Laos | South East Asia Travel Guide

Next stop on our South East Asian travels was Laos. I was really looking forward to Luang Prabang, it looked so beautiful in pictures, so I couldn't wait to get there.

Getting To Laos

We didn't have the best journey across the border though. Through the travel agent back in Bangkok, we had booked the slow boat over (or so we thought!). We had a long bus ride to the border where we then expected to get the boat, but another bus arrived, and then another. We ended up being on an overnight bus for 10 hours, which was probably one of the worst nights of my life (dramatic, I know). When you're expecting a boat with a beautiful scenic journey, but you end up on the back of coach, sleeping right next to a bunch of strangers with no idea where you're going to end up, with no accommodation booked because you're expecting to arrive in Luang Prabang a couple of days later than you actually did, it's not ideal. Safe to say, we weren't in the best of moods when we first arrived, but as soon as we found a place to stay, had a nap and a shower, we were ready to explore this beautiful country.

What to do in Luang Prabang

Luang Prabang was my favourite place in Laos. I thought it a lot prettier and greener than Thailand, as well as a lot cleaner and more developed than I had expected. It also had the best bakeries and one of our favourite Indian restaurants from the entire trip there too (and trust me, we tried quite a few)!

Night Market

The night market was huge. There were two rows all the way down the main part of the strip. It was nice to wander along and have a little mooch. If I had a big suitcase and not an already full to the brim rucksack, I could've bought so much, from beautifully designed bowls and colourfull paintings to lovely clothes. We treated ourselves to the pastries instead.

Mount Phousi

This is a small temple at the top of a hill which overlooks the town. I mainly went up to check out the view and watch the sunset. The view was so beautiful, but unfortunately, it was too busy up there and I couldn't get a good spot for the sunset. So, after taking a few pictures and soaking it all in, I walked back down and found James waiting for me in a bar. If you want to make sure you catch the sunset, you need to get up early to find a good spot and finding out which way the sun will come down will help too.

Kuang Si Fall

We ended up going to the Kuang Si Falls with a group of girls that we met the day before. Jenny, a lovely American girl, stopped us in the street and asked if we wanted to go, which we did, and if we would like to share a tuk-tuk to lower the price, which of course sounded good too. So, we met up with her, her two Chinese friends and another American lady who was staying in the same hostel as them, the next morning and hopped in a tuk-tuk. The waterfall was so picturesque. 

There were multiple smaller waterfalls and pools, and then the main one that everyone swims in. We took a dip, but it may have taken me a while to get in (and I may have squealed a bit, making a bit of a show of myself because it was so bloody cold), but once I was in, it was really refreshing. We were glad we got there early because, from lunchtime, it gets a lot busier. There is meant to be a cave there too, but we didn't go on the hunt for it. There is also a little bear sanctuary there too, which was a nice surprise. 

Bowling

There's not much nightlife in Luang Prabang, but what there is, is a bowling alley. Now, I know this may sound strange, but once the bars close at midnight, everyone heads to this bowling alley, which is about 20 minutes away from the town. It's basically a haven for travellers to congregate and carry on drinking. It was actually a lot of fun. Most people chill in a bar called Utopia before heading here, which we never got to experience at night, we only went in the day, but, it is a very chilled, hippy style bar along the Mekong River.

What to do in Vang Vieng

The road down was probably the bumpiest road of the entire trip. Vang Vieng is very different to Luang Prabang; it's a bit dusty and grey and not very pretty. But, this is just in the main part of town. I'm sure the multiple lagoons that surround the area are very beautiful, which we never ended up going to disappointingly. We stayed in a party hostel for our time here, which was fun, but exhausting. We made some of the best travel friends here!

Tubing

This was the main reason I wanted to come to Vang Vieng. It's basically a bar crawl along the Mekong River, so it wasn't difficult to persuade James to do it. We literally just sit in a ring and float along the river, stopping off at three bars along the way. It was a lot of fun! The first bar was by the best. It was a little bar floating on the river and started to go below the water at one point. Annoyingly I don't have any pictures of this trip because, despite taking a waterproof bag, I didn't want to risk damaging my phone. But, trust me when I say, this trip is a must!

Gary's Bar

There aren't going to be many bars added to these lists as there are so many good ones, but I couldn't not mention Gary's. This Irish bar, run by Irishman Gary (like you wouldn't have guessed), does the best food, has lovely staff, and imports Guinness from Ireland (need I say more). They also import British Cumberland sausages (Yasss!), so the breakfast was on point. I also tried the chicken baguette with chunky chips and the best gravy (coming from a Northern lass, that is high praise!) You need to pop into Gary's if you go to Vang Vieng.

What to do in Vientiane

Now, I didn't expect too much from Vientiane because other people we had spoken to didn't rave over the place. They even suggested to skip it, but I wanted to see the Capital and I'm glad we did.

We actually enjoyed ourselves here. Although there weren't loads of stuff to do, other than visit temples, which, to be honest, James was already sick of, so we spent a lot of time chilling, making the most of the movie channels in our room. But, we did also enjoy walking around and had a nice romantic meal one night for Valentine's day in a lovely restaurant run by a Canadian with Lao heritage.

Patuxai

One of my favourite aspects of the city was the French-colonial influence in architecture. There were so many beautiful buildings, including the palace and the Patuxai war memorial, based on the Parisian Arc de Triumph. We walked to the top of this and had a lovely view of the long stretch of road that leads up to it and the beautiful park underneath it.

We debated going further south to see more of Laos, but instead we booked a flight to Phnom Pehn. So, next stop, Cambodia.

Have you ever been to Laos?

Faye

xoxo