Huay Xai is a small river town in Bokeo province in northwestern Laos, perched on the Mekong opposite Chiang Khong in Thailand and connected by the Fourth Lao–Thai Friendship Bridge. It is the northern embarkation point for the celebrated Mekong slow boat — a two-day downstream journey to Luang Prabang via an overnight stop at the village of Pakbeng, drifting through forested hills and remote river valleys largely untouched by roads. The surrounding Bokeo province is home to the Gibbon Experience, a treetop canopy-zip-wire conservation project deep inside the Nam Kan National Protected Area. A short drive east places you at the Golden Triangle, where the borders of Laos, Thailand, and Myanmar converge in the middle of the Mekong.