We salute you mighty Mekong

We very quickly, and rather guiltily, settled into our luxury cruise down the Mekong. We felt like lightweights in our traveling circles because others we knew were catching the "slow boat" which was cheap and local and uncomfortable and didn't serve food and crowded ( mostly with backpackers). As it turned out we were on the premium Mekong cruise, even though I had no idea it was sos posh when I booked it from home all those months ago. On a very comfortable boat that could hold forty people there were just eight of us so we had the whole place to make ourselves comfy in. We had a lovely english speaking guide and were served wonderful Laos food. Over the two days cruising we stopped at a couple of villages and also at the Pak Ok caves closer to Luang Prabang. Our night was spent in a lodge just outside a small Mekong town called Pak Beng. The rooms had wonderful with crisp, white cotton sheets, huge comfy beds, tasteful dark wood finishes and a jungle setting over looking the Mekong.
After some oohing and ahhing about the room and bouncing on the wonderfully springy beds we wondered through the small, rural town and ran into our Aussie traveling companions who we had parted ways with on the Thai border. Being more hardcore than us they had got the slow boat and were a little worse for ware. We heard their Mekong adventures and sheepishly fessed up to our relaxing and luxurious cruise.
Pak Beng was really our first experience of Laos and we immediately loved it. It was dusty and poor but beautiful and laid back. People were out in the street cooking their dinner on small fires on the footpath, talking and laughing with neighbours and family as the dusk fell. People called out to us warmly and we clucked over babies and were offered sticky rice from one families meal (we declined as we were on our way back to our posh lodge for dins).
We slept like babies and had an early start on the misty river the next morning. We rugged up and Leo played ukelele at the front of the boat and we sang loudly across the water. We read, chattered, relaxed and pottered for the day and pulled into the port at Luang Prabang just before sunset.