A German backpacker’s slow boat journey from Thailand to Laos took an unexpected turn when the vessel’s engine failed mid-river. Daniel, who is documenting his travels, shared the experience as part of his “chasing life” adventure.

The two-day trip began smoothly, with stunning scenery and a seven-hour ride to Pak Beng. But on the second day, just an hour into the journey toward Luang Prabang, a cracking sound from the engine forced the boat to stop. Despite the captain's and even the tourists' attempts at mechanical skills, the engine could not be repaired.

Passengers passed the time exploring the riverbank until a rescue boat arrived two hours later. With no seats available, travellers had to jump aboard with their luggage and spend the next five to six hours sitting or lying on the hard floor.

Daniel described the ordeal as unexpectedly rewarding: “Honestly, the whole situation made the trip a lot more fun and enjoyable as all the people on the boat got much closer.”

I was planning to get the slow boat from Thailand to Laos. It is a 2 day 1 night trip on the Mekong River. You start at the border and get to Pak Beng for the night and continue to Luang Prabang on the next day. The first day everything was fine it was a 7 hour boat journey and the nature and the vibes were amazing. On the second day we started driving at 9 in the morning and it was supposed to be a 6-7h journey where we would arrive in the afternoon. ! hour into the journey we all here a cracking from the back of the boat. The captain tried to put it in reverse to pick a local up from the side of the river when the engine completely failed. We had to stop on the side of the Mekong River for them to try and fix it, even tourists who are mechanics tried to help. We waited and waited and we didn't know how long it's gonna take so almost everybody just got of the boat and walk around the beach and the rocks. After 2 hours they couldn't manage to fix it and a rescue boat came to pick us up. We had to jump from our boat to the second one with all our luggage and the rescue boat had no seats. So for the last 5-6 hours we were all just sitting or laying on the hard floor. We arrived in the evening and honestly the whole situation made the trip a lot more fun and enjoyable as all the people on the boat got much closer :)