The slow boat to paradise

Susannah: The name of the first kingdom that would later be Laos was (according to our guidebook) “Land of a million elephants and the white parasol.” This seemed so impossibly ridiculous and delightful that we couldn’t wait to get there. The most exciting and appropriate way to get from the Thai border into Laos, a country crisscrossed by rivers, is to take a boat down the fabled Mekong.

The boats plying the Mekong are long and shallow-drafted, with rows of wooden benches that quickly get uncomfortable. In this part of the country, this is the only highway, and everything from pigs to beer travels by on the chugging, rickety vessels.







Toward the end of the second day, the views became stunning, the tiny bamboo huts dwarfed by limestone walls on either side of the river.



After two days we arrived at sunset on Christmas eve in Luang Prabang, Laos' most charming town. Graceful colonial buildings line the avenues. There are more than a dozen lovely temples within a square mile, and the streets are full of saffron-clad monks.

Unfortunately the charm of the place has gotten out, and there are as many fancy tourist cafes as noodle joints. The town has gotten too expensive for many locals, who have sold or rented their beautiful old houses in order to convert them to hotels. It was too pricey for us, too! After a few days of lattes and beer we decided it was time to find a cheaper, more rustic place to hang out.

We hopped on another boat and headed up the Nam Ou River. The Nam Ou is shallower and has some tricky rapids, so this boat was a lot smaller than the first one. (See the second photo, above, and compare the two boats on the right.) Michael couldn't even sit up straight! It also leaked like a sieve, which was a little disconcerting. We ended up a day's journey upriver in the jungle town of Nong Kiaw, where one of the only paved roads in the country crosses the river on an impressive bridge, marking the end of our river journey.