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6 PAKBENG<br />
If you are taking the slow river trip from Huay Xai to Luang Prabang you will spend 1<br />
night in Pakbeng, the only settlement <strong>of</strong> any size between the two. It is a fairly unprepossessing<br />
place. On the walk up the sharp incline from the boat landing to the one main<br />
street, you may be accosted by some fairly insistent kids <strong>of</strong>fering to carry your bags to a<br />
guesthouse. Once there, they will ask you for the equivalent <strong>of</strong> about $10, so if you do<br />
want to engage their services agree on a price first. Although Pakbeng has long been a<br />
stop for those transporting trade goods, it is only in the last 20 years that it has been<br />
dragged out <strong>of</strong> poverty by the captive market in tourists. As late as the mid-’90s there was<br />
only one government-run guesthouse and you washed from a giant jar <strong>of</strong> cold water at<br />
the back. Electricity only ran for 2 hours a day between 6 and 8pm, when people would<br />
sit glued to Thai boxing and British Premier League soccer. Evenings were dark and the<br />
town was thoroughly basic. <strong>The</strong>se days there is electricity powered by a hydroelectric dam<br />
in the Beng River, but it is erratic. <strong>The</strong>re are now fridges, which means that at last the<br />
beer is cold. Although the main street is still ramshackle there are a few incongruously<br />
fashionable-looking restaurants staffed by waiters with hair gelled in spikily MTVinspired<br />
styles. Pakbeng remains a slightly uncomfortable place both physically and in<br />
atmosphere. <strong>The</strong> sheer numbers <strong>of</strong> well-heeled tourists passing through for 1 night only<br />
in a village that until recently was very poor indeed has created predictable problems<br />
inspired by the extremes <strong>of</strong> poverty and wealth. <strong>The</strong> locals are not particularly friendly<br />
and it is no surprise that greed is rampant. <strong>The</strong>re have been reports <strong>of</strong> thefts from guesthouse<br />
rooms, although whether the perpetrators were Lao or foreign is unsure. Keep your<br />
valuables with you. <strong>The</strong>re are also reports that hard drugs have made an appearance here,<br />
which is very bad news indeed considering the ravages that have occurred elsewhere in<br />
<strong>Laos</strong> as a result <strong>of</strong> this evil scourge. Pakbeng is a perfectly agreeable place to stay a night<br />
(you don’t have a choice anyway), but you wouldn’t want to linger.<br />
WHERE TO STAY & DINE<br />
Accommodations in Pakbeng are generally pretty basic wherever you choose to lay your<br />
head. <strong>The</strong> available restaurants in town don’t serve the world’s best food, but there are<br />
some nice views <strong>of</strong> the river as it carves its way through the rock valley below. All guesthouses<br />
and restaurants are on the same street because it is the only street in town.<br />
Villa Salika (& 081/212-306; 70,000 kip double) is minimally less basic than most<br />
other accommodations. Large, clean fan rooms constructed from concrete with cold<br />
showers make it feel a little like a gulag. That impression is ameliorated by a balcony on<br />
the top floor <strong>of</strong>fering stunning views <strong>of</strong> the Mekong. <strong>The</strong> restaurant (main courses 7,000<br />
kip–15,000 kip) below also enjoys excellent views. You will be woken very early by the<br />
speedboat drivers revving their engines in preparation for the day’s forthcoming adrenaline-fueled<br />
river antics. That’s not a bad thing, though, since you will want to be up early<br />
yourself to get your own boat up or down river. <strong>The</strong> Phonethip Guest House (no<br />
phone; 40,000 kip double) is typical <strong>of</strong> most accommodations here. None-too-clean<br />
rooms with a bed and a mosquito net. Shared bathrooms are a bit grubby, although the<br />
staff is quite cheery. <strong>The</strong> Monsaven Guest House (no phone; 40,000 kip double) is<br />
pokey but clean. <strong>The</strong> rooms are tiny and very basic, with bamboo walls, a bed, a fan, and<br />
a mosquito net. <strong>The</strong> shared bathrooms are newly tiled and reasonably sized. <strong>The</strong>re is a<br />
hot shower when the electricity is working. <strong>The</strong> new Pak Beng Lodge (& 081/212-304;<br />
fax 081/212-304; $30 double) is the town’s only real midrange option (apart from the<br />
291<br />
LUANG PRABANG & NORTHERN LAOS 13<br />
PAKBENG