Tales of Slowboats and Mahouts in Laos

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January 23rd 2008

Published: February 28th 2008

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Andy and Christine

Mekong River

Slowboat cruising along

It was Jan. 7th as we walked down a dusty hill in Chiang Khong, Thailand, to the side of the famous Mekong River, to climb into a small boat and cross the river to the Laos side of the border. The water was surprisingly dark and murky, and we wondered how deep it really was, trying not to fall in with our packs strapped to our backs. We carefully climbed into the tipsy little river boat and in five short minutes, we were there at the Laos border crossing. We got our visas stamped, then hopped in the back of a bench-seated pick-up and were slowly driven, weaving along the dirt road to avoid all the chickens. There it was, the 'Slowboat', where we would spend most of the next two days cruising along the Mekong, to our destination of Luang Prabang.

There were dozens of tourists waiting to board the long wooden boats, which meant that there was a mad rush to actually get a seat, rather than sit on the floor. We walked down a steep dusty slope, then across a skinny wooden plank to get on. As luck would have it, the boat that we were directed

Mekong River

Slowboat leaving the shore

to board had about a dozen soft, cushioned chairs, which we got two of, as opposed to the wooden plank benches that were otherwise available.

Two slowboats pushed off from the shore at about the same time, and a somewhat friendly rivalry began with people yelling back and forth, saying which boat would reach Pak Beng first, and therefore get the best hotel rooms, while the next boat would have the crappy ones. It was exciting and relaxing to travel by boat along the Mekong. We passed through the landscape of thick, green, mountainous jungle, where locals fished in wooden dugout canoes, villagers herded cows and water buffalo, women panned the silty shore for gold and kids bathed and swam in the wonderfully clouded water.

The captain had to be constantly sharp on the river. Rapidly flowing waters surged the boat along through narrow jagged rocks, and the murky water hid many sharp points. Often we would see the notorious speedboats flying by us on their way upstream. The passengers wore helmets and lifejackets; apparently there are many fatalities (some say one per week) during the trip, from the boats hitting rocks hidden beneath the water. We both

Mekong River

Check out our cushy seats!

were happy that we had decided to take the slowboat instead. As we travelled downstream, someone even claimed that they saw a body floating in the water beside the boat.

We had a few stops at villages along the way. At one stop, at least a hundred bags of rice were loaded off the boat onto shore. Then various metal barrels containing who knows what were hoisted up and tied to the top of the boats. Next, large loosely woven baskets filled with live ducks, chickens and turkeys were also passed up and tied to the roof. Finally, two motorbikes were somehow hauled up and stowed away somewhere. There was no load limit! Snacks and beer could be bought at the back, so we sampled the beer that locals and travellers both love, Beerlao. A great way to pass the time on the river.

After eight hours, we finally arrived at Pak Beng, a dusty little village where we would spend the night. Once the boats unloaded, there was a huge rush up the dusty hill to secure a room. We took our time, and luckily snagged a room in the first hotel we came across. It cost

Mekong River

Wait for me, I'm coming too!

about $7 for the night, and was actually not that bad, considering. The village was pretty seedy, thanks to the tourist trade, but at least we were only there for one night.

We woke early the next day to a misty, foggy morning, grabbed a sandwich for the trip, and again, rushed down the dusty hill to get a seat on the boat. Sadly, this time we had the wooden benches, but oh well, at least we had luxury for one day. The second day of river travel seemed not quite as exciting as the first, but the scenery was still incredible. The hills became higher mountains, and the jungles were thicker and greener that the previous day. During a short stop at a village, one guy boarded the boat with two recently killed little animals; one looked like a small wild cat and the other, some type of possum.

After seven hours, the sun began to set over the Mekong, and just as it went down behind the mountains, our boat pulled in to the docks at Luang Prabang, Laos' lovable little French colonial town. We hauled our packs through the crowd of touts suggesting hotels, and

Pak Beng

View of the misty Mekong and the slowboats below our hotel window

made our way through some narrow lanes until we reached our destination, where we got the last room in the guesthouse. It was a nice place, with really kind and friendly people running it. The lady, 'Mama', gave us free bananas, tea and coffee, and always made sure that we were doing OK. Our only mishaps there were when Andy went to turn off the lights at night and accidentally touched a live wire, that for some reason was poking out of the wall next to the switch. He got quite the shock! Also, the day before we left, Andy was showering when all of a sudden, one of the water pipes popped out of the wall. Water was shooting everywhere, and just as he got the pipe back on, it shot out again. He finally managed to get it back on a second time, and eventually stopped laughing.

Luang Prabang was a very pretty town to explore. We visited the Royal Palace Museum, which housed some possessions of the royal family, including weapons, clothing, and furniture. There were crystal Buddha images in glass cases and some beautiful glass mosaic work depicting battles and elephants goring warriors on the

Mekong River

Beware the notorious speedboat!

walls of the interior of the palace. Outside, the amazing golden Prabang Pavilion shone in the sun. Across the street, we later climbed a long winding staircase to the top of Phu Si Hill, where there was a small shrine. Many tourists gathered, along with us, to watch the sunset over the Mekong. Even with a hundred tourists all jostling for a good photo op, it was still a breathtaking sight.

