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Published: January 22nd 2012
Thai-Laos Border
In Laos with Thailand on the right side of the Mekong River. From Chiang Rai to the border at Chiang Khong and across the river to Houayxi was an easy journey. We left around noon and arrived at our hotel around four. Although Houayxi is essentially a one stop town for those floating down the Mekong it was rather nice. The hotel selections were fine as were the food selections. We ended up staying at a place with a view of the Mekong for $11. The Laos currency is called the Kip and currently it is about 8000 Kip to one U.S. dollar. Prices seem to be quoted in Kip, Thai Baht, and U.S. Dollars.
Getting into Laos and clearing customs in Thailand was really easy, the whole process probably took us 15 minutes, which may be the best we have encountered in all of our travels. One issue has popped up – I am out of blank pages in my Passport. I have spots for stamps, but the countries in Southeast Asia seem to use one whole page for their Visa’s (Central America just use a stamp). This is causing me to be a little bit anxious as we enter Vietnam in nine days and I need a blank page. Our
Amy crossing the border
Crossing the Mekong in a narrow boat heading to Laos. plan for now is to get to Vientiane (the capital of Laos) after a few days in Luang Prabang and go to the U.S. embassy to get pages added or to get a new passport (the cost is about the same and mine expires in a few years). This was something we did not know about in our research and had not planned for as I had enough empty slots for each country to stamp my passport, but with one visa taking four stamp pages I’m just about out. Amy is swiftly approaching the same full passport dilemma so she will probably need to add pages as well. This used to be a free service, but as I understand it is now about $80. Although it is a pain to go through all of this while abroad, I kind of think of my full passport as a badge of honor.
After worrying about the future passport issues and some dinner in Houayxi, Amy and I devised a plan to catch the slow boat down to Luang Prabang with an overnight stop in Pakbeng. After reading some blogs we decided it would be in our best interest to get to
Me crossing Thai-Laos Border
Skinny boat used to cross the border from Thailand to Laos. the dock a little early to secure a seat and then board the boat early so we could sit together. It was a well devised plan that didn’t quite pan out the way we had figured. Let me start by saying the information in our guidebook is rather vague and does not give any times of the boats or how many boats leave each day. Also, there are tour packages you can purchase in Houayxi that will pick you up from your hotel and include the ticket down the Mekong – of course these come with commission and being the tight wad that I am we opt to buy our ticket at the boat launch (ultimately saving about $8). All of these factors led us to the conclusion to get up early.
As we lie dreaming of sugarplums and waiting for our 6:30 alarm so we can shower, pack, get some sandwiches, and walk 20 minutes to the boat launch to arrive at 7:30 we are awoken by some roosters. The roosters kind of remind me of our time in Guatemala, so I’m thinking it is just before sunrise, maybe 6:00 am. I notice Amy looking at her clock
Floating down the Mekong
Not sure what kind of tree this was but it was beautiful. and I ask her what time it is…2:37 am. Between 2:37 and when the alarm went off we may have slept for one or two hours at the very most. Good start to our day. After a shower and a 20 minute walk to the boat launch we find ourselves ready to buy a ticket around 8:00 – perfect! As it turns out the ticket office is closed until 8:30, meanwhile we see a boat leave – of course we are wondering why we couldn’t be on that boat. We grab some breakfast near the boat launch and the waiter informs us that the boat leaves between 11:00 and noon. WOW – all the information we have gathered to this point was way off! After our poor night of sleep we wish we would have tried to sleep a few extra hours and catch the slow boat then. Around 9:00 I went to the ticket office and purchased two tickets and was told the boat leaves at 11:30. We hang out at the restaurant a little more and board the boat around 10:00 to make sure we get to sit by each other and we actually have a seat (again
Fishing the Mekong
There are thousands of these bamboo rods with nets attached to the end for fishing. this advice from reading blogs). At 12:45 pm the boat (and a second boat) finally depart – we are more than ready for our seven hour float down the Mekong to Pakbeng (the half way point).
A quick note is in order for fellow travelers searching how to float from Thailand to Luang Prabang down the Mekong: my advice would be to not worry about getting a ticket. You will easily find a seat and you can probably show up around 10:30 or 11:00 and get directly on the boat with an assigned seat. Our experience was during high season, with 200 people floating between the two boats. Also, bring snacks/food/water (you can buy some on the boat if needed) because you will get hungry and thirsty!
