Taking the slow boat from Thailand to Laos (or vice versa) is one of those experiences that are quintessentially Southeast Asian. I missed out on this experience the last time I was in Southeast Asia, but when we decided we were going to be in Northern Thailand, we knew that we were going to take the slow boat to Luang Prabang. I cannot urge you enough to take advantage of this opportunity before it’s too late. Dam projects that are soon to start along the river will prevent this from being an option in approximately the next 5 years. WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW WHEN PREPARING TO CROSS ✈︎ Don’t prepay for the whole process. You can go through agencies which may give you peace of mind, but you’ll usually pay a lot more if you do this. Instead get a tuk-tuk to the border yourself where you get your visa and take the shuttle across the bridge. From there, grab another tuk-tuk to the river where you can buy your slow boat ticket right there. The ticket price was 210,000 kip total at the local ticket office. ✈︎ Bring food with you. There’s absolutely food to buy on the boat, but they jack the […]