We wandered the great outdoor handicraft markets, which got really interesting at night, and filled at least a few streets. There we bought some scarves, a piece or two of 'silver' jewelry and some chopsticks to ship back home. Even though the market was filled with people, it was strangely quiet, the only sounds were women greeting potential customers with a friendly 'Sabai dee (hello)' and then 'Buy something' with a smile. As we walked around town, many tuk-tuk drivers whispered out their offerings of drugs, it was kind of weird.

We decided to be touristy and take a one day village trek/elephant ride. First we were driven a short distance to a beautiful 'farm' in the jungle, where there was a luxurious guesthouse, restaurant and elephants

Mekong River

Poor little dead creatures

for riding. The elephants appeared to be very well cared for by their mahouts and happily took bananas out of our hands with their trunks and tossed them into their mouths. It was cool being up so high, sitting on an elephant's back, but at the same time a little intimidating because it was such a long way up. We rode on a wooden seat, while a guy on our trek, Tim, sat with his legs hanging down behind the elephants ears. We spent about an hour slowly lumbering through the jungle, along a river, then back to the elephants' home.

Then we had a delicious lunch back at the restaurant, and from there took a short boat ride upriver to some small waterfalls, where we could swim and relax for an hour (but we didn't because the water was way too cold). On with our trek. Our guide got a little lost, which was pretty interesting since he does the same hike all the time. We hiked for a couple of hours until we reached a hill tribe village to see how village life worked there. We visited a small school filled with grinning kids who sang us

Mekong River

Passengers jammed on the slowboat

a welcome song, and saw lots of pigs, dogs and chickens running around. Other children followed us as we walked through the village.

We watched a man weaving new mats for the walls of a hut, then a woman making grass brooms. You could tell by the look on her face that different tour groups probably pass through, watching her all day. It felt a bit like intruding into someones living room, but apparently the village had voted to allow visitors, and they received a portion of our tour cost from the trek. Each family had their own small hut where all family members, usually six or more, would sleep. We left, waving goodbye to some kids, then hiked our way back, tired, but with the memories of the great day we had just had.

Luang Prabang was a relaxing and mellow town. The traffic moved slowly, even the cars and tuk-tuks. Monks of all ages would wander around the streets, dressed in their orange robes, and holding umbrellas over their heads to block out the sun. Travellers ate delicious foods along with the locals at street stalls, women from nearby villages sold dried pressed river weed to

Luang Prabang

Enjoying tea and muesli in this French colonial town

eat, and hand-stitched blankets to tourists along the streets. It was a great place, and we wished we could stay a little longer, but we were on the move to the capital of Laos, Vientiane.

We bought our tickets the day before, just in case the bus filled up. As we boarded the bus, we ran into a a guy from Argentina, Alberto, that we had taken the minibus and the slowboat with. He was heading to Vientiane as well. At the beginning of the ten hour adventure ride, the bus drivers assistant handed out small plastic bags to everyone, and we assumed that it was for garbage or something. After numerous winding roads at pretty fast speeds, we realized that it was for people to vomit into due to motion sickness. At least six Lao ladies, young and old, were all quietly puking into their plastic bags, then carrying them to some unknown location at the back of the bus. We somehow survived throwing up ourselves, although we thought that the woman behind us must have had a coffee before the ride, since the smell of Nescafe mixed with chunder took over the back half of the bus.

Luang Prabang

Lotus flowers in bloom

Even though the ride smoothed out at some point half way there, the poor ladies spent most of their trip puking.

Just to add to the excitement, the bus even got the famous Laos flat tire, only 15 kms from the bus station. It was strange how there were suddenly guys selling ice cream as soon as we got off the bus. Likely they were the ones who had planted sharp objects on the road to get more business from the bus pulling over. Not that we're complaining, the ice cream was delicious. We successfully made it to the capital, but as usual, we had not reserved a room. The two of us and Alberto began trudging through the city, from hotel to hotel, searching for a place to stay, but everywhere was totally full. We asked at every hotel, at every price range, and the same thing, no rooms. Finally, after over an hour of searching, we stumbled across a vacant room. We later found out why it was vacant, though. There was a huge karaoke party going on next door, and it ran late on through the night, but at least we had somewhere to sleep.

Luang Prabang

Detail of 'Nagas' or serpents, on the golden Prabang Pavilion

The following morning we explored around Vientiane, which was pretty relaxed for a capital city. The cars moved a bit slower and there weren't a ton of people around. We checked out a small shopping centre, browsed through some handicraft stalls, and a big outdoor fruit and vegetable market. Then on to see Vientiane's tribute to the Arc de Triomphe. Named Patouxai, it was apparently built with concrete that was donated to construct an airport runway. Small, but interesting, and there were people relaxing in front of the fountains, having a drink or chatting with the many monks that were wandering around. We went to see the sunset over the Mekong along the front of the city, but when we got there, there was a huge stretch of muddy shore, and a small bit of river; it was all dried up.

After spending a week in Laos, it was time to head south, back through Thailand on the way to Cambodia, our next planned stop. We got up early and bought bus tickets at the station not far from our hotel. The bus would take us across the Laos border, over the Thai-Laos Friendship Bridge and on into Thailand.