From Luang Prabang (Laos) to Chiang Mai (Thailand)

Read here, here about Vientiane, here about Vang Vieng and here about Luang Prabang.

Luang Prabang was our last stop in Laos. Our plan was to go back to Bangkok and from there to Saigon and visiting from there several places in Vietnam up to Hanoi.

There are a few main options to get from Luang Prabang to Bangkok:

1. by plan: it is very fast, but also expensive
2. the way back over Vientiane: it takes a long time and is not very nice to see same things again
3. by car to the border to Thailand, but since the there aren't many streets its a long way round
4. by boat to Houaxyay which takes about two days and from there to Chiang Mai and further to Bangkok
5. by speedboat to Houaxyay within one day.

The Mekong river is much more direct than the road and flight was too expensive so for us there have been just the two boat options left.
As we were young and the two day boat tour sounded like something for people aged 50+ we decided to take the speedboat. It was a bit more expensive than the slow boat, but therefor it cut the needed time into half.
We made a decision ^^

There are many ticket offices in Luang Prabang and so we picked one and negotiated a good price. He made us a very good price and his wife look to him said more than a thousand words. It was like ~you idiot. Don't offer such a good price - lol.
I hope it didn't caused a discussion between them.

However on the next day we got picked up by a small bus which brought us to the boat stop. It was just a short ride.

view from the speedboat

the boat stop

first it wasn't clear to me why everyone else had a helmet. But I understood it fast ^^. The first reason is security and the second one to avoid the sun. The boat is going for several hours in the middle of the Mekong river - there is no shadow at all.

well, at the end boat is a nearly too good word for it. It was feeling like to sit in a nutshell. Its a small boat and we have been just a few cm over water itself, every wave was shaking the boat. The driver had to change fuel several times on the trip. Once he had some problems to turn on the motor again and it took several minutes until it started. The boat was like a small ball on the mighty river and shifted away - until the engine turned on again and full power ahead ^^

It was fun, but I think I wouldn't do it again. It is a really small boat and the risk shouldn't be underestimated. The river has some strong streams and I guess it wouldn't be easy to swim to one of the sides.

At that time my friend had a new phone and it nearly fell into the river - lol. Only the cable of his headphones kept it alive - luckily bluetooth headsets haven't been trendy at that time ^^

After several hours we arrived close to our destination and had a break for lunch there.

"bridge" to the restaurant

they kept the balance pretty well - me too, even with backpack and so on ^^

Next step was to cross the border (and the border) to Thailand. From there we got picked up by a bus which brought us to Chiang Mai. I have to say sometimes I was indeed a bit surprised how well everything went. We basically never waited long for our bus or something and had never any problem with a ticket and so on. They are really well organized.

We arrived on the evening in Chiang Mai (all together it was a 10-12 hours trip) and went to sightseeing.

We would have liked to go also to the White temple in Chiang Rai, but didn't have enough time for doing so.

On the next day we had some lunch in a street restaurant. They gave us some chicken, which was really delicious.

Fun thing was that it was really cheap. When we had finished everything we asked how much we owe and the woman said 150 Baht - so it was around 4-5$ for two persons. Even for Thailand it seemed really cheap for us and so I had to ask again if 150 was for both or just one person. The woman looked a bit guilty - i guess since I asked her again she assumed we would feel that 150 was too much. lol - indeed we felt the opposite. (maybe she asked us a few baht more than on other guests. It happens often that tourists are asked a higher price than locals - maybe also therefor her guilty look. Even if she did so it was still very delicious and a very good price).

On afternoon we took the train back to Bangkok and from there with a plane to Saigon.
It was the last day in Laos and I really liked it. There are many amazing spots and much less touristic than similar ones in Thailand. Overall people are really kind and friendly. I would like to go there again and to see the changes since than. Only thing I would do different is that I wouldn't take a speedboat anymore.

Stay tuned to read about my experiences in Vietnam soon :D