Boat Travel Down Mekong

[TBWG]

Hi

Has anyone done it or know if it is possible to travel by boat from either Nong Khai or Vientiane down the river to Mukdahan/Savannaket or Pakse/Chong Mek.

Appreciate that if it can be done it will only be possible Nov/Dec time after end of rainy season.

Thanks

TBWG

[Thanyaburi Mac]

More likely, if at all, DURING the wet season as the level of the Mekong does drop a whole bunch during the dry. But still unlikely even then as cargo tends to travel to the south (north, too) mostly via truck, faster. People, too, since there's good tour bus service on both sides of the river.

Ask around in Nong Khai, or on the "Issan" section of this ThaiVisa.com/forum, down below, or perhaps post a Q to the http://www.nongkhaimap.com/ group. Send a Q to the Panthawee Hotel, they also run tours: http://thailand.pantawee.com/

Mac

[dddave]

A friend just did it from north of Chang Rai (forget the city name) to Luang Prabang,Laos.

He said the boat was packed with backpackers and not particularly comfortable, bus style seating. When they hit the Laotian entry point somewhere along the way, it was so chaotic that it took them 3 hours to clear. By that time, their boat had departed and they had to wait for the next one. That one left so late that when it got dark, the boat pulled up along the embankment and anchored leaving passengers to sleep on deck or where ever they could find. It was cold and buggy, they said: "Never again!"

I should add that they did say that the scenery was spectacular along the Mekong, so maybe worth it to anybody willing to put up with the discomforts.

Edited February 22, 2011 by dddave

[TPI]

A friend just did it from north of Chang Rai (forget the city name) to Luang Prabang,Laos.

He said the boat was packed with backpackers and not particularly comfortable, bus style seating. When they hit the Laotian entry point somewhere along the way, it was so chaotic that it took them 3 hours to clear. By that time, their boat had departed and they had to wait for the next one. That one left so late that when it got dark, the boat pulled up along the embankment and anchored leaving passengers to sleep on deck or where ever they could find. It was cold and buggy, they said: "Never again!"

I should add that they did say that the scenery was spectacular along the Mekong, so maybe worth it to anybody willing to put up with the discomforts.

In the old days (about 5 years ago) we travelled by rice barge to Pak Beng, the only people who felt pain (sunburn) were the backpackers sitting on the roof, then on the next day on to Luang Prabang...the only scenery was to watch the "Moo Par" looking for fish in the river? We couldn't travel from LP because the locals said that the "bandits" would get us on the way to Vientianne! I've always wanted to travel from LP to Phnom Phen via the Mekong, any info or advice would be most welcome.

[TPI]

A friend just did it from north of Chang Rai (forget the city name) to Luang Prabang,Laos.

He said the boat was packed with backpackers and not particularly comfortable, bus style seating. When they hit the Laotian entry point somewhere along the way, it was so chaotic that it took them 3 hours to clear. By that time, their boat had departed and they had to wait for the next one. That one left so late that when it got dark, the boat pulled up along the embankment and anchored leaving passengers to sleep on deck or where ever they could find. It was cold and buggy, they said: "Never again!"

I should add that they did say that the scenery was spectacular along the Mekong, so maybe worth it to anybody willing to put up with the discomforts.

In the old days (about 5 years ago) we travelled by rice barge to Pak Beng, the only people who felt pain (sunburn) were the backpackers sitting on the roof, then on the next day on to Luang Prabang...the only scenery was to watch the "Moo Par" looking for fish in the river? We couldn't travel from LP because the locals said that the "bandits" would get us on the way to Vientianne! I've always wanted to travel from LP to Phnom Phen via the Mekong, any info or advice would be most welcome.

[el jefe]

A friend just did it from north of Chang Rai (forget the city name) to Luang Prabang,Laos.

He said the boat was packed with backpackers and not particularly comfortable, bus style seating. When they hit the Laotian entry point somewhere along the way, it was so chaotic that it took them 3 hours to clear. By that time, their boat had departed and they had to wait for the next one. That one left so late that when it got dark, the boat pulled up along the embankment and anchored leaving passengers to sleep on deck or where ever they could find. It was cold and buggy, they said: "Never again!"

I should add that they did say that the scenery was spectacular along the Mekong, so maybe worth it to anybody willing to put up with the discomforts.

Dave,

You're talking about crossing from Chiang Khong, Th to Houie Xai, Laos. You go thru Lao immigration before you get on the boat down the Mekong. 30,000 tourists do this trip every year. Every boat is different. If it had "bus style seating", that's one of the better ones!

The OP is asking about going downstream from a point much further south. Neither you nor I have offered any help.

[SantiSuk]

I'm pretty sure I read in a Lonely Planet travel guide that there used to be boat services from Nong Khai area down to Southern Laos but custom dried up with the advent of better roads (and so did the river) so that they no longer run.

The only service I know of is the 2 hour (ish) longboat ride from Pakse to Champasak in Southern Laos. Daily service, mostly for tourists/backpackers. Bit sore on the bum but well worth the ride.

[Robby nz]

Dont know abour today but below are a couple of sentences from the records of the French 'Mekong river commission

in the 1860's

From the book " Mad about the Mekong" by John Keay

Sixteen km west of Vientiane the rapids begin again. They continue on and off all the way up to Luang Prabang a distance by boat of over 400km

The rapids were as treacherous as those in Cambodia but because the river was now at its lowest, much more difficult to negotiate.

[oldsailor35]

Yes, there are Mekong trips from the north of Thailand. I have lost the thread now, but i was in contact with a young Thai couple who ran a trip taking a couple of weeks. The boat was fully equipped but only took about 10 passengers. Maybe you can find it by google. If i can i will post it here. They travelled from Thailand into LAOS in a big loop and then back into Thailand.

Good luck.

[TBWG]

Hi

Thanks for all the input folks! In fact I will be visiting Nong Khai in a month or so and will do some enquiring whilst there. But please keep any additional info coming, it is much appreciated.

TBWG

[dddave]

A friend just did it from north of Chang Rai (forget the city name) to Luang Prabang,Laos.

He said the boat was packed with backpackers and not particularly comfortable, bus style seating. When they hit the Laotian entry point somewhere along the way, it was so chaotic that it took them 3 hours to clear. By that time, their boat had departed and they had to wait for the next one. That one left so late that when it got dark, the boat pulled up along the embankment and anchored leaving passengers to sleep on deck or where ever they could find. It was cold and buggy, they said: "Never again!"

I should add that they did say that the scenery was spectacular along the Mekong, so maybe worth it to anybody willing to put up with the discomforts.

Dave,

You're talking about crossing from Chiang Khong, Th to Houie Xai, Laos. You go thru Lao immigration before you get on the boat down the Mekong. 30,000 tourists do this trip every year. Every boat is different. If it had "bus style seating", that's one of the better ones!

The OP is asking about going downstream from a point much further south. Neither you nor I have offered any help.

El Jefe,

Though my reply wasn't specific the their exact question, I feel that replies germain to a topic, in this case; travel on the Mekong River, might prove useful to another reader seeking similar information. Isn't that what "forums" are about?

[Hardie]

You can (COULD at least) go either way from Houay Xai, though north to Xieng Kok/Muang Sing might be a bit lonely and expensive if you don't have partners. Long-tail boats will get you there or LP in hours. Even if you could go south from Vieng to Pakse, you couldn't get past 4000 islands to Kampuchea.