We were looking forward to getting into Laos from all the rave reviews people had been giving it about being, chilled out, relaxing and the people being very friendly. Well within the first 5 mins we witnessed the relaxed nature. Arriving at the hot and steamy Cambodia/Laos border in the middle of no where, our bus driver informed us that as there were not enough people to warrant a bus to meet us in Laos, one wasn’t coming. We were ‘reliably’ informed that 3 motorbikes would come and fetch us. So…. very hot and waiting in a bizarre shack at 3pm with 4 local people ‘chilling out’ drinking beer with the biggest soundsystem I have seen (in the middle of no where) blasting out tunes, we waited… …… sure enough though 30 mins later our three bikes arrived with us precariously balanced with our rucksacks to take us to our destination – 4000 islands – a beautiful area of the Mekong.
The Cambodia-Laos border
Our next bizarre encounter was Stef from Boston, seemed normal enough until we realised that everything had to be whispered (in case ‘they’ hear us), he was on a mission, a mission for delivering good. However as it was so top secret we never found out exactly what this was. We were apparently very lucky to cross the border that day though, because as he informed us, no whites were allowed through, it must have been our tans that fooled the officials! Entertaining as it was though, we were left hoping that there may be some normal people in Laos!
Fran 'n' boats, Don Khon
4000 Islands consisted of a great bike ride around our island – Don Khon for waterfalls and little villages, but it was time to move on and time for the next travel adventure.
Liphee falls, Don Khon
We were assured our bus would have air conditioning…. well it was certainly breezy. 4 hours in the back of a truck on benches on very bumpy roads, straddling baskets of fish that had a tendency to try a break for freedom every now and again – not the comfiest but an adventure and a realisation that Laos was basic on the travel front. However everything was done with a smile , and when there were 20 people in that truck, there was always room for one more!
VIP bus to Paksie
Next stop was Vientian, the capital city which consists of just over 250,000 people – we were not expecting much but it was incredibly pretty. Due to its french history the buildings were all french colonial style and gorgeous.
Vientiane
Sites included the ‘Arch de Triomphe’ (Patuxi) and the Lao golden national monument.
Pha That Luang, Vientiane
Vientianes French influence meant it was time for some more flashpacking and time for a french meal of steak and cheese – yum!!
French wine and French cheese - parfait!
Vang Vieng in the north of Laos has a reputation of a party place, and that it was. Hundreds of bars and tourists and the most bizarre concept of sitting in an inner tube and floating down a river from bar to bar. We didnt indulge in the tubing but did a kayak trip instead through beautiful scenery, then went to experience some of the bars, fully equiped with mud volley ball, tug of war and swings into the river – Very Bizarre but great fun!
Tubing Bars in Vang Vieng
- Kayaking the Nam Song, Vang Vieng
Luang prubang was as far north as we ventured and was the old capital – and again so so pretty , the buildings were amazing, as was the market – seriously about a mile long and every stall the same !
Colonial architecture, Luang Prabang
So all in all Laos was totally different to what i had expected, it was clean, beautiful, friendly and has a lot going for it – maybe why it was probably the most touristy country we visited! Still though the transport was terrible!!