Floating down the Mekong on the slow boat has somewhat of a bad reputation amongst the back packer crowd. The boat is called the slow boat because it takes two days and probably averages 15mph. You can take a speed boat and get to Luang Prabang in 6 hours but they crash with alarming frequency and are not advised unless on a very tight schedule. I personally think that the bad
Woman
Village woman. rap that floating down the Mekong has is without merit for a few reasons. First, the scenery is absolutely wonderful. The Mekong is sandwiched between a mountain range on both sides the entire way with small villages and great rock outcroppings everywhere you look. Second, seven hours (14 between two days) on any type of transportation is a lot. Riding seven hours in one day on a bus/train/airplane in any country is tiring and typically isn’t the “best” experience. The seating on the slow boat is no worse than average seating that a backpacker comes across throughout their journey. Third, the people. Since boats are the lifeblood of the locals some of them take the same boats that the tourists take down the Mekong. We probably stopped at 10-15 villages along the way which allowed us to see how simple a life the people lead. Most of the people in villages are probably Hmong and seeing them in their natural surroundings is great. Most of the daily work seemed to revolve around gathering food and we saw several of the men fishing and women dehusking rice. All of this leads me to wonder who is complaining about the trip down
Boats
Slow boat just like what we took in the background and fishing boats in the foreground the Mekong on the slow boat? The writers of travel books? If so, they must not be traveling like the people they are supposed to be writing for. Is it people on a one week vacation? In that case, I would imagine that taking the slow boat would probably be considered a waste of time – but I could make an argument that for people on a short vacation the trip is worthwhile.
Along with the actual floating down the Mekong another portion of the trip that constantly gets criticized is staying in Pakbeng, the half-way point. Again, I would say that this criticism is unwarranted. Is Pakbeng Bangkok, Chiang Mai, or Luang Prabang ? No it isn’t. However, it is nowhere near the dingy armpit that it seems to be known as. The hotels are fine and come at a very reasonable price. The food we had was absolutely delicious. Plus, as a stopover spot for just one night for tourists I’m not sure what is to be expected, The Four Seasons and Starbucks are not going to be there!. I don’t want this to seem like ranting; instead I think it should be considered praise for both
Beer!
Beer Lao Dark Lager - the best beer so far on our trip! Pakbeng and the slow boat down the Mekong. I guess it is what you make of the experience and if you go into it with an open mind you will find the trip quite enjoyable – we did.
Two rather unique things can be attributed to Laos (pronounced Lao, “s” is silent for those wondering). First, they drive on the same side of the road as the U.S. It was really weird to see this for the first time and I actually questioned whether we drove on that side of the road, but after some reflection I confirmed that Laos follows the same rules as the U.S. for driving – it was the first country since we left in November. Second, and possibly most exciting, they have dark beer! Beer Lao is well known throughout the traveler’s circuit, but only recently have they made a dark lager. This is the first dark beer in all of our travels (except a mircrobrewery in Hondruas)! Given that most the other beer we have come across taste like garbage, Beer Lao dark has been a welcome addition. We pretty much abandoned having any drinks until we got to Laos. The last three
Boy
Village boy. days we have shared sight Beer Lao Dark!
In general, I would say that both Amy and I are very surprised by Loas. After Central America and India I think we expected Southeast Asia to be similar to Central America (i.e. cleaner than India, but not very developed). Thailand was our first introduction to SE Asia and it certainly was far different than we imagined. Again, as we were preparing for Laos we expected it to be less developed than Thailand and similar to Central America – once again we were wrong. Laos infrastructure for tourism is certainly thriving. However, probably more importantly I would say that the country is the most beautiful place we have been on all of our travels. In our first three days here I have probably taken 200 pictures. It seems like everywhere you look is an amazing view. Since the landscape is so gorgeous I’ve posted more pictures on this blog than I typically do, I hope you enjoy! If rest of our time in Laos is equal to our initial few days, it may become the top of the list for all of the places we have been!
With my birthday
on the horizon a celebration is in order and I think we are going to go ride some elephants and the following day maybe visit a local village that distills whisky. Sounds like a great way to usher in a new decade to me!
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