Chiang Rai to Luang Prabang via Slow Boat (via Huay Xai, Pak Beng) – May 2018 – Prices and schedule

A 2-day boat trip for $25 that takes you frrom Thailand to the heart of Laos… pretty awesome for the price! Here are all the details.

I used Taylor’s Track’s article for this trip, but here’s my own version. Several things have changed since February when she wrote her article. Conveniently, there are now official ticket offices for tuk tuks at the Lao border in Huay Xai and at the pier in Luang Prabang, saving you the bargaining (and probably some cash).

Below’s a little video that will give you an idea of the atmosphere.

Condensed schedule:

Day 1

• 6:00 Chiang Rai Bus Terminal 1
• 8:00 Chang Khong border control (Thailand)
• 9:00 Huay Xai border control (Laos)
• 9:50 Slow Boat pier
• 11:30 Slow Boat starts
• 17:00 Pak Beng

Day 2

• 9:00 Slow boat starts
• 16:00 Luang Prabang slow boat pier
• 16:15 Tuk tuk arrives at Luang Prabang

Cost breakdown (low season):

• Bus Chiang Rai – Chiang Khong: 65 THB
• Tuk Tuk to the Chiang Khong border: 50 THB
• Bus to the Lao border control: 25 THB
• Visa fee: depends on your passport. Starts at 30 USD.
• Songthaew to the pier: 20 000 LAK
• Slow boat ticket Huay Xai – Back Beng – Luang Prabang: 210 000
• Cheap hotel in Pak Beng: 40 000 for a whole room without A/C, 80 000 with A/C.
• Every meal in Pak Beng: 10 000 to 50 000 LAK, big bottle of water 5 000 LAK.
• Tuk tuk from the pier to Luang Prabang city centre: 20 000 LAK
• ATM fees in Laos: 20.000 LAK per withdrawal, and you can withdraw 1 000 000 max.

Before you go:

– Have enough cash for the trip to Luang Prabang. I knew there were ATMs at the Lao border and was going to take cash there to pay for the boat, not both of them were out of order. Even though the withdrawal was declined, it still blocked the amount on my card for a week… 😫

Fortunately I had taken enough THB just in case. The currency exchange office just before the Lao Visa on Arrival counters offers better rates than those I found online.

There are ATMs in Pak Beng where the boat stops for the night. Have a minimum of 2 000 THB cash (about 520 000 LAK) to be safe, it will pay for the boat and your expenses until Luang Prabang. Double that amount if you didn’t bring USD for your visa fee.

– Get enough USD beforehand for your visa fee to save money. Visa rates seem to change a lot — the fee was 30 USD for French passports whereas online it’s says 35 everywhere. Plus 1 USD or 10 000 LAK for overtime fees (weekends, early morning, late afternoon: there is every chance you will have to pay 😉). If you don’t have USD, get some at the currency exchange at the border. Otherwise the clerk’s will charge you a much higher visa fee in THB. In Thailand, you’ll find the best rates at the currency exchange called “SUPERRICH”. They’re everywhere.

– Have one passport photo. You can get them done in Chiang Ray even late at night in the shop facing the Night Market (150 THB, 7 photos, pro photographer). Probably much cheaper elsewhere (there’s a photo shop in Big C shopping mall).

– Shop for snacks and water before the trip. The less you have to buy on the way (especially on the boat), the more money you save. In Pak Beng food is not too expensive if you bargain or go out of the tourist area. It might be a good idea to have mosquito repellent with you.

1. Bus: Chiang Rai – Chiang Khong border control

• 6:00am: Take the red bus from Chiang Rai Bus Terminal 1 in the city centre. Easy to find, staff speaks English. It’s usually recommended to take the first one at 6am for the peace of mind, although that morning the next one was at 6:30 which would probably be perfectly fine as well. Pay on the bus, 65 THB. Taylor mentioned 100 THB but was dropped off directly at the border, whereas we were dropped off on the side of the road about 5km from the border.

• 8:00am: The bus dropped us off at a fork in Chiang Khong. Tuk tuks were waiting to take us to the border. About 50 THB per person, maybe less if the tuk tuk is full. There is sign with base rates. A few minutes later, you’re at the border.

2. Thai Border Control (Chiang Khong), Crossing the Friendship Bridge, Lao Border Control (Huay Xai)

• The Thai border control is pretty straightforward and quick. Show your passport and departure card — if you lost the latter it shouldn’t be a big deal.
• Just before you exit the building, a booth sells the shuttle tickets to the Lao border control. Tickets are 20 THB + 5 THB overtime fee (weekends, early morning, late afternoon).
• Before 8:30 you should be waiting for the shuttle to take you to the Lao Border Control, across the friendship bridge.

• 9:00: finally the shuttle starts and takes us across. It takes a few minutes.

