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travelling the Mekong in Laos
A cruise on the Mekong is as exciting, diverse and surprising today as at the time it was explored by Lagreé and Garnier, the two Frenchmen who were the first western surveyors to reach the region. Their expedition of 1866-68 moved up the river in small dugout canoes. As they were at the mercy of the elements – sun and rain, intense heat and cold - their journey was an extremely dangerous and strenuous affair..
Today, the journey is considerably more comfortable although the river is still a wild force of nature, and it rarely flows with the same calm and ease as it does near Luang Prabang. Its depth ranges from 100 metres to a shallow 1 metre in places; in some spots it is 16 kilometres wide, in others only 50 metres.
Therefore, a journey on the Mekong is still quite an imposing task. The world’s third-largest waterfall (actually the world’s largest in terms of water volume), numerous rapids and sandbanks, deep canyons and extremely narrow bends turn a river journey into a challenge – on certain parts of the river boats are even incapable of sailing – and all call for a skilled, experienced and cautious captain and crew like yours. Furthermore, strong rainfalls in the mountains can raise water levels by several metres in just a few hours, changing the position of sandbanks and launching massive tree trunks down the river. River cruise conditions change seasonally. Water levels are lowest from mid February until the end of April and rise up to 16 metres by November.
For all these reasons, boats tend to navigate the river slowly and carefully; at night all traffic comes to rest. Your boat will anchor safely in a harbour or in the jungle on the riverbank. Your safety is our top priority, which may call for occasional unavoidable changes to the schedule. We thank you for your understanding if this should be the case. The Mekong is considered to be one of the world’s most beautiful and wildest rivers. Discovering it aboard your river cruise ship and during numerous stops along the way is an unforgettable experience – many of our guests called it “sensational”.
The following pages will give you all the information you need about the cruise ships, visited sights or other security issues we would like to mention, and earlier passengers’ most frequently asked questions. We are of course happy to answer any other questions you might have. Please do not hesitate to contact your travel management at any time. We are grateful for any ideas or suggestions.
