The Slow Boat to Laos
The slow boat to Laos. I am so freaking happy that I took this boat! It was honestly a highlight of my trip. It’s really easy once you’re in Chiang Mai to find people selling tickets to the boat. I went with two Norwegian girls I met and though it had a ‘slow’ start, the end was incredible. We first took a bus from Chiang Mai up to Chiang Rai, where we stopped quickly at a temple called Wat Rong Khun. After spending an hour there we crossed the border over the friendship bridge and headed into Laos to the border town of Huay Xai. This town had very little options for dinner, so my friend and I went to the restaurant across the street where we got some traditional Laotian food and drank some beer.
The next morning we got up very early to go to the boat dock for 9 am. We bought snacks and food for the whole day. While the boat did have some food, we wanted to make sure we had enough for an eight hour boat ride. Upon boarding the boat, our luggage was put underneath in the storage area and we found our seats. While the tickets do have assigned seating, no one really listens to that. People sit just sit with their friends. On the first day, it was relatively quiet. My friends and I read, played cards, and I edited my book. I journaled and tried to keep my phone alive at least until we got to Pak Beng. There were a few stops along the way to Pak Beng and we saw a lot of villagers, farmers, and school children all waving at the boat.
The day went on and we eventually got to Pak Beng where there were countless taxis ready to take us to their hostel. Night stays in Pak Beng aren’t usually included in the slow boat ticket, but it’s very easy to score a bed for the night. The men there are practically taking your luggage off of you to put in the back of their trucks for you to go with them. We stayed just down the road and got a room for three people. Unfortunately, there was only one working outlet, so no exactly ideal for charging up our devices overnight, but we stayed in the common area and played cards while our phones charged. We walked around and got dinner before heading back to sleep for the evening.
The next morning, the village was crawling with people very early. There were travelers looking to buy food and drink for the boat as well as locals selling food, trinkets, and other slow boat items. It’s important to get your seat on the boat at least an hour early to be sure you’ll be able to sit with your friends, otherwise you may not be able to as people don’t really abide by the seating numbers on the ticket.
This day was a lot more fun, I got chatting with more people and there was one person who had a speaker and used it. Particularly in the last hours there was basically just a dance party in the back of the boat. Unfortunately one guy was trying to get some work done on his laptop and a wave came and splashed him and his computer thoroughly, so be sure you keep your electronics dry! It was a relatively smooth ride, except for just that one part.
When we finally got to Luang Prabang, we said goodbye to the Mekong River and headed up a very steep staircase to get to the taxis that were taking us to town near our hostel.
Luang Prabang was surprisingly lucious with greenery and flowers. The river was beautiful and it had amazing streets to walk down. There was lots to do there, but we ended up only staying a few days as we decided to also head to Vang Vieng and Vientiene. In Vang Vieng, we rented bikes and saw some lagoons and went hot air ballooning, something I’ll likely not be doing again. It was fun, just a little unsteady. In Vientiene, my friends and I parted ways and I headed to the airport to go to Japan while they went on their way to Vietnam. If you have a spare two days, I would highly recommend taking the boat, it was so much fun and it’s a great way to meet travelers!