A lot of work for you at the Lao Border:

• Get some LAK at the currency exchange (or ATMs if they work);
• Fill in the forms available on the right next to the Visa On Arrival booths (visa application form, departure/arrival card);
• Give your passport + forms + photo + money at counter #1;
• Get the passport back with your change at counter #2;
• Go through immigration to get your passport checked one last time. There’s another “visa fee” booth there but you don’t have to stop because you paid already.
• When you finally get out (about 9:30 for me) there is a counter where you can buy tickets to the slow boat pier for 20 000 LAK, prices are marked. It’s songthaews so you shouldn’t have to wait long until they fill up a leave. Mine wasn’t even full.

3. From the Lao border to the Slow Boat

• I arrived at the pier around 9:50. On your left there, there are steep stairs and a sign indicating the Slow Boat Ticket Office. Easy.

• A seemingly mute and/or bored guy handed me a name list to fill out with my destination. Price is are marked, so no surprise: 210 000 LAK to Luang Prabang via Pak Beng.
• You’re handed your ticket (DON’T LOSE IT). It’s not always the case, but on my boat there were assigned seats. The seat number was on the ticket, as well as departure time. The first boat that day left at 11:30. Not entirely sure there were other boats.

• If you have time you can shop around for food and water, as choices and price and board won’t be great. They all try to overcharge but you can negotiate everything with a smile. Try to walk up the road to visit shops where less tourists go. I got a chicken sandwich for 10.000, a fruit smoothie for 5.000, a a small bag of sliced pineapple for 5.000.
• Get on the boat. Usually you’ll have to take off your shoes. The quality, level of comfort, number of seats and cleanliness can vary a lot. My boat to Pak Beng was quite nice and new, beautiful wooden floor, while the second one from Pak Beng to Luang Prabang was not as good. I was lucky enough to have 2 seats for myself as I was traveling alone. The seats are usually refurbished car seats, some of them can recline, and if you’re a group you can even rearrange them to face each other, as they’re not attached to the floor.

4. Huay Xai to Pak Beng on the slow boat.

• 11:30: Boat starts. Beautiful ride, seats not too bad, good breeze even on hot days. Sun can be an issue but you can use curtains / cover yourself / move around. There were 2 toilets onboard, and a little shop selling beer, instant noodles and other snacks.
• The boat makes a few stops along the way to drop off locals, sometimes seemingly in the middle of nowhere.
• 17:00: Arrival in Pak Beng. So it was a 5 and a half hour ride, times may vary.

5. Finding accomodation and spending the night in Pak Beng

• As soon as you get off, local kids will offer you cheap rooms and a free ride to and from their guesthouses. You can bargain a little bit. I got a big twin room for only myself, with fan, for 40.000 LAK. Some backpackers chose to walk and look around for cheaper deals. The town in tiny, so it’s an option if you’re not lazy.
• My guesthouse (Sivongsack Guesthouse) offered to prepare breakfast and take-away lunch. You can take that option or do your own shopping, but you can always bargain. I got a sandwich and coconut sticky rice for 20.000 all together from them for my lunch, and for the rest I did my own shopping.
• Before night falls, it’s interesting to walk around toward the east as there are at least two interesting temples to visit, and also cheaper shops to buy snacks and water.

• Dinner: most restaurants near the guesthouses will have a menu with dishes starting at 30 000 LAK, but you can also do like me, stop at a local restaurant where no one speaks English, point at things and hope it’s edible. My spicy but tasty meal below cost me 15 000 all together. Couldn’t finish it.

6. Pak Beng to Luang Prabang

• Scheduled departure: 9:00.
• Be early. The boat might not be the same and the passenger list might be different, so no assigned seating this time. Also, departure might be delayed if people are missing, in my case we lost 20 minutes because a couple went shopping.
• Before we started, the staff checked our tickets and kept them. So make sure you don’t lose them or hide them at the bottom of your bag.
• You can be sure many backpackers will have bought weed in Pak Beng (you can’t cross a street without being offered some…). So be prepared for a continuous smell of weed throughout the second leg of the trip. As a non smoker, I find that smell much more bearable than cigarette though.
• The scenery in the first half of this journeh is so-so compared to day 1, but it becomes more dramatic as you approach Luang Prabang: more mountains, and the river itself becomes more tortuous.
• 16:00: Arrival at the pier. It’s situated about 10 km to the city centre, near the airport. It looks like this:

• Walk up the steep stairs, the tuk tuks are waiting. Buy a ticket for 20 000 LAK in the building nearby and you’re good to go. No need to tell them where your hotel is if you have one, the town is tiny. If you come without accomodation it shouldn’t be a problem especially in low season. You will be dropped off at one end of the night market which should be starting around that time. Most of the cheap guesthouses will be in the little streets between the market and the Mekong. I got 70 000 LAK for a private room with A/C (actually an unoccupied dormitory room). Otherwise all rooms with A/C were around 100.000. (Again, low season prices…).
• Enjoy your stay in Luang Prabang, it’s an amazing city!