Eric Stahl

Lost in Laos

From Pai we returned to Chiang Mai and booked a trip to Luang Prabang. It was a four hour mini bus to the border (Chiang Kong), then a two day slow boat down the Mekong River.

The Slow Boat was packed with people and was... slooooow. It was a long and ridiculously uncomfortable trip, but we met a lot of other travels and managed to have a good time with it.

The alternative to the Slow Boat is the Speed Boat, which cuts the two day trip down to four hours. The downside is that the Speed Boat is so loud you can't talk to anyone else (some people suffer hearing damage) and they are known to hit floating debris, crash and kill the people in them. We decided the Slow Boat was a better fit for us.

For two days you see almost nothing but untouched forests. There are occasional villages and a few other boats on the river, but not much else. It is unlike anywhere I've ever been.

Laos is the least spoiled country we have seen so far. It has only recently opened its borders and economy so it is several decades behind the rest of SE Asia in terms of tourism and development.

Luang Prabang is a beautiful but touristy town. It is full of Wats and young Monks who were happy to practice their English with us. We stayed for four nights.

We happened to be there for their biggest festival of the year to celebrate the end of the rainy season. Everyone builds floats that they fill with candles, incense and other offerings to send down the Mekong with their wishes for the New Year. We pulled a boat together and sent it down the river that night, along with thousands of others.


After Luang Prabang we took a public bus three hours to the North to Nong Khieaw then another hour North by boat to Moung Ngoi Neva. These were small, isolated villages who have recently figured out that hosting tourists is a lot easier than farming.

Northern Laos was one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen so I would suggest seeing it before the developers get to it.

Most travelers head South from Luang Prabang to Vang Vieng, then to Vientiane. We decide to skip them and hop a flight to Vietnam. After two weeks in Northern Thailand and two weeks in Laos, we were ready for some urban action.

On October 1st we flew to Hanoi, which is insane in so many ways. I love it. Our plan is to make our way down Vietnam over the next several weeks. From Ho Chi Minh City we will cut over to Phnom Penh to see Darin and Tami and then make our way up to Siem Reap to see Angkor Wat. From there we will hop down to the South of Thailand to finish our trip with a few weeks on the beach. If you have any recommendations, send them our way...

[Here are all 200+ of our Laos pics]

Labels: Laos, Luang Prabang, Moung Ngoi Neva, Nong Khieaw, slow boat

posted by Eric Stahl @ 9:01 PM