Luang Prabang

Transport

We took the bus from Vang Vieng. It was a mini bus costing 100,000 LKP each. It was by far the bumpiest ride we've taken thus far on our trip, but was surprisingly only 4 hours opposed to the 7 we had been told it could take.

Khonesavanh Guesthouse

This was the cheapest option in Luang Prabang. Its listing on booking.com does it no favours and the trip advisor only has 2 albeit very good reviews. Our room was 60,000 a night and we shared a bathroom. The room was small but perfect with a great working fan.

On our first day we just wandered the streets for a bit to get a feel for the place, we had dinner in the night market and a few beers at a nice bar called Opera House (Happy Hour = 3 for 40,000). 

On our second day we explored the town fully, walking along the Mekong and Nam Khan rivers & around town and around a small selection of the 33 temples in this small town! We firstly headed to the most famous Wat Xieng Thong; a beautiful temple with magnificent mosaic, one of the few built by a king. Famous for being the location for the coronation of Laos kings and housing one of the most important monasteries in Laos it has interesting examples of Buddhist art and architecture and is well worth a visit (20,000 fee). We went to a few smaller temples too, one containing a meditation exhibition (part of the buddhist heritage project).
Following this we went to the Palace Museum and Haw Pha Bang (home to the Phra Bang buddha statue). It was an interesting museum containig lots of info regarding the royal family

At 5.30 we climbed the 355 steps up Mount Phousi for sunset, at the top is a small temple; Wat Chom Si. The views are beautiful you can see all of the towns encircling mountains and panoramic views of Luang Prabang as it is over 150 metres above the town.

3rd day

We managed to get a Tuk Tuk to Kouang Si waterfall for 30 each. The Tuk Tuk agreed to wait 3 hours for us while we explored the place before returning. We were pleasantly surprised to see a bear sanctuary in the grounds of the waterfall which was a great little project, included in the entry to the waterfall. They rely on donations so we bought ourselves some t-shirts while there to show our support!

we moved onto the waterfall which really is as stunning as everyone tells you. The turquoise blue water in all of the naturally formed pools as well as the big waterfall too. We had a dip at the top (despite the no swimming signs) and then again back at the bottom. It was a lovely place to visit and we were pleased to have gone. Laos really is the land of the waterfalls and this one really is the icing on the cake!

On our return to town we went to one of the many sandwich stalls for lunch. I had a yummy fruit platter while Gary chomped on an omelette and avocado sandwich. These stalls are a great budget friendly meal. Following on with our budget dinner at the veggie buffet which is down the side street of the night market. You can get a bowl for 15,000 and fill it with as much food as you can fit in! Be warned though the food is mostly cold, you can ask for it to be reheated, but they do literally just put it all in a wok together so your then unable to differentiate between any of the dishes you put into your bowl. 

Later with another English couple we had met, we headed to utopia bar which is a famous hangout place. The drinks aren't particularly cheap but the owner does like to party and he gave everyone free drinks! Needless to say we got a little tipsy and upon closing time didn't feel we were done yet so headed to the infamous bowling alley which stays open till 2 and you can buy beer, cheap bottles of local spirits and bowl! We purchased a bottle of vodka and mixer between the 4 of us and it certainly kept us entertained! Although sadly the alcohol did nothing to improve my bowling skills! 

4th day

With a raging hangover from the night before we woke late and had brunch at Dellilah's round the corner. We then meandered the town went to the local market before heading back for a well deserved nap! we then treated ourselves to a very nice dinner at tamarind which is an amazing restaurant cooking traditional Laos food and the perfect way to end our time in Laos!

Then it was up early the next morning to catch our minivan to Borkeo (huay Xai boarder crossing).

