I headed to the lobby to book the famous slow boat tour down the Mekong river in Laos. The boat tour is one of two ways to get from the Thai border town of Chiang Khong to Luang Prabang in Laos. The other is the bus, but that didn’t sound nearly as pleasurable as a two day river boat cruise.

I learned just recently that the Mekong river, famous in the US for its role in the Vietnam war, actually begins in the mountains of China before dropping into Laos where it defines the border between Laos and Thailand before entering Cambodia.

Cambodia and Laos are the only two countries I skipped on my first trip to SE Asia two years ago. I had met several travelers who raved about them, but when I asked them to tell me exactly what the highlights were, they never could seem to find an answer. Encountering no concrete motivation to visit either, I skipped them on my first trip, going to the Philippines instead.

I spent the next two years feeling guilty about my omission and did some further research to inspire me for my next SE Asia visit. There was, of course, the famous Angkor Wat in Cambodia, but beyond that, I still couldn’t find anything definitive until I discovered the Mekong river. I decided my travel theme would be to journey down the Mekong from Laos to Cambodia.

To my disappointment, I discovered quite quickly that it was not possible to travel by boat the entire distance because of rapids and low water levels during the season I’d be traveling. The only water travel in Laos was between the border town Huay Xai and Luang Prabang.

Two types of boat trips were offered: the fast boat, which took just six hours between the two cities, and the slow boat, which took 12 hours, with an overnight stop in between. The reviews of the fast boat read like state departments warnings against travel to North Korea, mentioning accidents and drownings. While I am not risk averse, I draw the line at sinking boats.

The slow boat tour sounded romantic, but as I browsed pictures of a hundred people crammed into a boat on wooden seats for hours, I began to look for alternatives. One blog offered a promising alternative, with a maximum capacity of 50 passengers, but it left on a Wednesday. Since I’d be arriving at the Laos border on Sunday, the loss of two travel days presented a bit of an inconvenience, so I settled on the packed tourist boat.

The woman at the tour desk in the lobby informed me that the afternoon package tour from my current city of Chiang Mai was no longer being offered, despite it being advertised on the sign above her head. This was inopportune as I’d already missed the early tour for that morning. Some quick research indicated that there was a bus leaving that afternoon if I wanted to get myself to Laos so I booked it and figured I could piece the details together when I got to the border.

The package tour that I missed would have been convenient in that it included all of the bus transfers between Chiang Mai and the boat dock in Laos. So, I had to piece the transfers together myself, something I calculated would cost more than the package tour in addition to creating a significant increase in work for me, but I didn’t have much choice at that point.

After six and a half hours, the bus arrived in Chiang Khong. I hate arriving at an unknown destination after dark, a situation which was exacerbated by the fact that the bus station was about a half mile south of town. It wasn’t a bad idea to stretch my legs after the trip, and I managed to get to the hostel in about 15 minutes.

Immediately, I inquired about the availability of slow boat tours for the next day. He said it would be no problem and sold me a ticket for $40. I did ask him about the possibility of a less crowded boat, but he said the only option was the one I’d already researched that didn’t leave for a couple days. Given that all the shops I’d passed on my way from the bus stop were shuttered up by 7:30pm, this didn’t seem like the kind of town I wanted to spend two days in.

Through the hostel host I was able to find a place to get some food, and I decided to walk the waterfront on my way back to the hostel. I was drawn by the sparkling lights of Laos just across the river, and it occurred to me that I could save myself a lot of customs hassle in the morning if I just swam across tonight.

As I continued further, I came across a beautiful boat with comfortable couches and dining tables spread across a spacious wood deck. At first glance, it looked like a floating luxury resort, but upon closer scrutiny, it appeared to be river worthy. I returned to the hostel and inquired with my host about this luxury vessel. When he told me that it was a high end cruise boat, I asked why he didn’t mention it to me earlier. He said, “well, you’re staying in a $3 a night hostel. I figured it was out of your budget.” I replied, “I stay in cheap hostels so I can afford a luxury boat trip”.

He produced a tri-fold brochure, and it was indeed a high end tour, costing $300 for the same two day tour I’d booked earlier. That wasn’t exactly true. Where my tour didn’t include accommodation or meals, this tour included accommodation at a luxury resort and two gourmet meals a day. I spent the next 30 minutes toiling over the decision. While $250 more wasn’t a huge difference, in SE Asia, that was one weeks of expenses for me.

In the end, I decided not to splurge and headed off to bed, but I spent the rest of the night debating about it in my subconscious. By morning, it was too late to make any changes, and I boarded my shuttle for the Laos border.

The Friendship Bridge which connects Chiang Khong in Thailand and Huay Xai in Laos ia a bit of a misnomer. The bridge was built 6 miles south of town, and since there’s no public bus, you have to pay a taxi to get there, unless your transit is included with the boat trip. Once you exit Thai customs, you have to take a bus for another 2 miles to Laos customs. Finally, you have to take a taxi to the boat landing.

This is particularly absurd since the town of Huay Xai is located just across the river from Chiang Khong. There is a ferry that makes the trip regularly, but it is only for locals. You can see how a one hour vehicle trip via the Friendship Bridge is not exactly friendly.

While waiting at the outbound customs desk in Thailand, I witnessed busloads of hippie wannabes being dropped off behind me. I figured these would be my fellow travelers and images of that cramped tourist boat crept back into my mind. I’d been disappointed before with boat travel where you had to remain in your assigned seat, and I feared a boat packed with 100 people wouldn’t leave much room for moving about.

When I cleared Laos customs, I saw someone sitting at a reception desk with a sign for Luang Say river cruises. I recognized the name of the luxury cruise line from my research the night before and decided to roll the dice. I asked the man if it was possible to book the tour with him on the spot, and he quoted me the same price I’d seen the night before. I countered with a price I was willing to pay, knowing I had already invested a non-refundable $40.

He called his boss and the came back with an offer that was in between. I said I would agree if he could get me a refund for the boat I’d already pay for. After some consultation with the agent at the other desk, he returned and told me I could not get a refund, so I re-stated my original offer. Again he called his boss, and after a brief conversation, which I assumed included an explanation of my position, he hung up and agreed to my price.

I paid him in cash, and now I am lounging on a luxury boat with only fourteen other people, having just enjoyed a buffet lunch of beef stew, mixed vegetable and rice as I drift down the Mekong to my luxury accommodation for the evening.

When we got to the town for our overnight stay, we were transported to our luxury accommodation, while everyone on the slow boat had to run into town to seek out their own accommodations.

I reinforce the same lessons over and over in my travels: Don’t be afraid to ask for what you want; fortune favors the bold. If you’re going to spend hours in transit, you should do it as comfortably as possible. Save when you can so you can spend when it counts.