Slow Boat to Laos — Shompoo Cruises Review

This year we had a goal to take fewer flights around South East Asia. This is quite challenging as they are often cheap and some of the overland journeys are long. But the slow boat from Northern Thailand into Laos seemed like the perfect way to nail the slow travel goal. And our journey with Shompoo Cruises couldn’t have been smoother.

How to Travel Overland from Chiang Mai, Thailand to Luang Prabang, Laos

Here’s a breakdown of our whole trip from Chiang Mai to Luang Prabang. This involved a coach, a rented moped, a public bus, two tuk-tuks, a bus, a minivan, the slow boat then another minivan. Such a great experience the whole way.

Departure Point and Destination

We had been staying in and around Chiang Mai for over a month. It’s a great city and can’t recommend it enough for digital nomads. But time was ticking (and the burning season was coming so it was time to depart).

From Chiang Mai, we took a bus to Chiang Rai. This departed from Terminal 3 and took about four hours. It was comfortable and had air-con. Chiang Rai is great and worth a day to see both the Blue and White Temples. If you’re not making this whole journey and don’t want to stay in Chiang Rai, you can also do tours from Chiang Mai.

Then we took the public bus to Chiang Khong. This leaves from the main bus station in town every two hours. You pay on board once the bus gets going. It cost us ฿70 each (about $2.50USD).

public bus chiang rai to chiang khong — The public bus from Chiang Rai to Chiang Khong

First, they have to load everything up, including the chickens. Don’t worry, they’re stashed underneath with the luggage, not in the main cabin. This was my first time on a public bus in Thailand so I really didn’t know what to expect. There were fans on board, which didn’t run while we were sitting at the bus station but did come on once we got going.

They checked with us when we got near Chiang Khong to see who was heading straight over the border into Laos. If you are going that way, they’ll drop you at the right intersection where a tuk-tuk driver will take you to the immigration centre if you want to go straight across.

We chose to stay the night in Chiang Khong at the Day Waterfront Hotel which was perfect. The staff had copies of the immigration documents which sped up our process at the border. The room had a beautiful view across the river into Laos. They helped us organise our tuk-tuk for early the next morning. If you’re looking for somewhere to spend a night or two in this beautiful little border town, definitely book with them.

Also, I’d had a package shipped to them which I was hoping to collect. It didn’t arrive in time but they kindly helped with getting it sent on to our next hotel which was so kind. Day Waterfront is also super central, so we could walk along the waterfront promenade and to the main street to get dinner.

The view from Day Waterfront Hotel in Chiang Khong

Options From Huay Xi to Luang Prabang in Laos

Okay, so let’s get down to options for the next part of the journey. There is a range of different ways to travel along the Mekong River to Luang Prabang. Let’s get the speed boat out of the way first. These boats travel the same distance as the slow boats in a matter of hours. The drivers (captains?) wear full-face motorbike helmets for safety. Seems concerning. This mode of transport is not recommended to tourists at all. It’s dangerous and you don’t get to experience the Laos culture.

tania sitting on the slow boat on the mekong with a speed boat in the background — Enjoying the slow boat life, watching the crazy speed boats

That leaves the slow boat option. Within this, there is a range of different comfort levels. At the cheapest end is the public boat. This is perfect for those on a budget. The seats are simple, sometimes they’re car seats placed in the boat. Your ticket will include a night’s accommodation in Pak Beng but you don’t get to select where you’re going to stay. It’s a simple option and will get you down the river just as fast as the other options, without the extras.

Moving up in price range, you’ll see a range of tour and luxury options. We saw one of the beautiful double-decker luxury boats as we travelled. They look like they’re from another time as they slowly make their way up and down the river.

We chose an option somewhere between the public and luxury options and travelled with Shompoo Cruises. We’re so happy with the journey they provided.

Shompoo Cruises

If you’re looking for a comfortable way to get to Laos, Shompoo Cruises is the perfect option. The boat has more comfortable booths than the public boats. You can sit in comfort around a table with your travel companions (or new friends!) for the duration of the journey. They provide delicious lunch on board both days as well as water and fruit throughout the journey. There is also a bar on board to purchase alcohol, other beverages or snacks.

Okay, so let’s dive into the actual journey with Shompoo Cruises.

Arrival in Laos

On the morning of departure, we took a tuk-tuk from our hotel to the immigration border. We exited Thailand, paid the bus fee, changed our remaining Thai Baht to Laotian Kip and then waited for a bus to take us across the Friendship Bridge. On the other side, our tour guide Deng was waiting for us.

He helped everyone fill in their immigration papers, line up in the queues and pay the fees. This sounds fairly straightforward and something you can definitely manage yourself, but it is a little confusing. We were getting the Laos Visa on Arrival (we have New Zealand passports). You could also have applied for the e-Visa and be able to skip this step for a slightly increased fee. So, at the first window they take your passport and a small fee for having to work overtime (we were there about 8am in the morning). Then you wait for the second window to open and they hand back the passports once they’ve attached the visas to them.

