The Mekong River is one of the largest rivers crossing through Southeast Asia, including China, Burma, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam. We decided to take a 2-day slow boat trip down the Mekong just after crossing the border into Laos from Thailand, with final destination in Luang Prabang, one of Laos’s largest cities that has a booming population of 50,000 people (!).

The boat trip was spectacular and authentic in many ways. Laos is conquered with very rich nature, kilometer after kilometer of jungle, large green mountains, hills, and every now and then a small village of 10 bamboo huts. The surrounding nature was truly beautiful and we soaked up every last moment during the overall quite comfortable trip.

As regards the boat itself, our first day was a smooth trip without any inconveniences, with a stopover in a small and peacefull village called Pakbeng for the night.  However on day 2 this changed quickly. Apparently it’s quite normal to have mechanical issues, and we surely encountered one. After two repairs, several large buckets of thick black oil from the engine poured into the river, and an interesting knot tied into the distribution chain, we luckily made it to Luang Prabang. We say luckily, as apparently the day before our same boat had a malfunction and all 50 passengers were stuck sleeping outdoors along the riverside for one night.

When we finally arrived in Luang Prabang, we made our way to our beautiful guesthouse across the Bamboo Bridge…and enjoyed this wonderful little city.. next post coming soon with more details :).