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Published: January 30th 2007
We needed to make our minds up on how we were going to travel to Laos, so after several trips to the travel agents we decided to book a deluxe one day river cruise down the Mekong. We were under the impression that we would have to do a two day cruise and stop over on the way at a place called Pak Ben. But this company that we booked with was offering a one day cruise with no stops. We were pleased with this because the accommodation offered in the guide book sounded very basic and we could not book anything in advance, also we thought we would need a bed for the night with no mosquitoes or bugs after a long day traveling on a boat.
The trip started from Chiang Mai and you traveled in a bus that takes you around the Golden Triangle first, however, we thought that it would be far easier for Mark’s back if we made our own way there in a taxi. We would still stay in the same hotel as the group in Chiang Saen and on the morning we could join them and head together for the cruise boat.
That’s exactly what we did we set off early morning called at a mountain hot spring where the locals were boiling eggs for their breakfast in little baskets which they lowered into the boiling hot natural spring, quite a funny sight. Then we moved on to Chiang Rai this place is very similar to Chiang Mai just a big city so we did not stop long. When we arrived at the hotel we sorted our visa out for Laos the hotel kindly sorted that bit out for us and then we went for a rest.
We had all afternoon to look around the peaceful, sleepy village of Chiang Saen, such a stark contrast after Chiang Mai. We sat on the riverside for ages soaking up the atmosphere and sunset then wandered back to the hotel for dinner.
The following morning we where up at 05.00 am to join the group and we then made our way by mini bus to the ferry port, we then caught the ferry to main land Laos where we were granted our visa, then we caught a lift to the mouth of the Mekong river to start our river cruise.
All that
traveling took three and a half hours; it was only a short distance really but lots of waiting around. We boarded the boat about 8.30 am which was already pretty full. There did not appear to be any seats, so we were unsure whether to board or not it was not quite what we had expected.
Then the real fun started a group of people sat in our deluxe seats who where not part of our trip claimed that they had bought tickets from a guest house in Laos and this was the boat they were told to get on even though they paid a lot less than us they refused to move and the tour guide then had a conflict on his hands.
Our group was angry because they wanted a good seat on their deluxe cruise and the other group was convinced they were on the right boat and refused point blank to move. Thai people don’t like confrontation and rarely raise their voice but that did not seem to apply to our tour guide. He was getting really mad and did not seem to have any authority in the situation.
After several hours yeah
you read that right, he asked our group to move their luggage to the back of the boat leaving the remaining luggage at the front, which I wanted to throw off the boat personally by that point.
This is typical of countries like this everybody is out to make money and scam you. In this situation everybody was in the right we should all have been on the boat but some just gained tickets from a fraudster in Laos’s town. It was not fare to kick them off the boat they had no where to go, we just had to come to some agreement and eventually we did.
They sat on the plastic chairs at the back with the noise of the engine and the deluxe cruise members sat in the comfy seats in the middle and front of the boat.
Time was now 11.30 am and we were still sat in the port area, then problem number two arose. The Laos authorities where doing security checks on the other boats waiting to set off and that meant we could not leave.
Over the next few hours two passenger boats set off in total leaving us and
Ferry Crossing
This is the ferry crossing that links main land Thailand to Laos. many more behind. Eventually our guide came on the boat and said there is a problem the government of Laos are not letting any boats sail to Luang Prabang today and we had two options we could take a speed boat and arrive there that night or we could go on this boat and stay over night in Pak Ben and sail the next day to Luang Prabang.
We could not believe it some deluxe cruise this was turning out to be. We chose to stay put and do it in two days ,but to be honest that’s the last thing we wanted to do after sitting in the port all morning.
The guide was going to sort out some accommodation in Pak Ben for the whole boat at no extra cost, well the other group had to pay, but for us it was free. We were concerned about what it was going to be like to say the least but had no choice. We could not turn back now, we just had to make the best of it, we already had a hotel booked for Luang Prang too and we were now going to miss a day
there and because we had a flight booked to Vientiane we could not alter this either.
That’s what annoyed me the most actually because we had it all planned but I guess this is what traveling is like and you can’t expect to get anywhere quick in these sorts of countries.
We finally set off about 13.00 pm with a big cheer from all, that’s one good thing about traveling like this you make lots of new friends and the time does pass quite quickly when your talking to folk. We met some lovely people and will never forget Craig from South Africa.
The boat trip was very pleasant and we saw some amazing scenery. It is a lovely way to travel very relaxing and you get to see the local river folk going about their daily life. These people live in villages at the side of the Mekong, some of the places don’t have roads at all they just survive off of the land and river basically it’s beautiful to see and they look so happy.
We where sailing along happily when disaster struck the boat suddenly stopped and there were rumors that the river
was too shallow and we where going to get stuck. Then we saw the engine guy dive into the water with a rope and lasso it around a rock to anchor us.
This could not be happening I thought it was going to be dark real soon. I had visions of us sat on the river bank with a camp fire for the night. It turns out our propeller had broke and we were stuck. I felt a bit sick I had my fortune told in Chiang Mai and he said to stay away from water, I can see why now.
Fortunately the normal ferry boat went passed it is just the same as ours but cheaper. They could see we were in trouble and our boat staff flagged them down, so they stopped. It was actually the boat that set off before us earlier in the day. We were then instructed to jump ship to their boat so we did in the middle of the river and the strong blokes from our boat hurled our luggage over. So we had a ride, but I was concerned we might sink or encounter more problems due to the amount
of people on the boat.
Plus it was starting to get dark. It was a very tense trip and it seemed to take for ever to get to Pak Ben and it went dark too. I was really scared, it did not seem like a good idea sailing in the dark, it’s not like they have got head lights or anything. I was just praying to get there in one piece towards the end I could not even see my watch it was that dark.
Arriving in Pak Ben was really stressful I had to carry both bags off the boat down a shaky plank, on to rocks which were really hard to stand on. It was pitch black and a swarm of kids were gathering around me wanting to carry my bags and there were loads of touts shouting the usual stuff like have you got a room.
I felt really shaky after the trip and just gave in to the boys and let them carry our bags Pak Ben village is up a hill any way. We arrived at the accommodation which to my relief was fine- brand new and very clean.
We did not venture
out for any food we just had a shower and went to bed the lights went off at 22.30 pm and we had an early start in the morning.
The next day sailing went very well we had a few problems setting off again the port officials of Pak Ben wanted paying baksheesh much like the last time they would not let us go unless our guide paid them some cash .Only this time we got to witness it as the argument took place on the river bank, our guide got very angry once again.
On the whole we got to experience what a river cruise should be like calm and peaceful with little to no stress and it stayed that way until we reached Luang Prabang. We stop a few times on the way to take photos and stretch our legs and we stopped at the famous Pack Ou Caves as well.
The Mekong River looked stunning as we approached Luang Prabang and we got excited we had arrived finally.
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Robert Buxbaum
non-member comment
Great blog
Hey thanks for your great story about the slow boat trip. I am about to do the trip with my wife and grown son in March. Hope it goes more smoothly, but look forward to experiencing Laos from the boat's eye view...and stopping to meet some villagers along the way.