This is a fairly short post, mirroring the simplicity of the activity itself: a slow boat ride up the Mekong River. The Mekong River has been ubiquitous during our time in Southeast Asia as we traipsed through Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. At each previous stop we resisted opportunities to visit the river (via a day trip or cruise) because we had our hearts set on a full immersion into the experience via this slow boat ride, which takes two days and runs from Luang Prabang, has an overnight pit stop in Pak Bang (a tiny one-street town that exists exclusively to house people doing this slow boat ride) and finishes at the town of Huay Xai, a small town on the Laotian side of the country’s border with Thailand. [Editor’s note: A town whose name we never did learn to correctly pronounce.]
Blessed with excellent weather for both days of the slow boat ride, we quickly settled into the scene, community and vibe of the boat. As a simple long boat, it was merely one level and had bench seating (two by two, with an aisle down the middle) which was fully egalitarian in nature – no preference was given to anyone, it just depended on where you snagged a seat. No food was served on the boat and only basic beverages were available, so everyone was forced to bring their own meals and snacks from the mainland. There was also no WiFi on the boat, so it provided a great opportunity to nap, read, play cards and otherwise just take in the relaxing scenery (including while sitting on the nose of the boat, which I was able to do on the first leg of our journey).
Several of the slow boats docked at Luang Prabang.
View of everyone inside the slow boat.
View from the slow boat as we steadily moved up the river.
Lounging on the nose of the boat in the beautiful, sunny afternoon. Can’t be beat.
Doing this for 8 hours a day for two straight days may seem boring, but it was practically perfect in every respect. The scenery was really beautiful, as we got to gaze at the rock formations, mountains and jungle as we passed by. The boat would stop at random points to drop cargo off on shore for villages along the way, at which point adorable kids would descend to the shore to wave at us and help push our boat back out to the water when it was completed. The hodgepodge of passengers on the boat also slowly formed into a small community of sorts, with the group of elderly Thai bike riders taking a 19 year old Austrian backpacker under their wings to share their lunch with him and numerous stray folks striking up conversations and sharing friendly glances. The first leg of our journey had an adorable 8-10 year old boy with downs syndrome aboard (he was the son of the boat captain), and he charmed us all in his Superman outfit (everyone got a stern finger wagging if we playfully tugged on his cape) as everyone on the boat took turns playing around with him. [Editor’s note: While Rorie’s description is serene and romantic, it’s a little rosy. While I enjoyed the trip and am glad we did it, it was loud (a constant loud thumping from the unenclosed engine) and crowded (forced to face backwards on the first day with no knee or leg space to stretch out, trying desperately to nap on the hard wooden bench using a spare lifejacket for cushioning). Also, while the scenery was beautiful, it was a bit of a relief to finally disembark at the end of each day.]
A scene from the river.
Not actually a slow boat but I love this scene of a cross-river ferry letting a monk off the boat.
Village kids all running to the shore to wave at our boat when we stopped to drop off supplies.
More village kids who climbed into a nearby boat to get close to us so that they could wave, give us high fives and help push us off from shore.
An “action shot” from our boat ride, with Jess sleeping by curling into the fetal position on the bench with her back against a life jacket and her head against a neck pillow, all while protected from by breeze by her scarf. These are some of the “tribulations” she was mentioning.
While unspectacular in the grand scheme of Southeast Asian sightseeing, this was easily one of my favorite activities that we’ve done so far on our journey. I loved the slow rhythm of the hours as they bled into each other, and really savored the uninterrupted period of time to read, listen to podcasts and compile travel itineraries for our forthcoming cities/countries. [Editor’s note: He’s not kidding. Rorie probably spent a solid 10 hours between the two days reading travel articles and compiling a meticulous day-by-day itinerary of our next several months. It got to a point where, though I’m not complaining about the result, I wanted to tell him to stop and take a break once in a while.] Our journey to Huay Xai was also not without purpose, as that is where we will cross over to Thailand and, more importantly, where we begin one of the more highly-anticipated legs of our journey – three days and two nights in the Laotian jungle at the Gibbons Experience. Jess has been talking about this place for months after some friends visited and we’re incredibly excited for it!
Spectacular views from the boat (pt. 1).
Spectacular views (pt. 2).
