Huay Xai
Huay Xai, the town 15 minutes away from the Thailand-Laos border, is the definition of a transient tourist town with most people staying overnight before taking the slow boat to Luang Prabang.
We opted to stay an extra night to relax a bit before setting off again. Our guesthouse, Thadan Guest House, was fantastic and we were glad to be able to take advantage of their rooftop seating area and get some rest. They also had the best exchange rate and lowest rates for laundry and slow boat tickets.
Staying an extra night gave us the opportunity to visit Fort Carnot, an old French fort with the purpose of surveying vessels entering the country via the Mekong. We loved seeing how nature had reclaimed the area.
Mekong River Cruise to Luang Prabang
As mentioned, the entire town is basically one big starting point for the slow boat river cruise. I was a bit nervous as I couldn’t find any pricing or booking information online beforehand but literally every business in Huay Xai sells slow boat tickets.
The boat ride down the Mekong to Luang Prabang takes two days (they all overnight in Pakbeng). There are many different cruises and many comfort levels – we chose the cheapest one we could find so, as expected, seats were small and we were a bit cramped.
We were happy to have gotten takeaway the first morning because we soon realized we wouldn’t be stopping until that evening! Every boat seems to have a little counter at the back selling snacks and drinks though.
As we were traveling in the dry season, the water level is at its lowest, which can be clearly seen on the rocks.
Accommodation in Laos is fairly expensive but you can usually get better prices by going around in person and asking for discounts. That’s exactly what we did in Pakbeng. As soon as we got off the boat, we were surrounded by people carrying posters with pictures of their hotel rooms.
Much like Huay Xai, it seems like people usually just stay in Pakbeng overnight to catch the slow boat the following morning. We soon found out that while we had assigned seats on the first day, we would be changing boats on day 2 and there would be free seating. Our departure time was 9:30 but when we arrived at 8:45, most of the boat was already full! The only available seats were at the back next to the engine.
During our cruise down the river, we saw multiple herds of water buffalo cooling off in the Mekong. One of the other passengers managed to catch a glimpse of an elephant though!
