Laos: Two Weeks Exploring Laos

Two weeks in Laos went by so fast, I spent the time wandering around towns and exploring nature! It was fun starting in the north with a slow boat from Thailand into Laos and then working my way down to finish in the capital of Vientiane.

To get to Laos I had to get back to Chiang Rai, in the north of Thailand. I arrived in Chiang Rai in the evening and immediately went to my hostel and booked a slow boat ticket with pick up at my hostel scheduled for the next morning. That next day I was picked up at 6:30 in the morning and was driven for about an hour and a half to the border. Once at the border I and the group of people I was with met with a guide who explained the visa and border crossing process and went through it with us. To travel to Laos I needed a visa which I was able to get at the border, but the process took a long time to get through, especially with a big group of people. After finally making it through both the Thai exit and Lao entry borders, the group of us were driven about fifteen minutes to the Mekong River, the location from which the river cruises left.

When researching information on the river cruises into Laos, I had read a few stories of boats being overcrowded; luckily that was not the case for me. On the first day the boat was full but there was still plenty of space left. It was also very interesting because it was a longer wooden boat with a lot of different types of bus seats. After getting on the boat the rest of the day went smooth and slow. The first day's ride was about eight hours long and had gorgeous scenery the entire way. That evening I arrived in a small town called Pakbeng. Before I arrived in Pakbeng I had already booked a bed in a hostel and I’m glad I did. I could easily have booked a room once there as a bunch of the local hotel owners were at the river trying to negotiate rooms; however I found it much easier and cheaper having already booked a room and was then picked up from the river and taken to my hostel. The rest of the night went by pretty quickly. There were a bunch of other backpackers at my hostel so I joined them for dinner. After dinner I headed back to my hostel and got ready for the next morning when I would be taking another boat to travel the last seven hours to get to my final stop of Luang Prabang. The second day the boat was smaller and was a lot nicer than the boat I was on the day before. Since I knew someone who had already done the journey a few days before, I was told to arrive early since it was a smaller boat. I’m glad I did because I was able to get a seat with a table which was really nice. The rest of the day went by with great views again and we managed to arrive an hour earlier than originally planned. Once there I headed to my hostel. After checking into my hostel, I was able to relax for a while before heading out to meet up at the night market with a group of people I had met on the boat.

I spent my first few days in Luang Prabang wandering around the town and exploring the different areas. It was a super cute town and had a charming old french quarter that was fun to walk around and also had a bunch of palm trees, which I love. I really enjoyed taking it slow for a few days and just wandering around the town. In the evenings I would meet up with people from the slow boat for dinner at the night market. One of the big things to visit when staying in Luang Prabang is the Kuang Si Waterfalls, so on one of my days in Luang Prabang I bought a bus ticket to go out to the waterfalls. The walk to the waterfalls was really nice going through the jungle and on the way there was a black bear sanctuary for bears that otherwise would be killed by poachers. Once I got to the waterfalls I discovered that there were multiple levels and at each level the water was a bright blue. It was really beautiful there and the waterfalls seemed to get better and better the further I went. Finally I arrived at the top biggest waterfall and it was definitely the best yet. At the large waterfall there was a bright blue pool and above that there was a bridge to walk across for a better view of the waterfall where I was able to see the different layers and textures of rock where the water was cascading off. After making it up to the main waterfall, I headed down to a lower one where I was able to swim for a while, including going up to the edge of a shorter waterfall and at one of the levels I was able to sit in a small cave under the waterfall. I really enjoyed leaving the city and seeing some of the nature outside of Luang Prabang.

