The Mighty Mekong

Slow boats running the Mekong come in three variaties: cheap, uncomfortable and over-crowded; midrange with lots of room to mix; and  “luxury cruisers”.

Top, The Mekong from our hotel room in Chiang Khong, Thailand. Bottom, launching from Laotian side.

After a night in Chiang Khong we crossed the river and border into Laos at Huay Xia and climbed onto our midrange choice, Nagi of the Mekong, destined for Luang Prabang. 

The Nagi is comfortable with tables in sitting area and several coveted spots towards the front for stretching out and napping. Boat has two western style WCs!

There were twelve of us plus the resident Laotian family – Dad, captain; Mom, chef extraordinaire; two young sons on vacation who mostly hung out in their living quarters at back of boat.

The two days were marvelous. Our boatmates – a variety of nationalities – were all lovely. The river scene was beautiful and our captain skillfully manouvered us through multitude of rapids. 

Visit to an ethnic minority Kamu village.

We stopped at a couple of villages and overnighted in Pak Beng along with the passangers of other boats. We talked to people from the basic and luxury boats who envied us. The basic boats were seriously cramped and overcrowded with not enough seats! Those in the luxury boats paid double what we did, stayed overnight in a resort far from the village and complained their boat views were obstructed by a railing. They envied us!

My boatmates and I were a bit smug as everything was just great on the Nagi and we had such fun.

Top left, overnighting in Pak Beng. The Nagi is third boat from the right. Bottom right, village visit. Women selling their lovely village-spun silk and cotton products. Right, visit to caves.

About an hour out of Luang Prabang we stopped at the Pak Ou Caves. Over a thousand years old, pilgrams make an arduous trek here and leave a Bhudda so today the two caves house thousands of idols of varying sizes and styles. 

We went up to the less visited upper cave – few tourists as very steep and high. Dark and deep with several chambers. Scary😱. You don’t want to run out of flashlight battery juice there!

We arrived in Luang Prabang after two delightful days of rest, delicious Laotian food, wonderful scenary and fun companionship.