Mekong River Cruise

We spent a couple days traveling down the Mekong River in one of the many riverboats. The Mekong is kinda like the Mississippi of SE Asia.



The boat is run by a kind Lao family that lives on the boat and continuously ferries people up and down the Mekong in Laos. The interior is decked out in teak wood and included some nice reclining chairs with a great view of the river and surrounding mountains.

Our local guide, Vieng, explained a lot about Lao history and culture and took us to a Khmu village on the hillside. The kids were just as curious about us as we were about them.

After traveling 150 km down the river the first day, we stayed in the small town of Pakbeng and had some tasty Indian food for dinner. The second day, we traveled another 165 km. Stopped at a cave off the river filled with over 4500 buddha statues that have been placed there by kings and Lao people for the last 300 years.

We're now staying in the quaint town of Luang Prabeng. The French built many of the buildings here that are now being preserved as a Unesco Heritage Site. We even splurged last night at a French restaurant and had beef carpaccio, pork tenderloin, and French wine. Yum!