In a lot of ways, this 2-day cruise was the driving force of our entire trip to Thailand and Lao in January 2020. We wanted to visit Luang Prabang and the last time we were there, we had spoken to Alex Chitdara, the General Manager of Shompoo Cruise and the nephew of our friend Mr. Vong, the owner of the Chitdara 2 hotel about a cruise his travel agency offered between Huay Xai and Luang Prabang that is available in both directions. From Alex’s description, it sounded like a trip we would enjoy.
On the day of our cruise departure, we got up early and had a very nice Western breakfast at Baan Sakuna Hotel in Chiang Khong including excellent coffee to be ready for our morning pickup for transfer to the port at 7:45 AM.
Baan Sakuna is a really nice property with excellent service, a good restaurant, comfortable rooms with views like the one below and very affordable prices and the thought crossed our mind that we wouldn’t mind a little longer stay there at some future date.
You can read about our journey and visit to the Chiang Khong area by clicking on the link.
The van delivered us and a few other travelers from our hotel to the border patrol station where we were met by agents for Shampoo cruise who helped facilitate our passing through immigration. Ours was not the only cruise departing that morning and many of the people there weren’t 100% sure which line they should be queuing up in so there was a bit of a hustle/bustle atmosphere to the station.
Going through exit and entry desks at this immigration station was not so different from many others that we had gone through before and it’s certainly something we could have done on our own but having the help of the travel agent staff providing us with the right forms and helping us fill them out surely lessened the anxiety of the process.
Once we completed our entry into Lao by paying the visa fee ($35 per person for U.S. citizens) we exchanged our remaining Thai Baht for Lao Kip (and instantly became millionaires in the local currency) before boarding a bus for the short ride (passing by several Casinos built for Thai and Chinese tourists) to the embarkation pier.
We were met at the pier by our guide Mr. Vong (not related to our hotel owning friend Mr. Vong in Luang Prabang) who pointed out the significance of the different colors of the different boats that were moored side-by-side at the port. One color was for boats based in Huay Xai, another was for Luang Prabang and another for Pakbeng. A 4th color indicated local boats that would make multiple stops along the way. I was struck by how long the boats appeared from our higher vantage point.
Once onboard; we found seating in booths (with tables) and open cushioned benches running the length of the boat with a simple bar area near the middle. Water, coffee, tea and fresh fruit were available for free and beer, wine, soft drinks and a few snacks were available for a reasonable fee. There was a WC with running water that was regularly cleaned throughout the journey.
As the boat pulled away from the berth Mr. Vong gave a short orientation of features on the boat and some information about the cruise and we were off. We started meeting the other 15 or so passengers, who were from multiple countries. Larger numbers were from Germany and France but a smattering of British, US and one lady from Philippines.
Our first stop was a short one where the captain and his family passed through a police control followed shortly after by a visit to a Kamu hill tribe village.
We climbed the rock and sand hill from the shoreline and spent about half an hour walking through the village with Mr. Vong learning a little about the local villagers and (unintentionally) scaring children before returning to the boat.
Around noon a very nice lunch was served buffet style with plenty of food for everyone to have a 2nd and if desired a 3rd pass at their favorites.
I should mention the quality of food over the course of 2 lunches on our 2-day cruise. The first day was good; actually much better than expected. The 2nd day was even better.
Considering the wife of the captain was cooking in a very small kitchen with limited resources the meal that was produced was remarkable. Minced chicken on a lemongrass stick, fish larb, barbeque chicken wings, a roasted eggplant dish and both vegetarian and pork crispy spring rolls with fresh fruit for dessert. Everything was delicious. If the river boat captain gig doesn’t work out this couple has a future in the restaurant business.
At some point during the village walk the day had gone from cool to warm and with full bellies and the peaceful setting more than one person on the boat took the opportunity to nap. There were really not a lot of activities available while on the boat; no internet or electricity and cell phone reception was extremely spotty.
It was an excellent opportunity to absorb some gorgeous scenery and/or read or to simply contemplate life. For part of the trip I went about organizing and rewriting some the notes I had taken over the previous few weeks on my laptop.
Around 4:15 PM (and pretty much on schedule) the boat approached the shore line below the Sanctuary Lodge, our hotel for the night in Pakbeng. A total of 6 people from the cruise were staying there while 7 more stayed on board to the next stop at the central city pier and accommodation at a different hotel.
It was a steep virtually straight up climb up to the top of the hill to reception and we were happy to get the help of porters to bring our overnight bags (Our larger luggage remained on board for the night) but once we got to the top of the hill we were treated to some marvelous views of the river below.
We met the slightly snooty French hotel manager before retiring to our room for a couple hours rest before a fixed prix menu of a clear broth starter with mains of fried baby bamboo shoots stuffed with minced pork, fish curry and braised mixed vegetables. Everything was very good. Dessert was a banana crepe, which was a little less successful. The pancake was good but the banana was not ripe enough for my taste. Cost of the meal was $12 USD per person plus any beverage (like a refreshing gin and tonic).
The room was slightly small but very clean and nicely decorated and had a modern bathroom with plenty of hot water on demand. By far the most outstanding feature of our 2nd level room was the balcony, which provided a panoramic view of the river at dusk (as shown in the picture above) and perhaps the most beautiful vegetable garden we’ve ever seen (in the picture to the right).
Breakfast the next day began at 6:30 AM to allow for a 7:45 AM scheduled van departure from the main pier in the city center.
The hotel staff was well versed in this early breakfast/early getaway routine and immediately upon seating delivered coffee and a mixed bread plate and took orders for eggs and had us out the door in plenty of time to catch our van.
Our second day on the river was slightly longer than the first and covered 160 km or roughly 95 miles.
Most of the morning was similar to the day before with lots of beautiful river scenery.
Lunch was served around noon shortly followed by our first stop of the day at the Pau Ok Cave of 1000 Buddha (images) at around 1:30 PM.
There are actually a couple caves and while I’m not sure there are actually 1000 Buddha icons, there certainly are a lot of them left by pilgrims.
We had visited these caves a few years ago as a day trip on our first visit to Luang Prabang so we knew we were getting close to our destination. There was significantly more traffic at the Caves than on our prior visit. The side-by-side mooring of tourist boats was like a dance choreography: tie up, disembark passengers, untie and slide down pier to allow the next boat to tie up, then when the boat before had moved on; return to the original position to allow passengers to reboard.
Likewise, we had visited our next stop, the whiskey village on the same prior day trip. And like before we sampled some of the local product and while we bought a small bottle, have to admit it is really not to our taste. But one thing we did like was the textiles we found in the village.
On our prior trip, we spent a lot of time in small home workshops where mothers and daughters were weaving.
There were a few “store fronts” but really not all that many. But on this visit, we found almost as many vendors as weavers. But just like before we were impressed with the quality.
One place we really liked was not only featuring weaving but also embroidery and when we asked the very stylishly dressed young lady manning the booth if this was the work of her family, she picked up a piece she was working on and gave us a demonstration.
During the afternoon we passed beneath two modern bridges under construction. These are Chinese funded projects of the high speed Vientiane–Boten railway connecting the Lao capital of Vientiane (and an intermediate stop in Luanng Prabang) with the town of Boten on the border with China and the China railway system.
The second of these bridges is very close to Luang Prabang and was the source of a great deal of conversation in the city while we were there. While it will likely be an economic boon to some businesses, a lot of the local people are wondering at what it will cost in terms of their lifestyle.
From the bridge it was a short ride to Luang Prabang and the pier our boat docked at, which turned out to be quite close to Chitdara 2, our hotel for the next week.