Watch the world drift by as you float down the mighty Mekong River

A popular way of entering Laos is by crossing the Mekong in northern Thailand to catch a slow two-day boat downriver through inaccessible wilderness arriving in Luang Phabang at dusk.

The boats are 15 metres long by three metres wide, with one long wooden hull where all passengers, backpacks and supplies are stored, protected by a flat tin roof. The boats are powered by a recycled lorry engine mounted in the back of the boat. Two large openings on either side of the boat let fumes out, fresh air in and people up onto the flat roof to languish in the smoky sun under a gentle sky and watch the world drift by.

Herds of water buffalo clamber along the rocky shores and tiny bamboo villages appear, only to be quickly swallowed again by the intense tangled wilderness. In the hazy distance and sometimes crowding close, enigmatic mountains loom.

The boat stops many times at remote villages to drop off and pick up supplies and passengers. Children stream down sandy beaches to help unload sacks of food and stare at the Westerners on board. When approached they scatter like shy birds and settle at a safe distance to observe.

The night is spent at Pakbeng – a tourist town built on the walls of a steep valley overlooking the snaking water. It has a ramshackle charm and lazy guitar strumming often fills the candlelit evenings.