Cruising the upper stretches of Laos’s Mother River, the 10-cabin Anouvong provides a luxurious new way to explore the waterway’s remote landscapes and communities.

Some of the residents of the Mekong Elephant Park near Pakbeng; meals on board include classic Lao dishes like larb gai (minced chicken salad). — *Left to right*: Some of the residents of the Mekong Elephant Park near Pakbeng; meals on board include classic Lao dishes like *larb gai* (minced chicken salad). (Courtesy of Heritage Line; Claire Boobbyer)

The baby stumbles, snorts, and sticks her face into the mud. She’s still finding her feet. Thankfully, her mother is there to lead the way along the narrow path that cuts through a forest of teak and bamboo. Moments later, we watch transfixed as the 13-month-old elephant calf ambles down the slope into a bathing pool, splashing and spraying herself in the loamy brown water.

We’re visiting the Mekong Elephant Park in the mountains of northern Laos. Situated across from the village of Pakbeng, the 40-hectare sanctuary is one of the first stops on our three-night journey aboard the Anouvong, a handsome new riverboat launched in October by Ho Chi Minh City–based cruise company Heritage Line. Our 300-kilometer route is taking us from Huay Xai near the Thai–Laos border to the UNESCO-protected temple town of Luang Prabang, with interesting shore excursions like this providing a glimpse of life along the Upper Mekong.

“Laos was once known as the Kingdom of a Million Elephants,” says Damien Senaux, a French volunteer at the park. “Of course, there were never that many, but you can imagine the importance of the elephant here.”

The future of these majestic creatures hangs in the balance. Just 300 elephants remain in the wilds of Laos, with another 400 in captivity, the latter mostly rescued from outlawed logging camps. The Mekong Elephant Park itself is home to six pachyderms, including Boua (“Lotus Flower”), the baby that so completely charms us.

“Elephants eat for 18 hours a day,” Senaux says as we watch them tear at branches. “That amounts to about 10 percent of their body weight!”

“Sounds like us on the boat,” quips one of my fellow passengers.

Canopied loungers on the Anouvong’s sundeck provide the perfect perch for watching twilight descend over the Mekong; one of the boat’s staff members. — *Left to right*: Canopied loungers on the *Anouvong*’s sundeck provide the perfect perch for watching twilight descend over the Mekong; one of the boat’s staff members. (Photo: Claire Boobbyer; Courtesy of Heritage Line)

Throughout the cruise, our group of Russians, Brits, Americans, and Canadians are treated to prodigious breakfast buffets and four-course meals — pomelo salad with shrimp, delicious tilapia marinated in turmeric and wrapped in banana leaf, green chicken curry and Lao sausage — in the Anouvong’s teak-floored dining room. The latter is named after Louis Delaporte, a French artist and archeologist who ventured up this river on the Mekong Exploration Commission of 1866. Over the course of two years, the expedition mapped the Mekong from its vast delta in southern Vietnam to the highlands of Yunnan, initially hoping that Southeast Asia’s greatest river could be used by the French as a trade route to China. But those dreams were dashed near the Laos–Cambodia border, where the Li Phi Falls proved totally unnavigable.

Li phi means “fish trap of spirits,” in accordance with the ancient belief that the spirits of those who drown in the river are stuck there. Laos has been a predominantly Buddhist country since the 14th century, but animistic elements persist. On the first day of the cruise, our group was welcomed with a baci ceremony organized by a village of Tai Lue, one of dozens of ethnic minorities inhabiting northern Laos. It was an intricate ritual — all candles, marigolds, and white cotton bracelets — during which a shaman invited the 32 kwan (spirits) that inhabit the body to return to us, thus restoring harmony and invoking luck and prosperity.

Harmony is a hallmark of the Anouvong. Built in northern Laos and named for the last king of Vientiane, the beautiful ocher-hued vessel has just 10 cabins, which creates a lovely intimacy. Near the bow, a double staircase leads up to a sundeck where loungers are shaded with Raj-style canopies; a spa with a huge floor-to-ceiling window is at the back. Inside, an elegant lounge accented by smart silks and drapes — all Indochine glamour combined with Lao craftsmanship — is home to the bar, a favorite gathering place.

A ceramic mosaic in the boat’s Nam Khan suite, which takes its name from one of the river’s major tributaries. (Photo: Claire Boobbyer)

My signature suite, the Nam Khan, is supremely comfortable, with its own balcony and a bathroom large enough for a hot tub. Framed architectural drawings and dazzling ethnic minority jewelry decorate the walls; the ceiling is stenciled in gold patterns that represent the Buddhist universe; and decorating the panel behind my bed is a ceramic mosaic depicting scenes of daily Lao life. There are also exquisite hand-loomed silk cushions and runners from Lao Textiles, a renowned workshop in Vientiane, the capital.

Each humid day brings visits to villages along the river. On our second morning aboard it’s Ban Khok Luang, a Kmhmu minority settlement. We arrive just as a mobile medical unit is vaccinating babies. At the center of the village, women are threshing rice. Clouds of husk dust settle on the ground and are eagerly licked up by a group of dogs.

The Kmhmu are known for their bamboo cultivation and weaving. One family invites us into their home. The entire ceiling of the front room is hung with dangling plastic bags filled with water and beige tubes: sliced bamboo shoots. It reminds me of goldfish prizes at fairgrounds.

Khan Keo, our cruise guide and a former monk, explains, “After the ‘mango flower rain’ — what we call a sprinkling in April and June — the locals pick the bamboo in the forest, strip it of the bark, and take out the bamboo shoot.”

Watching the river go by from a private balcony on the Anouvong. — Watching the river go by from a private balcony on the *Anouvong*. (Courtesy of Heritage Line)

Prepping the shoots at home and storing them in water will preserve them for a year. Bamboo shoots sell for US$0.24 a kilogram, and people from along the river arrive by slow boat to buy them. “They go well with deep-fried pork, beef, and mushrooms,” Khan Keo suggests.

Farther downstream at Khok Phou, a village of the Lao Loum, we make our way toward the local Buddhist temple. The walk takes us past cows, buffalo, plots of cassava, and a towering, feathery-leaved tamarind tree said to be 250 years old. Along the way, Khan Keo talks about life as a monk. He spells out the daily rituals, prohibitions, and what can and cannot be eaten. Hailing from a Tai Lue village, he spent seven years as a monk at Wat Xieng Mouane in Luang Prabang, where he first learned to speak Lao.

A gong rings out at 5 p.m., waking the village from slumber. Boys and a man in saffron robes climb the steps to the black-columned temple. They kneel in the candlelight and begin chanting before a huge Buddha statue. We remove our shoes and follow them inside. It’s a chance, too, for us to reflect on our journey through the beauty and traditions of northern Laos. Change is coming fast to this country with major hydroelectric dams under construction along the Mekong. Where the colonial French failed in navigation, the Lao government and foreign investors have triumphed in harnessing the power of water. Now is the time to journey through this land of ancient rituals, beliefs, elephants, and sublime temples, before life inevitably changes along Southeast Asia’s Mother of Rivers.

The Anouvong on a stretch of the Upper Mekong in Laos — The *Anouvong* on a stretch of the Upper Mekong in Laos. (Courtesy of Heritage Line)

Three-night Upper Mekong cruises between Luang Prabang and Huay Xai on Heritage Line’s Anouvong cost from US$1,686 per person. Longer trips down to Vientiane are also available, water levels permitting.

This article originally appeared in the March/May 2024 print issue of DestinAsian magazine (“Moved by the Mekong”).

Afloat on the Upper Mekong

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