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From Chiang Mai, we wanted to get to Luang Prabang, a northern city in Laos. We booked the arrangements through our guesthouse, and made the 3 day/2 night trip by slow boat through the mighty Mekong River. The slow boat is exactly how it sounds, a slow boat. It was a local boat that makes its voyage up and down the river dropping off villagers to their homes located on the banks of the river.

Our ride

Since it is rainy season, the Mekong was full of debris with fallen logs and branches from the surrounding mountains that soared above the river valley. The driver did a good job of maneuvering around whirlpools and giant logs obstructing the way.

Sometimes we’d hit some debris which required these guys to push the logs out of the way.

The ride was slow and the seats on the boat were made up of uncomfortable wood benches. In the back, they secured some car seats pulled out from a minivan, and I was able to snag one of them, making the ride much more bearable.

Every once and a while, we’d see a speed boat filled with people donning motorcycle helmets whiz past us, making their trip to Luang Prabang in 6 hours instead of two days. But, in a river full of obstructions and rain, this just seemed crazy to us.

It was a long 2 days on a slow boat, uncomfortable, and sometimes we were bored out of our minds. But, this was all made up by the beautiful scenery along the way, and we were able to see a slice of life along the Mekong.

Luckily saw a rainbow when a downpour was downriver

Limestone cliff straight into the Mekong

See the elephant?

Village fisherman

At the end of our boat journey, we landed in Luang Prabang, a peaceful town nestled between two rivers that made the whole trip worth it.