Then you walk towards the entrance where there is another booth for payment. We paid in Kip and didn’t have a problem, but other people who had US dollars had some of them rejected for being creased, torn or slightly worn. There are two ATMs here so you can get more cash out if you need it. A word of warning though. We tried credit cards here and got declined. Our Wise cards did work though (and we recommend these multicurrency accounts for all digital nomads!) Then we were ushered onto two minibuses and headed for the dock.

Departing Huay Xi

The boat waited while everyone got through immigration and made their way down to the pier. Don’t stress about it leaving without you. You could also have crossed over the night before but it didn’t seem like anyone on our boat had done this. We knew we wanted to stay in Laos as long as possible so we didn’t want to lose a day of the 30-day visa.

We had a really interesting mix of people on the boat. Definitely skewed older, but there were a few people in their 30s and 40s who didn’t want to do the public boat journey. All of the people were interesting and we had great chats with most of the people on board over the course of the two days.

Journey to Luang Prabang

One of the best parts of choosing to travel with Shompoo rather than the public boat was the interesting insights our guide Deng shared with us.

A Lao native, he told us stories about the history of Laos, explained the sights we saw like the construction projects so we could better understand where the country was now and shared with us about his family. Moments like that are precious. It is very easy to travel and not engage with locals. For them to just become the team of people that make your holiday possible through their services. Actually getting to hear from locals and understand their lives makes travel a much richer experience.

Over the two days, we made a few stops. The first is at a local village. I think this is common on a lot of the slow boat trips. But this particular village was there because of the team at Shompoo. They had helped the villagers relocate from the mountains to be closer to the river, which means access to services like doctors. They’d also helped to build a school for the community. Education is so important, no matter what corner of the world you live in. And helping provide education to people in these remote villages opens up more opportunities for the children as they grow.

We also stopped at another village to learn about Lao-Lao whiskey. If you’ve ever wondered what paint stripper tastes like, this is your chance to find out! But seriously, the process to make the whiskey is fascinating and the way they can alter the taste to make variations. This village also has a market road where you can buy locally made trinkets and handicrafts.

The final stop is at Pak Ou Caves, just before you reach Luang Prabang. This was definitely my favourite stop. This auspicious spot goes back to before Buddhism arrived in Laos. Here, where the Nam Ou meets with the Mekong River, ancient people prayed and made offerings to the river gods. Then once Buddhism was adopted, the royal family would make a pilgrimage from Luang Prabang to the caves each year to make offerings on New Year’s Day. Now you’ll see two caves that are filled with statues of the Buddha that have been left in the caves over the years.

The place is a little touristy, so there are women on the paths to the caves selling bracelets and live birds to release. But it’s worth the climb up the steps to see both of the caves. If you don’t end up taking the slow boat down the Mekong River, you can visit this site from Luang Prabang.

Stop Over in Pak Beng

One of the biggest reasons we decided not to go with the public boat was my partner’s recollections of Pak Beng. Totally fine as a backpacker, but we travel somewhere in the midrange these days. He recalled getting off the boat and scrambling up a sandy bank with his backpack then being herded onto songthaews. You didn’t choose where you were going to stay, you just went where you were dropped. The accommodation was super basic, not the cleanest and the power was switched off overnight. Not the ideal stopover.

Travelling with Shompoo gave us a choice. They have three options that you can book directly through them when you’re booking your boat trip. Super simple, all-in-one payment. We actually opted to book our hotel separately as it saved us a little cash. The Sanctuary Pak Beng Lodge was absolutely gorgeous. Stunning views down over the river, a little area outside our rooms to soak it all in and comfortable beds. The rooms were snug but beautifully appointed. It’s also close enough to town that you can walk to other bars and restaurants if you’d like. As we’d booked separately, our room didn’t include dinner. So we were able to order from the a la carte menu, which does include vegetarian options. As we’re small eaters and don’t need a multicourse meal, this was perfect for us.

A few glasses of red wine were also enjoyed on the couches in the restaurant.

Then in the morning, the songthaews are all there, ready to take you and your luggage down to the pier. If you were super organised, you could actually leave your luggage on the boat. The captain of the boat and his family live on board, so everything is safe and secure.

Arrival in Luang Prabang

The final benefit of Shompoo comes as your boat pulls into the centre of Luang Prabang, not the public ferry dock outside of town where you need to haggle with the tuk-tuk drivers. Speaking of tuk-tuks, you won’t need one as they’ll transfer you straight to your hotel. Dreamy and the perfect way to smooth your arrival to living back on land.

Boats lined up in Pak Beng — The slow boats ready and waiting to depart Pak Beng

Overall Review of the Shompoo Cruises Slow Boat to Laos

This was one of my favourite journeys we’ve had. From leaving Chiang Mai and travelling through the Thai rural landscape and small towns, to the boat journey itself, the whole experience was pretty magical. We got to see parts of Laos that you can only witness from the river. We got out of the big cities and saw how other people live in both Laos and Thailand. The pace of the journey along the river is so calming. The boat itself was super comfortable and I would recommend it to both my parents and my brother with his young family.

tania cruising along the mekong river — Cruising along the Mekong River with Shompoo Cruises

If you get the chance, you should definitely take the Slow Boat journey with Shompoo Cruises. We did pass the construction site of a large dam being built across the Mekong River. This journey won’t be around forever. So if you get the chance, make sure you add it to your travel plans.