Traveling on the Nam Ou, Laos

The Nam Ou is one of the tributaries of the mighty Mekong, and is an important river in Laos as a means of transportation. For travelers going northward from Luang Prabang, a boat trip is certainly one option that should be experienced.

The guidebooks would tell you about the "fast boats" and the "slow boats". Circumstances had led me to try out both. Note that as the road infrastructure in Laos slowly improves, the frequency of these boat departures will be based on demand, and sometimes you may not get a departure for that day. I managed to take the slow boat from Muang Ngoi to Muang Khua after waiting for a couple of hours. The slow boat is generally comfortable enough, although for people with long legs, it does get strained after 5-6 hours of travel.



From Muang Khua to Hat Sa, I was not so fortunate. There was no slow boat going upriver. It would also be another 5-6 hour ride anyway. I contemplated waiting another day or just go by the road route, until the locals start filling up the "fast boat". In a moment of eagerness to reach Hat Sa, I somehow went with them, throwing all the guidebooks' warning about the dangers of the speedboat trips into the wind.



The good(?) news was that the 5-6 hours journey was reduced to a 2+ hours journey. The bad news was that the above video was a somewhat 'calmer' part where I could utilise my camera with 1-hand. In most cases, I was just hanging on for my dear life in that narrow space. I was also concerned for my luggage that was stowed below that blue tarp at the front. It was one of those travel experience that you would probably want to try once only.

Traveling on the Nam Ou would probably be less busy than the Mekong, and its something one would probably do in Laos. For eg, one would probably visit the Pak Ou caves via the Nam Ou. But for the adventurous, do the Luang Prabang to Phongsaly journey on the Nam Ou!!

The Amazon Riverboat Journey

For many travelers, the journey itself constitute as much of the trip experience as the destination. Sometimes more. Especially for long term budget backpacking trips, often than not, the time spent on the road is quite substantial. Of course, it need not be on the "road" per se. It could be on water/air etc. And arguably one of my most memorable travel experience would be the riverboat journey on the Amazon.

There are actually quite a number of options for a journey on the Amazon river. The most common ones are from Iquitos in Peru to Leticia in Colombia, Leticia to Manaus in Brazil, and even continuing within Brazil from Manaus to Belem. You have the options of slow boats and fast boats, and of course whether to go upstream or downstream. The journey from west to east is downstream, so its faster. I took the the boat from Leticia to Manaus, a 4D3N journey.

Leticia itself is quite interesting as a tri-border town. Tabatinga is the Brazilian town next to it, and is separated just by a street! Santa Rosa, a Peruvian island, is just a 5-minute boat ride away. There is a Brazilian consulate in Leticia, which processed my Brazil visa application in a day. Boat tickets are bought on the day itself, on the port in Tabatinga.

There are a very limited number of cabins on the riverboat, but the "magic" of the experience is doing it the local way. Which entails buying/getting a hammock in Leticia/Tabatinga, and getting comfortable with/in it. Yes, the 3 nights spent onboard the boat would be on your hammock, but still, that knowledge did little to prepare myself for the culture shock that follows. I guess it was the chaotic unexpected-ness of the whole situation that caught me.

Nevertheless, after things settle down, I find myself able to just relax and appreciate the journey. You need not confine yourself to your hammock, and there is a small cafeteria bar on the top deck (although also filled with hammocks). I find myself spending most of the time enjoying the views and the breeze at the two sides of the boat. After all, I was cruising down the Amazon river, and like the Trans-Siberian rail, was one of those dream journeys I had dreamed of, coming true.

For those of you who have slept in temple grounds, stayed in jungle huts, bunked in 30-bed dorms, or camped in desert dunes, try hammocking along the Amazon river! I'll bet it'll be one of your most memorable travel experience too!

Start of trip - the "less crowded" moment....

Introduction to Amazon fruits 101

Hammocks "night scene"

Enjoying the views/ride

Islas Ballestas, Paracas Peru

Situated off the southern Peruvian coast on the Paracas Peninsula, the Ballestas islands, together with the Paracas National Reserve, is really a wonderful excursion for wildlife enthusiasts.

I visited only the Ballestas islands though, and somewhere along the way, someone had nicknamed it 'the poor man's Galapagos'. While I am not in the position to comment on that nickname, I am somewhat impressed by the amount of wildlife seen on the short trip around the islands. And that's the crux of the matter about visiting the Islas Ballestas. The only way to visit the islands are via 2-hour boat trips from the various tour agencies in town. Perhaps it may be due to some policies controlling the amount of exposure tourism has on the ecosystem. The boat trips are purely sea trips; there are absolutely no landings at all. Of course, given enough resources (money), I'm sure there may be alternatives...

Thus one will tour around the rocky islands on a boat together with 20-30 other tourists. You'll be largely confined to your seat area, so needless to say, photography on the moving boat is somewhat challenging as well. And narration is in Spanish. However, you do get to see seals, sea lions, penguins, pelicans and large number of birds. In fact, it is the sheer number of birds seen at a single place that astounded me. And all these in about 30-40 minutes of actual time around the islands.

On the way to the islands, you get to see the El Candelabro, a large-scale geoglyph etched on the hill overlooking the Bay of Paracas. A little like the Nazca lines, this is also somewhat of a mystery as to its origins and purpose.

I regretted not visiting Paracas National Reserve. It would have made the trip more complete I think. Nevertheless, Paracas is a worthwhile stop just 4 hours from Lima. And you could probably stop by Pisco, and have your pisco sour fix!