Mission: Laos - traveling by slow boat on the Mekong

Despite a rather short night, I managed to get out of bed somewhat fit this morning and actually get a bus ticket towards Laos at the bus station in Chiangmai...

After a slow 8-hour journey through the Thai countryside, including a 'check-out' at the Thai border, a subsequent crossing of the Mekong River, and obtaining a visa on arrival on the Laotian side ($30), I arrived at the destination Ban Houayxay👍

There's really nothing happening here... But it's only meant to be for one night and to continue with the boat trip on the Mekong towards Lang Prabang...that should be enough!

I had already exchanged some Laotian Kip at the hostel in Chiangmai with a former roommate...but since I'm going further and will stay in Laos for a while, I withdrew a quick million from the ATM! No shit, I'm a millionaire now!💲💲💲 But the exchange rate is 1 Euro = 10,000 Kip...

Here in the village, I spotted about 4 restaurants, all of which initially look equally bad and have high prices due to lack of competition and the transient status of most tourists...I paid 10€ for a bottle of water, a salad, and a tomato soup (admittedly large portions)!!

But tomorrow, the journey continues. The boat ticket has already been paid for (24€ including a TukTuk from the hotel to the Mekong), and I have already spotted a café that not only serves 'Laos Coffee' but also Cappuccino. Let's see if and when the boat departs tomorrow!? The Laotians don't seem to be very strict about time and I haven't seen any rush here. At least even I should make it on time for departure!🙌

Update (Day 1 on the Mekong):

After breakfast, thanks to the TukTuk bus, I was on time at the pier and even one of the first passengers on the boat. So I was able to get a fairly decent seat with plenty of legroom (on the loose, discarded bus seats😄).

The journey was quite relaxed, here and there some locals unloaded or loaded something or hopped on or off themselves. But the majority of the passengers were tourists. The scenery was quite picturesque...lots of mountains, lots of green, but not much else to see...the second leg of the journey is supposed to be a bit more "exciting". Weather-wise, we had everything from rain to sun😬

After about 6 hours of driving, we arrived at today's destination Pakbeng. Once again, a small town geared towards arrivals and transients...there is a main road and a few stores and restaurant-like shops, that's it!

I had already booked my room, so I was picked up directly from the Pakbeng port by TukTuk bus.

The room is quite good, next to the guesthouse, the brother of the guesthouse owner runs a restaurant, and his wife does the cooking, and you have to say she does it quite well 🙌 I let myself be served typical Laotian food, which turned out to be pork in a relatively spicy sauce and sticky rice to tear off and dip with your fingers!...It takes a bit of getting used to, but it's awesome! In the end, I drank a few Beer Laos with an old Frenchman and a former Laotian monk who was kicked out of his temple for his excessive opium consumption😂 You can drink that stuff!🍻

Now it's time to shower, pack, and sleep. Tomorrow, get up at 7 am, breakfast, Beer Lao, Beer Lao, TukTuk, and boat departure at 9 am!✌️

Update (Day 2 on the Mekong / Arrival in Luang Prabang):

I didn't get much sleep, and the pre-ordered breakfast was unfortunately also not enough for the upcoming 8-hour boat trip to Luang Prabang😬 At least I ordered a cheese sandwich to take with me, but when I ate it, I didn't find a single spot of cheese. It was just a vegetable sandwich...oh well, it was okay...

Shortly after 9 am, we went down the Mekong again, this time with beautiful green landscapes on both sides and the same faces on the boat. Signs of wear and tear were quite noticeable, I was completely exhausted. Sleeping was not possible on the old, outsourced bus seats, I tried all positions. Today, many small villages were visited to load and unload things, which further extended the travel time😬 By the way, the captain and his crew passed the long time on the way with a few Beer Laos. Apparently, it was the same yesterday, but I only noticed it today😄

When we docked in "Luang Prabang", I realized that we hadn't actually reached Luang Prabang yet, but were still 10 km away😳

Although the Mekong flows directly through Luang Prabang and there are plenty of landing points, we were already thrown off earlier to boost the TukTuk industry. So now, in order to get out of the middle of nowhere, you had to take a TukTuk for 20,000 Kip (2€)...it's the common scam in Luang Prabang😒 But in that moment, I didn't care at all, I was simply too exhausted to start a revolt. Most of the passengers already knew this, a few tried to protest loudly until we arrived in Luang Prabang...

In short...Luang Prabang is very beautiful and quite modern. There seem to be only brand new SUVs driving around, every evening there's a night market with trinkets and food (I've already found my number 1 street food stand🤤), and there are numerous cafes with delicious stuff. I haven't seen much more yet, but I'll keep my eyes open tomorrow!👀