boat - Luang Prabang - Nong Khiaw - Laos - Turkmenistan - Central Asia - Azerbaijan - Vietnam - Thailand - people - Mekong Delta - Caspian Sea - sunset - transport - river - geotagged - Turkey - Myanmar - My Tho -
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This is the boat we took from Luang Prabang to Nong Khiaw along the Nam Ou River. It snugly fit about 12 people their backpacks. We were all sitting on remarkably tiny kindergarten style chairs - amusing for the first couple of hours, then the leg cramps set in...That said, the trip was terrific and worth every bit of discomfort. The scenery, including the landscape and people-scape, was impressive.Oh yeah, no bathrooms on board (obviously due to a severe shortage of space). When the boat finally made a pit stop (4 hours after launch), the urgency and pending relief was palpable. We haven't seen people move like that since the Black Friday release of the Cabbage Patch Kids.Read more about this boat ride from Luang Prabang to Nong Khiaw.
Laundry hangs out to dry along the Nam Ou River en route to Nong Khiaw from Luang Prabang.
The remarkable sunset we were treated to on the Caspian Sea (from Baku, Azerbaijan to Turkmenbashi, Turkmenistan) took us pleasantly by surprise. Read more about our visit to Turkmenistan.
Passengers on the boat wisely carry umbrellas to protect themselves from the sun on the way to and from Myanmar. ..We took this journey as part of a visa run, i.e., a quick trip to the nearest border country to Thailand in order to re-enter and get an additional 30 days of stay in Thailand. The Myanmar border guards were incredibly friendly. We'd like to return for a real visit.
The water turns to glass as the sun disappears for another night on the Caspian Sea (between Baku, Azerbaijan to Turkmenbashi, Turkmenistan).
On our return to Luang Prabang, we figured that the safest boat taxi around would be the one with the TV, so we jumped in.Read more about Ban Xieng Maen.
Dave and Blaz joined us in Baku, Azerbaijan before our tour together in Turkmenistan. ..The peace and serenity of the ferry across the Caspian Sea from Baku to Turkmenbashi foreshadowed the enjoyable things to come in Turkmenistan. Read more about our visit to Turkmenistan.
No hue is missed when a river boat gets a new coat of paint.
More scenes from the amazing sunset on the Caspian ferry from Azerbaijan to Turkmenistan.
Fearless and agile, this young boy served as the lookout on our visa run boat to Myanmar while his father manned the long tail motor.www.uncorneredmarket.com/2007/04/visa-run-to-myanmar/
We took a boat from Saigon to My Tho. While we were going south, many boats were headed north, loaded with flowers for the city's Tet celebrations.Read about our journey from Saigon to Phnom Penh on the Mekong.
A boat ride in small canals lined with palm trees near Ben Tre island. These rowers work hard, endlessly paddling tourists back and forth to the dock to get on a bigger boat.Read about our journey from Saigon to Phnom Penh on the Mekong.
The captain's brother Huseyn (left) didn't really speak any English, so he would communicate with us by pointing to an English word with a quill in a Turkish-English dictionary. It became quite confusing trying to get the results of the US Presidential Elections in 2000. Each time he would listen to the radio, we would get a different report on the winner. It was only when we checked internet later that we realized what was going on.And yes, Jesus (aka Freddy) might remind one of Adrian Grenier from Entourage.© www.uncorneredmarket.com
Read more about relaxing Koh Pha Ngan.
The water was like glass during some parts of the river.
Read more about the three levels of hill tribes we encountered on this trek.
He didn't say much, but he got us through shallow water and up small rapids in our little rickety boat with impressive skill. Every now and then he'd stick his hand out and the other boat traveling aside us would come over and hand him a lighter to light his cigarette. Not a man of many words.Read more about this boat ride from Luang Prabang to Nong Khiaw.
Boats Stopped at a Village Shore - En Route to Nong Khiaw
We were amazed at the availability of Oreos in southeast Asia - Nabisco must have an amazing distribution system. Oreo penetration runs from the largest of cities to the tiniest of villages.Read more about Halong Bay, Vietnam.
Waving from boats, waving from the shore, just waving. And remarkably friendly smiles, too. That defines the journey along the Nam Ou from Luang Prabang to Nong Khiaw.Read more about this boat ride from Luang Prabang to Nong Khiaw.
A small boat took us through narrow canals to a dock where we boarded a larger boat to return to My Tho. Unfortunately, these boats aren't made for long legs like Dan's.Read about our journey from Saigon to Phnom Penh on the Mekong.
The Turkish Mediterranean coast is chock-a-block with offers of gulet (wooden-hulled boat) sea cruises.We book ours last-minute at the very end of the season in early November. Our cruise, which finds us traveling alone with a full crew at our service, takes us from Fethiye to Olympos with port stops at Kalkan and Kas in between. Though the tourist season is essentially over, we enjoy three days of sunning and swimming in crisp, but clear-blue waters. When we aren't busy relaxing, the captain’s brother and first mate engage us with ad hoc Turkish lessons (point and shoot method using a quill and English-Turkish dictionary), card playing and copious backgammon defeats. For us, the sites, food, people, and gaming captures the Turkish spirit and proves one of the many highlights of our three weeks in Turkey.© www.uncorneredmarket.com
