The long rustic wooden boat we were to take was typical of what we had seen cruising up and down the Mekong the previous day. We got to the boat dock early to get our bikes sorted on the roof, with Tom getting up there to double-check that everything was secure. Our bikes wouldn’t be going for a swim today! We had met fellow Kiwis, Isaac and Emily, the day before while we were sampling a few Beer Laos on the riverbank. They were also catching the slow boat today and we managed to get seats together next to the open-air windows, as everyone started piling on. It was a bit of a shit fight for seats as the last stragglers arrived and realised they’d be sitting in the engine room, but then suddenly we were underway!

Immediately, the views of the Mekong had us hanging out over the side – it was just incredible. Yes, the Mekong is not the gold standard in the clean river department (sad that stray plastic water bottles form part of the scenery everywhere in Asia), but we put that to one side as we motored through a wide chasm, with Laos on one river bank, and Thailand on the other. We followed what other travellers were doing and found a good spot sitting on the open windowsill, legs dangling out over the water, catching whatever breeze we could find. We turned a corner, and Thailand started disappearing behind us.

As German travellers around us drank the local whisky available for purchase onboard, played cards and listened to tunes, we spent the day catching up on our audiobooks and watching the world go by. Against the backdrop of high cliffs and the Laoatian jungle, we saw herds of water buffalo cooling themselves in the shallows, people panning for gold and little tribal villages dotting the riverside, completely isolated from the outside world other than by the river. Occasionally locals got off at these tribal villages and kids would swarm the boat, selling bracelets and other little trinkets that they had made.

The slow boat eventually arrived in Pak Beng for the night. Pak Beng is a small town almost entirely set up for these overnight boat dockings, so there are plenty of accommodation options, but expect to pay more than most other parts of Laos – it’s a captive market after all. Nevertheless, it had a bit of charm to it, with cobbled steep winding streets lined with chalet-style homestays – this early French architecture hinting at Laos’ colonised past.

It was a mad scramble for everyone to get off the boat and to their accommodation for the night. Most people were on organised tours or had pre-booked a place to stay, including Isaac and Emily, so we said goodnight to them and made our way up the street with our bikes. We found a homestay that was a bit gross for what we paid, but it had a cheap restaurant attached so we had an early dinner and called it a night.

New day, new boat. We managed to grab some wooden seats around a table, saving a spot for Isaac and Emily. Same as the day before, the boat started to fill up, but with no sign of the other kiwis, we were left kinda looking like dicks for hoarding the “good seats”. Worried for our young friends but unable to hold them any longer, we conceded and let a British couple sit down beside us … and THAT is the story of how we met Niamh and Ben, who will appear in other blog posts as we met up with them several other times on our Asian adventures! (Isaac and Emily also turned up at the very last second thankfully).

The Germans who had been in high spirits the day before, drinking and getting more and more obnoxious, were now a puddle of hungover misery at the bow of the boat. Today, it was our turn to have a few cheeky bevvies, play a few rounds of Wizard and talk shit whilst cruising past the Laotian jungle. Turns out two days without cell coverage was a great chance to switch off from technology and just enjoy the moment with other like-minded travellers. The scenery was just as spectacular as the day before – although burning season is just as much a thing in Laos as it is in Thailand, so a persistent haze was masking the more distant mountains.

We were also seeing more and more evidence of Chinese investment in Laos, sailing past huge new bridges, dams and train lines. The Mekong River passes through 6 separate countries, therefore activity on the river is very political – as what countries do upstream (with damming, fishing, pollution etc) has an impact on those using the river downstream.

Luang Prabang slowly rolled into view and it was time to say “see ya later” to our new friends. The dock ended up being about 5km from the actual town centre, so we set off on our bikes whilst everyone else was rounded up onto “buses”. Our new friends ended up becoming our travel companions through Laos – we even took a midnight swim in the same river we had just spent two days floating down … swiftly followed by a trip to the pharmacy for some anti-worming pills …

• The boat operators were more than happy to accommodate our bicycles – at a cost. Bikes are stored on the roof of the boat with other oversized luggage, so make sure everything is secure and tied down, as it does get bumpy in the rapids. Backpacks, pannier bags etc can be stored in an under-floor luggage compartment.
• You will get a seat number written on your ticket – this means absolutely nothing. Get to the dock early if you want your pick of seating. We were on two different boats each day and the seating was a mixture of wooden benches, old van seats attached to wooden boards, seats with a table and simply, the floor. My tip is to sit as far away from the engine as possible as it is very noisy in this part of the boat.
• Make sure you get plenty of Kip (Laos currency) out of any working ATM you can find before setting off, this trip is cash only and you won’t see another ATM until you get into Luang Prabang.
• Despite being called a slow boat – it’s really not that slow! You will cover approximately 300km during the two-day journey.
• Bring all your food with you – even for the second day. There are limited snacks available on board, but they are more expensive than buying them on land, and options at Pak Beng (the halfway stop) are limited – and sometimes mouldy as we found out!
• You will have coverage for Thai sim cards for the first hour or so of the trip – after that, there is no cellphone signal at all. EMBRACE IT! Download any podcasts or music you may want to listen to, or bring a pack of cards and make friends 🙂