We paid 10 times as much money to take the luxury slow boat down the Mekong River over the standard public one. After spending 2 days traveling from Chiang Rai, Thailand to Luang Prabang, Laos was the extra cost of this luxury slow boat worth it?

First off what is the slow boat I'm talking about? It's a well-traveled two-day trip down the Mekong River starting in Houayxay, Laos just across the border from Chiang Khong, Thailand. The first day takes about 8 hours to Pak Beng where you spend the night. The next day it's another 7 hours to Luang Prabang. Locals and budget-travelers use the slow boat which costs about $14 USD. We opted for a luxury slow boat with Nagi of Mekong costing $140 USD per person. So $140 versus $14: was it worth it?

For Chris and I, our luxury slow boat journey started with a pre-booked private car pickup at our hotel in Chiang Rai, Thailand at 6:15 a.m. A huge storm rolled through the area the night before we left Chiang Rai and I was concerned it might impact the roads. But by morning everything was clear and our driver showed up at the hotel about 10 minutes early. Unfortunately it wasn't all smooth sailing. About halfway to Chiang Khong we started to smell gasoline or oil. Our driver had to pull over to the side of the highway as our car had completely lost power. This proved to be our first sign that we were with a good tour company though. Between our driver and the company a new car was dispatched to pick us up and we were on our way again about 45 minutes later.

Once we arrived at Thai border control our slow boat hosts escorted us through Thai exit control and boarded us onto a bus across the Thai-Laos Friendship Bridge IV to enter Laos. This bus as well as the support at the border was included in our luxury boat fare. It's my understanding that if you're doing this on your own you have to pay a few dollars for a designated minivan to take you across the bridge. On the other side of the bridge we went through Laos immigration then we were all on the bus to the pier. Again this bus transfer was included.

So finally around 9:30 a.m, a little over 3 hours after we had left Chiang Rai, we boarded our luxury slow boat to take us down the Mekong River. The outside structures of the regular slow boats and the luxury slow boats are pretty much the same, what changes are the interiors. The interior of the regular slow boat seats 70 people on repurposed minivan seats. Though they may sell more tickets than seats so you could end up sitting on the floor. Our luxury slow boat only sells up to 40 seats at a time so if you have a ticket you are guaranteed a seat.

When we boarded we found that Chris and I had been assigned a table all to ourselves. We only had about 25 people on our boat so there was lots of room to move around. Had all 40 seats been sold Chris and I would have had to share our table with two other people and we wouldn't have been able to spread out as much. Though the boat also came with a few other nice areas to relax too.

When I saw the public slow boats they didn't look like they were very full either. I was told that they can get pretty packed and uncomfortable especially during high season in January and February. The down river trip which is in the direction we're going is also known to be busier than the upriver trip that starts in Luang Prabang.

Our luxury slow boat came with three bathrooms that were kept clean throughout the journey. You can't wear shoes on the boat but there are slippers to put on before you step into the bathroom. I heard from those that take the public slow boat that the bathrooms aren't as nice and you have to manually pour water down the toilet to get it to flush. Not that big a deal but it was nice that we didn't have to do that.

It was very unseasonably cold for the two days we were on the boat this was due to the storm I mentioned that happened the night before our trip. Normally it would be about 30 deg. C but for our trip it was only about 20 deg. C.

The public boat does not come with food - you can buy some on the boat but the advice I kept hearing from anyone taking the slow boat was to bring lots of food and water. But on our luxury trip with Nagi of Mekong we had included snacks and lunch on both days. The food was quite good and there was plenty to go around, so it was easy to have seconds and even third helpings.

Day one of our slow boat journey included a stop at a local village. This stop ended up making me quite uncomfortable. I was expecting a place where I could buy local products and support the local economy. Instead it seemed to be this weird sightseeing trip that just walked us through a village along the Mekong. There was nothing for us to buy and it felt like we were just staring at the people who lived there. I noticed afterwards that a few people on our cruise hadn't gotten off the boat at the stop. I guess they knew what it was and didn't want to be the weird tourist staring at the locals.

Whether you're on the regular slow boat or one of the luxury slow boats day one of your journey ends in Pak Beng. We booked in at the BKC Villa, where we ended up in a nice room. And the shower is not directly over the toilet which is always a win.

The tiny village of Pak Beng is built around supporting both tourists and locals taking the slow boats. In addition to accommodations there are also local markets selling clothes, fresh produce, and personal care supplies, lots of restaurants, and places to buy snacks and baked goods.

We heard the ATM here can sometimes not have any money left which we've experienced before in the Galapagos and so we wanted to make sure we had at least a little bit of kip with us when we got here, but we don't have a lot. And so we were kind of gauging how much we're going to need for dinner and uh figuring out what we're going to be able to eat based on that. We also weren't sure if we're going to be paying for our hotel room with cash or credit so we had to factor that in too.

On our second day we floated past some elephants bathing in the Mekong River. From what I read the elephants at this particular park have been rescued and saved from less ethical practices and so now they're here. They can't go back into the wild so they're located at this park here.