Mosaic mini stupa at Wat Xieng Thong Temple

Inside the Temple

Sunset from Phousi Hill

The Sun Bears at the Bear Sanctuary

Having a Nap

The turquoise water of Kouang Si Waterfall

Kouang Si Waterfall

The largest drop of the waterfall with a swimming area on top

Vang Vieng and the Organic Farm

We took a bus from Vientiene 50,000 kip that picked us up at 9.30 and got us to Vang Vieng for around 1pm. After everything we'd read and some advice from other travellers we took a tuk tuk out of the main town of Vang Vieng and on to an Organic Farm at the edge of town. This cost us another 20,000 Kip each.

We were told to go here as it was a lot quieter and away from the main party scene of Vang Vieng, Vang Vieng is set in beautiful surroundings but had a bad reputation previously for drugs and general misbehaviour. It has changed a lot but still has a partying feel for younger backpackers! We skipped this for peaceful bamboo bungalows in an organic farm where the only noisy neighbours waking us up would be the cockerels! 

The farm is famous for its home made goats cheese and we were shown how to make it from start (milking the goats) to finish (eating it....YUM) this was quite fun, we were useless at the milking at first but got better! 

The farm was the perfect place to stop and relax and read a book, but we found ourselves helping the lady who was very short staffed with jobs that she would struggle with on her own. Each time we lent a hand she gave us some free food or an organic mulberry smoothie, do it was pretty rewarding. We even helped to set up her farmstay on booking.com.

On a day trip in Vang Vieng we tried rock climbing with a very good company Adams Climbing School. We had a great day, Gary loved the challenge and Abi took on her fear of heights to scale the huge limestone cliffs. We were taught to belay for each other and really enjoyed it. We were even looking up places to start climbing back in the UK.

Our stay here was peaceful and after 4 nights got the bus to Luang Prabang for our final stop in Laos

Gary on the Rockface

Abi Climbing the rockface

The organic goats cheese equipment

Abi Draining the water from the milk

Milking the goat

Our patient goat farmer

The finished cheeses

One of the littlest goats!

Goaty McGoatface!

Vientiane...the peaceful capital

Travel
We took the night bus from Pakse to Vientiane costing 150,000 each. It was the WORST night bus we have taken during all of our travels. The beds were very uncomfortable - they were double so you would have to share with a stranger if you weren't travelling as a pair. On top of that they are only about 5ft long and the air con on ours was broken.
Needless to say we arrived in Vientiane at 6.30am feeling rather worse for ware. We took a tuktuk from the bus station to the central area where all of the guesthouses are. It cost us 40,000.

Accommodation
We ended up staying in Dream Home Hostel 1, it was 50,000 each in an 8 bed dorm but it included a good breakfast, the room had AC and there was a pool over the road we could use.

Day 1 

The first day was really a write off. After finding a budget street breakfast and sitting around in the hostel until we could check in we napped in the cool room. In the evening we headed to the night market which was impressive and runs every night. There was a good mix of clothing and the usual market tat along with a good selection of food stalls. 

Day 2

We woke up early and headed out to try and see as much as we could in one day.  We started with the president palace and large temple complex, but were disappointed to see that the temple was closed due to refurbishment and the palace is not open to the public. We took a few snaps and moved on walking past a large brick stupa called That Dam, before arriving at the Patuxua (concrete arch) its actually quite nice and set a nice open space in gardens right in the centre of town. Its a shame that some kind of red banner had been attached to it affecting its look. We climbed to the top costing 3000 LKP each. The views weren't particularly spectacular.  But we enjoyed it all the same. After this we walked on the the famous gold stupa temple complex. There were a selection of new looking temples housing a variety of Buddha statues. One with a large reclining Buddha outside.The gold stupa (Pha That Luang) is clearly older but very pretty and clearly very much respected and important for the Laos Buddhists in Vientiane. You pay 5000 to get in. The ticket stated it was a museum....but there was nothing resembling a museum inside. Just the stupa and Buddha statues. From here we took the long walk across town to the Cope Centre. This is a great place to go. We found it an incredibly interesting and informative place and it is free (although its a very worthy cause in need of donations). Cope provides orthotic/prosthetic devices and rehabilitation to individuals with disabilities especialy those affected by the UXO's (unexploded bombs - from the Indochina war). We learnt that Laos is the most heavily bombed country per capita in history and many of these bombs were left unexploded and are still being found / hurting people today. The centre is well laid out, we spent about an hour and a half there, but could've stayed longer reading more articles or watching the different documentaries on offer. After our long day we popped by the night market for food on the way back to the hostel before crashing! We were up early the next day for our 9am bus to Vang Vieng!

