After leaving Chiang Mai we had a 4 hour bus journey to the boarder of Thailand (Chiang Khong) where we would stay in a hostel overnight before the slow boat into Laos the following day. Now our hostel in Chiang Mai organised our whole trip to Laos so we didn’t really know what to expect in terms of accommodation or travel.
On our way to Chiang Khong we stopped at Chiang Rai and visited the famous ‘White Temple’, it was really amazing and so beautiful (it reminded me of something out of Narnia!!) The whole temple was white with a huge moat around the outside.
After stopping in Chiang Rai we carried on our journey to Chiang Khong and then arrived in the evening. Chiang Khong was very quiet and not touristy at all, the people in the town looked at us like we were lost, so we decided to stay in the hotel for the night. Our hostel was actually more of a b&b with a Thai family who lived there. Our room was very basic with a rock solid bed, no air con and lizards on the ceiling (it wasn’t the best nights sleep in the world..) We were served a traditional Thai dinner by the family for dinner, played some cards, had our last few Chang’s of Thailand and headed to bed.
The next day we woke up (with our backs very sore from the hard bed) and were served a Thai breakfast (I’m pretty sure it was our dinner was the night before but mixed with eggs). The van then came to pick us up to take us to the Thai boarder. We arrived at the at the boarder, showed our passports and were guided out the back where we waited for a bus. Whilst waiting for the bus we experienced a Thai/Laotian man holding what looked like a a big onion bag with something moving inside. We soon discovered the man had a live chicken in the the bag – this was a great first experience of Laos!!
We made our way over to the Laos boarder where we had to fill in more forms, show our passports and pay for the Laos Visa (in US dollars). We were then taken in another van to the river where we would start our 7 hour journey on the slow boat to Pakbeng.
We didn’t know what to expect of the slow boat at all and were were actually quite surprised. We had a comfy (ish) chair and a table, it was like a carriage of a train back home. They served very basic food and drinks on the slow boat so we made sure we had stocked up on snacks before we got on. The journey went quite quickly, we watched a couple of films on our phones, played some games (hangman and dots and boxes are always a good time filler), watched the beautiful views of the Mekong River and then we soon arrived at Pakbeng.
When getting off the slow boat knew we had to book accommodation for that evening as we had not arranged any yet. There were lots of men selling rooms for the evening and we took one of them. We arrived at the b&b very tired and happy to be in a room with air conditioning and a hot shower. We got ready straight away and headed for dinner and drinks with some people we had met on the slow boat.
Pakbeng was a very quiet town with a lot of poverty. It was our first chance to see a non touristy area and discover how the Laotians live.
The following day we woke up, had breakfast and headed down to the river for our second slow boat. The second day of the slow boat seemed to go much quicker (even though it was 9 hours..). The sights were even more beautiful the second day and it was interesting to see the Laotians in their normal every day environments. We saw lots of children playing and jumping into the river, whilst their mothers were waiting for the goods to be delivered to them from the slow boat.
We arrived in Luang Prabang where we got a tuk tuk with our friend we had made on the slow boat into the town centre. The town was very small with the river running right through it. Our hotel was ran by a lovely Laotian family (who had a pet monkey – a bit strange) with 5 boys (one being a new born) a mother and father.
On our first proper day in Luang Prabang it was absolutely boiling (we hadn’t experienced heat like this yet) so we decided to head to the waterfall. We took a tuk tuk up there which was a very bumpy ride and then walked the rest. The waterfall was beautiful. I don’t feel I actually need to say much as the pictures 100% do it justice. The water was so cold which helped to cool us off and the water was also so blue.
That evening we headed to ‘Utopia Bar’ which is must if you ever visit Luang Prabang, it was a really cool bar (with bean bags of course) and a great way to escape from the busy town! The drinks and food were surprisingly cheap and it also looked over the beautiful river! Remember to bring bug spray though as you will get bitten alive!!!
On our second day we visited some of the famous craft villages of Luang Prabang which were just outside the town. The village people made silk, paper and cotten. The paper making was the most interesting as you don’t often get to see something like this at home! The paper is made out of a liquid which is then dried for a few days in the sun until it is as hard as paper. It was a really interesting experience.
After this we headed across the river into a little village called ‘Chomphet’. The village was very poor and a lot of the people there were looking at us like we were lost! We stumbled across a Laos Primary School where we went in (definitely wouldn’t be allowed in England!!) and met some of the children and teachers. The children were so happy to see us, they ran up to us, smiling, waving and holding our hands, they didn’t want to let us go! It was really sweet. We then walked around the village, there was a lot of poverty but it was really interesting to see how the people live. We were both definitely feeling very appreciative of our lives back home!
On our final day in Laos in the hot, sweaty heat we walked to the beautiful view point at the top of a mountain. The view of Luang Prabang was beautiful and breathtaking. There was also a beautiful temple at the top of the mountain.
After 5 days of being Laos our time had come to an end. We got to experience a lot of the culture, food (which wasn’t that different from Thai food) and meet lots of lovely Laotians. We headed to the airport that evening. Next stop… Hanoi!
Adventure Awaits... 