January 11, 2019, Pak Beng, Laos

11.01.2019 - 11.01.2019
View Laos and Thailand, 2019 on baixing's travel map.

We were probably two hours early for the boat, but we had to sit in our seats at that time because there were no assigned numbers. I saw a friendly looking lady who looked like my uncle’s sister Ruth. We immediately hit it off and chatted the whole way to Pak Beng.

Lynne was taking a two week holiday with her teenage daughter, Grace. She had spent a good bit of the 80s and 90s traveling around Asia. It was great to talk to her about my problems with Reiko and Masao. She helped me work out my feelings about the whole thing. She was very empathetic and I totally vented out everything on her all day.

Reiko and Masao were looking miserable at that point and my heart was breaking. I felt so guilty for bringing them all the way there. At the same time though, they didn’t give me any guidance about this trip. They simply said they would follow me. So, I guess it was maybe bad communication all around. I tried to explain my travel style to them before we left, but I don’t think they understood at all.

Anyway, the scenery was languid and Lynne and I lazed away the day chatting casually and zoning out, admiring the jungle landscape.

They sold us a hotel room on the boat, and there was another kerfuffle. Reiko didn’t want to share a room. When I said I would go to another hotel, she relented and then I felt bad again. Ugh. A nosy Austrian guy even asked if I knew them or not, that’s how awkward it was. We checked in at our hotel and later had a nice dinner together with more green papaya salad.