This entry into my blog is going to be a bit vague as I’m a bit behind and we actually left Laos 10 days ago but here goes!
Compared to every border crossing so far the Cambodia/ Laos was really straightforward, with no nightmares for a change! The only downside was that the police on both sides of the border are completely corrupt and wanted us to pay them for leaving Cambodia and entering Laos. It’s not official but we had no choice other than to pay them.
We got a bus and then a boat to Don Det, one of the 4000 islands south of Laos, right on the Mekong river. The island was completely secluded and so untouched by tourism aside from a few small family run bungalow resorts and restaurants.
After arriving the 2 of us and 5 others that we met along the way booked out 4 bungalows and went for dinner to get straight on the beers after a long journey. We had a lovely meal on the riverside, aside from the fact that the Mekong river is not pretty to look at at all! After that it was back to the bungalows for a few more drinks until it was lights off at 10! The whole island’s electricity is run on a generator which shuts down every night at the same time, which wouldn’t be a bad thing except that without electricity we had no fans and so had to suffer in the morning heat in our tiny bu
ngalow!
The following morning we booked ourselves onto a day trip to see the Khan Phapeng waterfall, which is the largest waterfall in South East Asia…but as it’s on the Mekong river it’s hardly nice to look at but it was worth the visit. After that, the 7 of us squeezed onto the tiniest boat, which barely fit us all in, to a tiny deserted island for a BBQ and drinking games, with only us and our Lao tour guide around. It was so deserted the island had no facilities which meant no toilets! Overall it was a great day spent with a great bunch of people.
Compared to every border crossing so far the Cambodia/ Laos was really straightforward, with no nightmares for a change! The only downside was that the police on both sides of the border are completely corrupt and wanted us to pay them for leaving Cambodia and entering Laos. It’s not official but we had no choice other than to pay them.
We got a bus and then a boat to Don Det, one of the 4000 islands south of Laos, right on the Mekong river. The island was completely secluded and so untouched by tourism aside from a few small family run bungalow resorts and restaurants.
After arriving the 2 of us and 5 others that we met along the way booked out 4 bungalows and went for dinner to get straight on the beers after a long journey. We had a lovely meal on the riverside, aside from the fact that the Mekong river is not pretty to look at at all! After that it was back to the bungalows for a few more drinks until it was lights off at 10! The whole island’s electricity is run on a generator which shuts down every night at the same time, which wouldn’t be a bad thing except that without electricity we had no fans and so had to suffer in the morning heat in our tiny bu
ngalow!The following morning we booked ourselves onto a day trip to see the Khan Phapeng waterfall, which is the largest waterfall in South East Asia…but as it’s on the Mekong river it’s hardly nice to look at but it was worth the visit. After that, the 7 of us squeezed onto the tiniest boat, which barely fit us all in, to a tiny deserted island for a BBQ and drinking games, with only us and our Lao tour guide around. It was so deserted the island had no facilities which meant no toilets! Overall it was a great day spent with a great bunch of people.
After spending a few days on the lovely island of Don Det we moved on to head 
up to Vang Vieng to go tubing…. The moment we’d been waiting for in the whole trip! It took us a while to get there, and when we finally arrived at lunch time we dropped our bags off and headed straight for the river to tube! For those of you who have never heard of tubing, it’s the strangest concept… You pay a deposit for a rubber ring, you get on the river (not the Mekong!) and float down it, stopping off at the loads of makeshift bars en route. The river runs through the middle of the mountains and the scenery is absolutely beautiful, not that many people take any notice of the surroundings!
up to Vang Vieng to go tubing…. The moment we’d been waiting for in the whole trip! It took us a while to get there, and when we finally arrived at lunch time we dropped our bags off and headed straight for the river to tube! For those of you who have never heard of tubing, it’s the strangest concept… You pay a deposit for a rubber ring, you get on the river (not the Mekong!) and float down it, stopping off at the loads of makeshift bars en route. The river runs through the middle of the mountains and the scenery is absolutely beautiful, not that many people take any notice of the surroundings!The bars start filling up at about 11am, when everyone is already drinking whiskey out of buckets and raving to the music blaring out all day. One day we were there at about 9.30am, and were some of the first people out. At every bar there are rope swings or zip slides where people are doing flips into the water and so on…probably not the safest thing to do when you’ve bee
n drinking, but in the 7 or 8 days we ended up staying there, we only actually saw one injury!
In the time we were there we had 2 days off where we spent the day by the pool. We met a cool bunch of guys from London who we’ve actually ended up staying with till now, 3 weeks later. Our whole time in Vang Vieng was pretty much a blur…. up early every day to go tubing, and then drinking all day till the early hours (don’t worry mum we were safe and well looked after)!
As soon as the sun goes down in Vang Vieng, the weather turns ice cold, which we were not expecting at all! Why does the Lonely Planet guide not mention this?! We were completely unprepared for the weather, and only had one pair of jeans each and one thin hoody which we ended up having to wear every night we were there! Gross, I know…
I would love to write more about Vang Vieng but I just don’t remember t
hat much, and every day was pretty much the same! After a week it came to the point where our poor bodies could take no more and we all decided to leave. The boys headed straight to Bangkok; Keeley and I went up to Northern Laos to go to Luang Prabang, our last stop in Laos.
The journey to Luang Prubang was the worst by far. I know I always mention bus journeys, and it can’t be interesting to read, but this one is worth writing about…The roads in Laos are notoriously bad, although apparently they have been greatly im
proved in the last few years which makes me wonder what on earth they used to be like! We drove even higher up into the mountains on roads with giant holes in, not potholes, actual holes the size of a bus. Next to the giant hole would be a sheer drop straight down the mountain side. The bus would have to move in a way that made it sway from side to side, so much so that everyone on the bus (the girls) were screaming for their lives! It wasn’t just the thought of falling from the side of a mountain, the thought alone that the bus would topple over was bad enough. It got to the point where I thought I was going to have to make a phone call to my friends and family!
