In the early morning as the sun burns through the low layer of mist above the water's surface, any residual images of the Mekong as a river of war dissolve. Although old gun emplacements and shell cases, from the "secret war" the Americans waged here during the 1960s Vietnam conflict, are visible, as we meander downstream all is tranquil in Laos.
The wide brown river zigzags through forested hills that fold steeply down to the bank and bleached white sandbars. Signs of life are few save for solitary fishermen laying bamboo traps and casting nets.
Tourism here opened up in the 1990s but the luxury market is fast catching on. Next summer, Aman Resorts (amanresorts.com) will be running its own private boat along this route, a two-day, 200-mile journey from Huay Xai (most easily reached via Chiang Rai airport in Thailand) to its newly-opened hotel, Amantaka, in the ancient Laotian capital Luang Prabang.
My Luang Say cruise (luangsay.com) feels suitably stately and is the perfect introduction to the indolent charms of Laos. Luang Prabang is a seductively slow-paced kind of a place and a site of Buddhist pilgrimage. I arrive in the late afternoon, to catch the light glinting off one of its many gilded temples, before night falls and the cicadas start their noisy chorus. Wander the early morning market and you can see buckets of the same insects for sale, now scrabbling and silent, soon to become a snack; other bites include smoked bats and steamed baby wasps.
Should the realities of Laos grocery shopping leave you a little stressed, the soothing cloisters of Amantaka will instantly revive you. In a converted hospital, it is pared back in its style - not a gold elephant or a buddha in sight - but the suites are palatial, scented with lemongrass in the evening, and each has a private pool.
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For those who also want to give back, a definite trend in the holiday market, Aman will arrange for guests to take part in the daily almsgiving or tak bak ceremony. In the dawning half-light, rows of monks in orange and yellow-coloured robes appear in the mist. Kneeling by the roadside, I place a handful of sticky rice in each bowl, as they file by.
Then it is over almost as soon as it started and in the bright morning light, rush hour takes hold; a lady shoots by on her scooter wearing a shocking-pink helmet. It is a good way to start the day.
Audley Travel (01993 838 125, audley travel.com) has a 10-day trip to Laos and Thailand including a two-day Luang Say cruise, from £2,280pp including flights