacks (all sorts of nuts) and even sandwiches (a bottle of beer and a large sandwich will cost you about 20,000 kips). If you float on a big slam, then there you can even heat the sandwich. The smaller the boat is less comfortable. For example, on a middle boat in a buffet you will be sold alone snakes - chips, dried squids and other nonsense.
Surprisingly - on a big boat at the end there is a tiny living room for boat stuff: here the mat, freshly washed underwear on the rope will dry, can stand grill, flowers in pots - straight comfort and beauty.
If you are going on a boat of medium or small size, then there is no cargo compartment, and things are discarded as it fell right in the middle of the boat. Be careful - your things a team of boatmen can leave very rudely, even tamper and pop up. So pull out everything valuable in advance.
Can be reached by Pakbenga and on Speedboat (Speedboat) , that is, a quick motor boat.
To 6 people fit in such a boat. If you ever ride such a boat, you can imagine what kind of buzz and fear at the same time - the boat cuts water with splashes, roars and rushes (much faster than the slate).
They love to paint into bright wild colors here, so this picture looks positive!
On such a motor, you can swim from Huays to Luang Prabang just half a day, but they say that it is not so pleasant, terrible, inconvenient and expensive. It seems like it shakes with terrible force, so tourists even join the helmet, if suddenly you shave with a painter about the bench in the event of a hitch on pitfalls.
But tourists swim around Mekongu not to quickly get there, but to admire the views of the coast! Then what's the point so suffering, overpay, and even with the probability of getting a bump on the forehead? Pofotographing really will not work because of the shaking and spray, and also, the greater chance that you will come wet from the legs to the head. In addition, the motorboard is very noisy because of this hello motor behind. In addition, comrades, annually on such a spedition to be dying on a couple of tourists. Do we need it? Only in the edge of the case!
By bus
You can go from the full time at 7:00 on a pickup (they are sent in the northern part of the city with RD 2).
You can, for example, take a bus that is sent at 12:00 from Muang Nguyen (near the border between Thailand and Laos). The trip will cost 30,000 kips, and will take 1.5 hours. But still, on the bus very rarely who goes to Pakbenga, because it is meaningless. Yet Pakbeng - a purely river stop, and not a city where it is worth a drag on the bus.
How to move around the city
There are only a few streets in Pakbybenga, so, the most logical way of movement is on foot. Most of the gesthouses are located on the first 50 meters of the main street (if you go towards the bank).
After disembarking on the shore, the tourists climbs on the ladder on the rocky coolness of the village himself. Not very easy to climb heavy bags. So, here you will quickly come in a very tempting offer to incur your Baula for you. If you are unable to raise your belongings yourself, agree to the aid, but agree on the size of the tips in advance. It's not free to carry it all.
But these little Lao boys can simply select the thing with you, and many tourists, descending from such a "welcome reception", weave behind the porter. And then he will begin to dance for $ 10! Be sure to agree to everything in advance.
Let's leave Pakbenga
From Pakbenga, tourists usually go to Huaysai or Luang Prabang, again on the boat. Slotheets in Luang Prabang, as a rule, begin to collect people at 7:30, but sometimes they do not drive away 9: 00-9: 30.