The Presidential Palace

That Dam

Patuxau - Made from concrete provided by the U.S to build a runway

Pha That Luang

Reclining Buddha Statue @ Pha That Luang

Pakse and the Bolaven Plateau

Getting There

To get to Pakse we took a minivan from Don Det, It cost 70,000 LKP including the boat from Don Det to the mainland.

On arriving in Pakse it became apparent there was very little to do in the town itself, So we found a good guesthouse called Sabadee2. Then went and planned our motorbike ride around the Bolivan Plateau.

We found a very helpful man who rented us a motorbike for 50,000 Lkp a day for a new Honda Wave. He also gave us maps and showed us all the good waterfalls and places to stay. We decided to come back the following morning to pick the bike up.

The next morning we were up early and had breakfast in Daolin Restaurant.  This place served great Laos food, and was quite affordable.  we picked up the bikes (a friend was riding with us) at 9 am. Filled them up with fuel and were on the road.

We rode for about an hour before we stopped at the first waterfall  it was very nice, had a swim, had a snack we had bought with us and relaxed for another hour before we went back to the bikes and rode off for a coffee.

A short ride around 20 mins and we were in an village with its own coffee plantation. We ordered 3 coffees and were given some peanuts and jungle Bananas . We ended up sitting there for ages, hiding from the midday sun, it was a very peaceful spot. So peaceful that once the guy served us a coffee he went straight for his lunchtime nap in the hammock.

Then it was back on the bike on the way to Tad Lo this place was stunning, there was green forest all around, 2 waterfalls to swim in and nice guest houses and restaurant's.  There was also a partner restaurant with Daolin in Pakse called Bumblebee Cafe. So we ate here for dinner and breakfast the following morning.

We had a relaxed start the next morning, after breakfast getting on our bikes and heading off.  Our friend was taking a different route to us today, as be had a flight to catch.

We rode the long route and stopped for an ice coffee in Sekong. We bought it at a roadside stand and met a lovely couple.  They spoke a little English, but were grinning from ear to ear that we stopped at their stand.  The husband also did not less us leave till he was 100% sure we knew where we were going. Meeting these two did bring a bit of light and laughter to our day.

We rode to the next waterfall which was the tallest of all the waterfalls on the plateau however you could only view it from a distance. Then a short hop on to the next waterfall where we planned to stay the night.  It was down a long dusty muddy road, very different to the nice smooth tarmac we had ridden. It was also a major access road for a quarry. Meaning every few minutes a big truck would come past covering us in the red dust from the road. We got the waterfall and it was very nice, but the staff at the restaurant were quite rude and both food and accommodation was massively overpriced and some other backpackers said the food wasn't very good. So we rode on to the next major town, via the dusty mud road, it was dry, and baron here, it felt like we were riding through Africa.

We made it to Paksong and stayed in a guesthouse here which was very cheap and we found out why, the room was clean, but half the hotel was having building work which woke us up nice and early. So we went for a coffee at Jhai Coffee, an organic coffee shop that invests its profits into providing clean drinking water to the remote villages in the area. 

We went from here to our last and favourite waterfall, it was stunning, like something from Lord of the Rings. So we had a swim and sat to dry before riding back to Pakse where we had dinner in Daolin before getting a hellish night bus to Vang Vieng.

The first waterfall we stopped at for a quick swim

the tallest waterfall on the loop, there was no way to get closer 

The final and best waterfall.

A vine swing