Thailand and Laos in 14 days: north to the Mekong
Most second Thailand trips add another island. This one adds a country, and it does it by land, which is the part that makes it interesting.
- Duration
- 14 days
- Pace
- Moderate
- Hotel changes
- 6
- Best months
- Nov, Dec, Jan, Feb
- From
- $2,380 per person
The route runs Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, then across the river at Chiang Khong into Laos and two days down the Mekong on a wooden boat to Luang Prabang. Nothing doubles back. You finish in a different country from the one you started in, and you fly home from there.
The boat is the reason to do it. Two days on the water, a night in a river village halfway, and an arrival at Luang Prabang by river rather than by runway, which is how the town was always reached.
Who it suits: second-time visitors to Southeast Asia, and first-timers who would rather cover ground than lie on a beach. There is no beach on this route at all.
Day by day
Day 1: Arrive in Bangkok. Private transfer to a hotel by the river. Nothing scheduled.
Day 2: Bangkok, the old city. Out at eight with a guide for the Grand Palace and Wat Pho, a river crossing to Wat Arun, and lunch out of the sun. Afternoon free. Chinatown on foot in the evening.
Day 3: Bangkok to Chiang Mai. Either the overnight sleeper leaving the previous evening or a morning flight of an hour and fifteen. We will price both. Afternoon in the old walled city on foot.
Day 4: Chiang Mai. A guided morning through the old city temples and Warorot market, a cooking session in the afternoon, and Doi Suthep on the mountain in the late light.
Day 5: The elephant day. A full day at an observation-led project outside Chiang Mai: a herd watched across their own ground, food carried in, no riding, no washing, no performance. We name the project in your proposal.
Day 6: Chiang Mai to Chiang Rai. Three hours north by road, stopping at the hot springs and at Wat Rong Khun, the white temple, which is a contemporary artwork rather than an old one and is worth the hour. Afternoon in Chiang Rai, and the blue temple, which is better than its Instagram reputation suggests.
Day 7: Chiang Rai to Chiang Khong and the border. A morning at the Hall of Opium museum at the Golden Triangle, which is a serious and well-made museum about the opium trade and considerably more interesting than the viewpoint next to it. Then east to Chiang Khong on the Mekong. A simple guesthouse by the river, an early night, and your Laos paperwork checked by our representative before you sleep.
Day 8: Across the border, and onto the river. The Friendship Bridge crossing in the morning, immigration on both sides, and then aboard the slow boat at Huay Xai. Six or seven hours downstream through gorges and past villages with no road access, arriving at Pakbeng in the late afternoon. A small hotel above the river. The town has one street and it goes dark early.
Day 9: Pakbeng to Luang Prabang. A second day on the water, about seven hours, stopping at a riverside village and at the Pak Ou caves, which hold several thousand Buddha images in two chambers in a cliff. Into Luang Prabang at dusk.
Day 10: Luang Prabang. The alms procession before dawn if you want it, watched from a distance and in silence, which we will brief you on properly because most visitors get it wrong. Then the old town on foot: the Royal Palace, Wat Xieng Thong, and the peninsula between the two rivers. Afternoon free. Sunset from Mount Phousi or, better, from a boat.
Day 11: Kuang Si. Half an hour south to the Kuang Si waterfalls, which are turquoise limestone pools you can swim in, and the bear sanctuary at the entrance, which is a genuine rescue operation for animals taken from the bile trade. Afternoon free in town, or a weaving village across the river.
Day 12: Luang Prabang, free. Nothing scheduled. The morning market at six, a cooking class, a bicycle over the bridge, or a very slow day. Luang Prabang is the correct place on this route to do nothing.
Day 13: Luang Prabang. A guided half day out to the Nong Khiaw road or the villages along the Nam Khan, or a second free day. Both are in your document.
Day 14: Departure. Fly out of Luang Prabang, usually via Bangkok, Hanoi or Chiang Mai depending on the day.
What is included
Accommodation with breakfast throughout, two days on a chartered section of the slow boat with proper seats rather than the public benches, all meals on the river days, the Pakbeng overnight, a private air-conditioned car with English-speaking driver on every Thai transfer day and in Laos, licensed guides on six days, border assistance at Chiang Khong and Huay Xai with your Laos visa handled on arrival, the elephant project, the cooking session, all entrance fees on guided days, and a WhatsApp group with your consultant and our representatives in both countries for the whole trip.
Honest notes
The slow boat is long. Two days of six to seven hours on a wooden boat. We charter seats in a section with cushioned car seats rather than putting you on the public benches, and there is a toilet and food aboard, but it is still a long time sitting down watching a river. If that sounds like a chore rather than a pleasure, take the 50 minute flight from Chiang Rai to Luang Prabang instead and spend the two days you save in Laos. We will build it either way and we will not talk you into the boat.
We will not book the speedboat. The alternative narrow speedboats that run the same stretch in six hours have a genuinely bad safety record on a river with rocks and no rescue service. Passengers wear crash helmets, which tells you what you need to know. We do not sell it at any price.
Pakbeng is basic. One street, limited power, a simple room. It is one night and it is part of the journey.
The alms giving. In Luang Prabang the dawn procession has been damaged by tourism: flash photography at close range, visitors buying poor-quality food to hand over for a photograph, and coaches unloading into the street. If you want to watch, we will place you where you can see it respectfully from a distance and we will ask you not to participate, and if you would rather skip it entirely that is a perfectly good answer.
Season. November to February. The river is at a good level, the north is dry and the burning season that fills both northern Thailand and northern Laos with smoke from late February to April has not begun. March and April on this route would be a poor trip and we would say so.
Two countries, one team. Laos is covered by our Hanoi office, which is ours, and Thailand by our long-standing Thai partner. The handover happens at the bridge, and both sides are in the same WhatsApp group.
Built by Osnat Angerman, our Southeast Asia specialist, with the Laos half run by our Hanoi office.
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