Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
to sites within 10 to 15km of a city - often it suits both parties if you agree to pay the driver
for the round trip, plus a little extra for the time they spend waiting.
Boats
With the country possessing roughly 4600km of navigable waterways , including stretches
of the Mekong, Nam Ou, Nam Ngum, Xe Kong and seven other arteries, it's no surprise to
learn that rivers are the ancient highways of mountainous Laos. Road improvements in recent
years, however, have led to the decline of river travel between many towns, with buses and
sawngthaews replacing the armada of boats that once plied regular routes.
The main Mekong route that remains links Houayxai to Luang Prabang. Boats very rarely
ply the stretches of river between Luang Prabang, Pakse and Si Phan Don. Aside from the
larger, so-called “slow boats” on the Mekong routes, smaller passenger boats still cruise up
the wide Nam Ou river (Luang Prabang-Hat Sa), and a few others, provided water levels are
high enough, though note that boat transport on sections of the Nam Ou is likely to be in-
terrupted by dam construction. Currently, there are no boat services from Luang Prabang to
Nong Khiaw, though they may have resumed by the time you read this. Boats on the Nam
Tha need to be chartered.
Slow boats
The dwindling number of diesel-chugging cargo boats that lumber up and down the Mekong
routes are known as “ slow boats ” ( heua sa ). Riding aboard one of these boats, hammered
together from ill-fitting pieces of wood and powered by a jury-rigged engine that needed to
be coaxed along by an on-board mechanic, was one of Asia's last great travel adventures.
Today, a small number of the boats have been adapted to cater almost solely to foreign tour-
ists (with seating for up to eighty people), and now ply the part of the Mekong most popular
with Western visitors, namely Houayxai to Luang Prabang.
On smaller waterways, travel is by long, narrow boats powered by a small outboard engine.
Confusingly, these are also known as “slow boats”, although, unlike the big Mekong cargo
boats, they only hold eight people and never attempt major Mekong routes. They never have
a fixed schedule and only leave if and when there are enough passengers - as with tuk-tuks,
these boats can usually be hired outright, but you'll need a small group to keep costs down.
Owing to the casual nature of river travel in Laos, the best way to deal with uncertain de-
partures is to simply show up early in the morning and head down to the landing and ask
around. Be prepared for contradictory answers to questions regarding price, departure and
arrival time, and even destination. Given variations in currents and water levels and the pos-
sibility of breakdowns and lengthy stops to load passengers and cargo, no one really knows
how long a trip will take. On occasion, boats don't make their final destination during the
daytime. If you're counting on finding a guesthouse and a fruit shake at the end of the jour-
ney, such unannounced stopovers can take you out of your comfort zone, as passengers are
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