We also visited a second village though it was much better than the previous experience on the first day and there were lots of beautiful locally made products available.

We also visited the Pak Ou Caves with the entrance fee covered as part of our slow boat trip.

Around 4:30 p.m on our second day we arrived in Luang Prabang, Laos. Our hotel transfer was also included in our trip costs. Those taking the public slow boat would pay another few dollars to get to their hotels. And with that our luxury trip down the Mekong River was over!

Luang Prabang is located in northern Laos in Southeast Asia. It's a small city with a population of about 45,000 people right on the Mekong River. Its beautiful streets, fun markets, and great food attract short-term visitors, slow travelers, and expats looking to call this place home. But what is the cost of living here? And what should you expect to pay for groceries, eating out, accommodations, personal care, transportation, and activities?

Let's look at the prices we noticed as slow travelers spending time in Luang Prabang, Laos across six different categories, starting with accommodations.

If you're only here for a quick trip you can get a nice three-star hotel room near the center of town for about $30 a night. If you're a slow traveler looking to stay a little longer you can get a short-term rental for about $1,000 for the month. And if you're staying a while and able to sign a long-term lease you can get a small furnished apartment with utilities included for about $500 a month.

Next up let's talk about the cost of grocery store food in Luang Prabang. At the grocery store we find 500 g of pasta for 26,000 kip, and eggs are 30,000 kip for 10 which works out to about $1.66 a dozen. And 150 ml tube of toothpaste costs 35,000 kip. Some things are definitely cheaper at the markets though. Like I picked up a big bag of cashews for 50,000 kip which is much cheaper than the 88,000 they're charging here. And I think I might have gotten a little bit more. So let's leave the grocery store and head out to get some food from the vendors that line the streets. At this fruit stand behind me I picked up two passion fruit and a whole bag full of longan for 40,000 kip. We've been searching for bread at the grocery stores but we haven't been able to find it. Chris just spotted this entire bread stand across the street though. Here we found a super fresh loaf of bread for 30,000 kip. And for even cheaper prices go a few blocks outside the main tourist area. I paid 20,000 kip for these donuts closer to our hotel. They're only 6,000 here. So these exact same donuts are three times the price in the tourist area. $0.90 isn't bad for a delicious doughut but you can get them for a third of the price a few streets over. In all we were spending less than $50 a week on groceries.

If you want to eat out there are restaurants of all price ranges in Luang Prabang. We found lots of simple places that serve great food for reasonable prices. I just ordered the veggies and rice with an egg for 70,000 kip. And Chris got chicken curry also for 70,000 kip. By sticking to the markets and more casual restaurants we can eat out with food and drinks for well under $10 for the two of us.

Let's talk about the cost of transportation. Luang Prabang is pretty small. And so Chris and I have just been walking everywhere so that we can see all the sites and really enjoy the place. But if you don't want to walk or you want to go a little farther there are taxis and tuk tucks waiting to take you anywhere you want to go. Our rides around the city were just a couple of dollars and it was easy to order Grabs using the app.

Let's talk about the prices of personal care. I loved Grasshopper Yoga in the center of town. Classes here start at 200,000 kip with discounts when you buy packages. There are also plenty of spas and massage places. I've decided to go to Green Jungle Massage which is a little bit more expensive than most of the massage places on the strip but they have excellent reviews. I'm really looking forward to it. I booked a 75minute massage in a private room at a higher-end spa for 430,000 kip.

Now let's talk about the prices of activities. Laos has a rich though sometimes difficult history. If you want to learn more about this you can visit the Unexploded Ordinances Visitor Center. From the mid 1960s to the mid 1970s Laos was engaged in the secret war and they were the most bomb country per capita in the world as a result. Here you can learn all about the work being done to find the bombs that were dropped on the country that went unexploded and the devastation they still cause to this day. These are the cluster bombs behind me and 30% of them failed to explode when they landed on the ground here in Laos and they still present high risk even today. It's a tough museum to visit but I think it's important to learn about the challenges the country faces even decades after the war has ended. The museum is free to enter and it's worth spending time at.

Luang Prabang is also home to Phousi Hill Buddhist Temple. We've been staring at the peak of this hill or little mountain in the center of town for the last few days and today we're going to climb it. And there should be some kind of a temple at the top. The stairs to the top of the hill take us past some cool views and many many Buddhas. And we're learning a lot about Buddha during our time in Southeast Asia. This Buddha's toes like most Buddhas are all the same length which indicates perfection. It costs 30,000 kip to go up the steps to the top of the mountain though there appear to be some ways to get up for free as well. Once at the top you get a 360° view of the city. It's too bad that it's burning season right now and the hazy air is preventing us from getting a view of the beautiful mountains that surround the city. Even through the haze we really love seeing the mountains and the rivers around us.

We find that paying with cash is best here in Luang Prabang. So we're taking money out of the ATMs. ATM fees around here vary. They can be anywhere from about 10,000 kip all the way up to 40,000 kip. Some ATMs let you withdraw only up to about a million kip and some let you go up to 3 million. Though for some reason we haven't been able to take out anything over 2 million.