Three Weeks: Down the Mekong from Thailand's Golden Triangle to Laos

Fly away from the beaches and explore Northern Thailand and Laos' beauty and fascinating history.

Our three-week itinerary:

• Chiang Mai - 2 days
• Chiang Rai 3 days including day trip to Golden Triangle border area of Thailand
• Mekong Cruise from Laos border - 2 days
• Luang Prabang - 3 days
• Veng Vieng - 3 days
• Ventiane - 2 days
• Pakse - 1 day
• Islands of Mekong - 3 days

Chiang Mai provides the perfect place to kick back and enjoy the modern amenities and restaurants of this well-serviced city. Stay a while longer and use it as a base for exploring the mountains and hills surrounding Chiang Mai.

We took the bus from Chiang Mai to Chiang Rai. You can book your tickets online for the Green Bus and pick them up via a code at the local Seven Elevens.

For a beautiful detour and spend a little longer by travelling to Pai, around 90 miles northwest of Chiang Mai.

Chiang Rai is a rambling small city north of Chiang Mai. It's less smart than its neighbour but more interesting in many ways. We took a tour and explored the amazing temples in the region. These are very much on the tour bus trail, but worth a visit, especially the white temple. From here, we did a day trip and travelled up to the Myanmar border to discover the Golden Triangle region. We booked the next leg of our journey, the two day Mekong Cruise to Luang Prabang from our hostel in Chiang Rai. 

The tour operator we chose for our Mekong Cruise picked us up from our hostel and took us to the Lao border where he looked after us all the way to our cruise boat. It was budget and well-organised. We'd already booked our night in Pakbeng via Booking.com and so had no problems with the accommodation in this overnight stop, which is renowned for being a bit of a tourist rip-off. The cruise took two days and facilities are a little limited, although they have plenty of beer and will stop for more if they run out. It was a great cultural experience, full of fellow travellers.

Luang Prabang is lovely. Its French history pervades every corner of this well-heeled town. The place is a comfortable base for exploring the beautiful parks and countryside around there, particularly the Kuang Si Falls. One absolute must place to visit is the UXO Luang Prabang Centre. It provides a fascinating and grim insight into the troubled history of Laos through the Vietnam War and the impact of that which still lasts today in the millions of unexploded ordnance plastered all over Laos. It's a sad tale of the West's impact on this beautiful country.

From Luang Prabang we organised a bus through our hotel to take us to Vang Vieng. The roads in Laos are quite varied. Even the main routes oscillate between tarmac sealed roads and dirt potholed tracks, so be prepared. 

Vang Vieng is the activity centre of Laos. It's more chilled than Luang Prabang and a little rougher around the edges. The town boasts lots of water activities, climbing and hot-air ballooning. It's a great place to relax for a few days.

If you have a chance, talk to the locals and learn more about Laos' communist roots. In the towns you will see tannoys on the telegraph poles. These are for party official announcements and music.

From Vang Vieng we booked a ticket to Ventiane and then on to Pakse. From Pakset you can explore the islands of the Mekong Delta. We travelled on a few miles to the border and crossed without any difficulty into Cambodia. From the border you can then travel by bus to Siem Reap or Phnom Penh.