Luang Prabang

Our journey into Laos started with a sad farewell to Chiang Mai and a bus ride to Chaing Rai which is somewhere that we would have gone had it not been for our overstay drama.  From there we boarded a local bus to the border town which is where we would cross the river into Laos.  The bus journey kind of reminded me of our Indian bus rides in rickety old tin cans that may or may not get you there. Apart from a eccentric American who kept trying to smoke on the bus and rain leaking onto me it all went swimmingly.





We arrived and were apprehensive about whether we still might be carted off to jail for our misdemeanor but all was well and we made it across the river to Laos.  We spent the night in Cheng Kong and had our first Laos BBQ.

This is much the same as the ones in Thailand where a bucket of coals are brought to your table along with meats, noodles and veg and an egg for you to cook at your own leisure.

We were probably a bit too wowed by the girl that showed us how to poke through the egg shell with a chop stick and drizzle it on the egg whilst it cooked.

Simple things - simple peeps.

Boat journey

We decided that we would get the slow boat into Luang Prabang.  We ended up buying tickets from a travel agent which we thought were a bargain but then on arrival at the pier realised were a complete rip off.  Lesson learnt.

The boat itself was not as a lot of sites had described it.  It was way more comfy and had the typical seats you would find on the national express for example not the wooden benches cushion sellers would have you believe.  I took it as a small victory that we hadn't succumbed to that rip off as well.  Go us!

We began our journey through the windy Mekong river surrounded by beautiful scenery.  I can't really describe it and do it justice  so I'll just give you some shots to look through.

 A very numb bum later we stopped off in a small village called Pak Beng which is because of its transitory reputation just filled with guesthouses.  As you step off the boat you have people on top of you trying to get you into their guesthouse.

I had the added joy of some dude trying to sell me weed.  He didn't seem to ask anyone else though which made me wonder what it was about me..

The next day we awoke to this which was gorgeous.

We set off again at around 9.30 am to the sounds of some super loud English men talking very graphically about how many girls they had slept with.  Seriously.  Why does the entire boat have to hear about it.  It made me want to shrink into a corner as only the day before a group of German guys across from us were saying how nice it was that they hadn't come across any loud drunken English people yet - and then low and behold...  Upsetting to say the least.

The scenery for the remainder of the journey was much the same and pretty but my butt was getting so sore that I found myself praying for the end.

Managed to sneakily touch the steering wheel whilst no one was looking.

We arrived in Luang Prabang just after 4ish and walked around town trying to find a guesthouse that wasn't $50 a night.  We got soooo sweaty.  I can't imagine what we must have looked like.  Everyone else seemed fine but we were literlly dripping.  It was so hot!

Anyways Luang Prabang had a very French feel about it.  Certainly from the side of the road they drive on to the baguette and patisserie stores scattered around.

I had my first and maybe last  taste of Laos whiskey which tastes so amazingly gross and is very strong indeed.  Very cheap though so what are you going to do.


Here are some shots to give you a rough idea of Luang Prabang.

Night Market.

The food in the night food market bit was really not as good as the street food in Thailand.  Perhaps we had just been spoiled in Chang Mai.

Cold and bland.  Boo.

The rest of the night market is pretty cool.  I wanted to buy a lot of stuff but had to refrain.

There are a number of swanky little bars in Luang Prabang.  This is where I had the unfortunate pleasure of drinking 2 Laos Whiskey cocktails.  It was 2 for 1, so I had to drink them...

There was a fashion show and break dancing show going on whilst we were there.

This is what happens when you mix 2 for 1 cocktails.

Taxi!





Kuang Si Waterfalls