After surviving that ordeal we arrived in the even more beautiful city of Luang Prabang, even higher in the mountains and even colder! We met up with a Dutch couple we met back in Sihanoukville, Cambodia, and went bowling! The bowling alley is the only place open late in Luang Prabang as there’s an 11.30 curfew. Most people at the bowling alley are completely drunk but needing a detox, I didn’t touch a drop. We had a
great and random night bowling, where I unfortunately lost every game! It seems bowling just isn’t my thing!
The next day we went with the Dutch couple to visit the Kuang Si waterfalls which are spectacular! We climbed all the way to the top which was hard work, but we got great views of the waterfall and of the mountain tops. Afterwards we dived into the waterfall into freshwater pools, which of course were freezing cold, but it was the nicest water we’d been in, even nicer than what comes out of the shower in our crappy guesthouses!
After the waterfall we visited the bear sanctuary. We were also told part of the trip was to visit a tiger sanctuary, but were then told the only tiger actually died ages ago and so we were conned ou
t of that part!
We got back into town just before sunset, in time to climb the 400 steps to the top yet another mountain to a temple, where everyone goes to watch the sunset over the mountains. Another great sunset to add to the collection!
From Luang Prabang we needed to arrange a way to get to Bangkok without going back the way we came… and without flying due to the problems at the airport. After going into every travel shop it seemed the only way to get there was to go back the dreaded route along the mountain side, only this time for the 9 hour journey we were on a locals bus, which meant being surrounded by no Westerners, and instead, bags of rice, vegetables and live chickens! I suppose at least it made our journey that bit more entertaining.
And so we arrived at Vientiene, ready for yet another border crossing into Thailand. We spent just over two weeks in Laos; I absolutely loved it but could take no more of the crazy culture, although coming to Thailand has been no different! I will update again soon when I feel normal again…
n drinking, but in the 7 or 8 days we ended up staying there, we only actually saw one injury!In the time we were there we had 2 days off where we spent the day by the pool. We met a cool bunch of guys from London who we’ve actually ended up staying with till now, 3 weeks later. Our whole time in Vang Vieng was pretty much a blur…. up early every day to go tubing, and then drinking all day till the early hours (don’t worry mum we were safe and well looked after)!
As soon as the sun goes down in Vang Vieng, the weather turns ice cold, which we were not expecting at all! Why does the Lonely Planet guide not mention this?! We were completely unprepared for the weather, and only had one pair of jeans each and one thin hoody which we ended up having to wear every night we were there! Gross, I know…
I would love to write more about Vang Vieng but I just don’t remember t
hat much, and every day was pretty much the same! After a week it came to the point where our poor bodies could take no more and we all decided to leave. The boys headed straight to Bangkok; Keeley and I went up to Northern Laos to go to Luang Prabang, our last stop in Laos.The journey to Luang Prubang was the worst by far. I know I always mention bus journeys, and it can’t be interesting to read, but this one is worth writing about…The roads in Laos are notoriously bad, although apparently they have been greatly im
proved in the last few years which makes me wonder what on earth they used to be like! We drove even higher up into the mountains on roads with giant holes in, not potholes, actual holes the size of a bus. Next to the giant hole would be a sheer drop straight down the mountain side. The bus would have to move in a way that made it sway from side to side, so much so that everyone on the bus (the girls) were screaming for their lives! It wasn’t just the thought of falling from the side of a mountain, the thought alone that the bus would topple over was bad enough. It got to the point where I thought I was going to have to make a phone call to my friends and family!After surviving that ordeal we arrived in the even more beautiful city of Luang Prabang, even higher in the mountains and even colder! We met up with a Dutch couple we met back in Sihanoukville, Cambodia, and went bowling! The bowling alley is the only place open late in Luang Prabang as there’s an 11.30 curfew. Most people at the bowling alley are completely drunk but needing a detox, I didn’t touch a drop. We had a
great and random night bowling, where I unfortunately lost every game! It seems bowling just isn’t my thing!The next day we went with the Dutch couple to visit the Kuang Si waterfalls which are spectacular! We climbed all the way to the top which was hard work, but we got great views of the waterfall and of the mountain tops. Afterwards we dived into the waterfall into freshwater pools, which of course were freezing cold, but it was the nicest water we’d been in, even nicer than what comes out of the shower in our crappy guesthouses!
After the waterfall we visited the bear sanctuary. We were also told part of the trip was to visit a tiger sanctuary, but were then told the only tiger actually died ages ago and so we were conned ou
t of that part!We got back into town just before sunset, in time to climb the 400 steps to the top yet another mountain to a temple, where everyone goes to watch the sunset over the mountains. Another great sunset to add to the collection!
From Luang Prabang we needed to arrange a way to get to Bangkok without going back the way we came… and without flying due to the problems at the airport. After going into every travel shop it seemed the only way to get there was to go back the dreaded route along the mountain side, only this time for the 9 hour journey we were on a locals bus, which meant being surrounded by no Westerners, and instead, bags of rice, vegetables and live chickens! I suppose at least it made our journey that bit more entertaining.
And so we arrived at Vientiene, ready for yet another border crossing into Thailand. We spent just over two weeks in Laos; I absolutely loved it but could take no more of the crazy culture, although coming to Thailand has been no different! I will update again soon when I feel normal again…