After Luang Prabang, the next town I visited was Vang Vieng. To get there I originally tried to book a ticket through my hostel to take the train, however I was told the train was already booked so I was either going to have to extend my stay another day or take the bus. I decided instead of waiting another day and taking the much quicker train transportation, I would instead take the bus. That ended up being a bad decision. On the day I was supposed to go to Vang Vieng I had booked a 2:00 pm bus with a pickup at my hostel scheduled for 1:00 pm. At 1:25, when no one had come I asked someone at my hostel when my pick up was coming. After one of the hostel workers sent a message and got a response, I was told that no one was coming and the bus was fully booked. That did not make sense because I had booked a ticket a day and a half before. This was the first of many things to go wrong. There happened to be one other girl from my hostel who had also booked a 2:00 pm bus ticket through the hostel and also did not have a seat. It took a lot of back and forth arguing with the hostel workers but we were finally able to get our money back and then we both had to try and rush to figure out a different option. In the end I booked through another place and she went to the bus station to rebook. When booking a later bus ticket through a different company I had originally been told that I was on a 5:00 pm bus, but it turned out to be a 6:20 pm bus. This was frustrating after the earlier problems and because it was supposed to be a six hour bus ride which wouldn’t get me into Vang Vieng until after midnight. Once I finally got to the bus station a bus came and as they were loading people on, myself and two others also headed to Vang Vieng were confused as to whether there was just the one bus to the capital with a stop for us or if there was a separate bus. The reason we were confused was because there were more people than seats. The so-called “bus” was actually a fifteen passenger van. I was able to luckily get a seat and as I sat there more and more people got on. A group of us travelers were concerned and confused as to how many people were going to get on. By the time we left the bus station, the fifteen passenger van had eighteen adults and six children ranging from a crying baby to a kid around 8 years old. To say the bus was full would be an understatement.

As soon as the bus left the town the roads got bad immediately. We quickly went from having smooth roads with some potholes to no road at all and only a path with holes and massive craters. It was a very bumpy ride and you couldn’t do anything because it was too bumpy to be on your phone and it was dark so I wasn’t able to look out the window. To say the ride was an adventure would be a massive understatement. About an hour into the ride the driver turned the music on really loud in what can only be assumed was a way to help keep himself awake, very reassuring. After another hour he pulled over to add yet another person. Unfortunately, when he did this the only open space was next to me and it wasn’t even a space big enough for another adult. Despite that I still had to get out so the new person, who brought it to nineteen adults and six children in a fifteen person van, could get in. When I then tried to sit back down I couldn’t even sit down. I ended up being super squished between the door and the row of seats behind me. When the driver tried to close the door so we could leave it took three tries because my leg was in the way. The driver eventually got the door closed and the next hour was the longest hour of my life being squished in between a seat and a door without even having a real seat to sit on all while being bounced around on the terrible “road”. After an hour like that we arrived at the halfway point at which time I was able to get out and stretch and the driver had a local person who had been sitting in the row in front of me switch spots with me. Once the break ended I was fortunately able to fully sit in a seat again, however I still didn’t have any space. The rest of the ride was the same bumpy experience but eventually I made it to Vang Vieng. I have never been so glad to get off a bus as I was then. If ever in Laos do NOT under any circumstances take the bus between Luang Prabang and Vang Vieng. Weeks later when talking to other travelers who also made the mistake of taking the bus, I found out that the views from the drive were the only good thing about it; unfortunately I did not get to see the views since I ended up on a night bus; but I was at least able to make it to Vang Vieng alive.

Once in Vang Vieng I made my way across a super deep muddy road and eventually arrived at my hostel where I was very glad to be able to lay down and end the long day I had just had. The next day I took it slow and mostly used it as a rest day. I wandered around the town and found along the river that there was an amazing view and I sat and enjoyed the view for a while. On my second day in Vang Vieng I hired a tuk tuk truck driver to take me out to one of the many blue lagoons that are in the area. I was able to spend a while wandering around the blue lagoon area and just enjoying the water. It was a beautiful lagoon. After spending a few hours at the lagoon I headed back into town. The views from the back of the tuk tuk were breathtaking with soaring mountains to the flat lands below. The next day I again spent most of the day wandering around the town, this time trying to stick to the outer areas of town where there were views of the mountains. It was a nice and relaxed day.

When I first arrived in Vang Vieng I was planning on staying for only three full days, however when making plans for my next destination I decided that I was going to treat myself to a private room since it had been a while since I had had my own space. When deciding on where to get a private room, choosing between Vang Vieng or Vientiane, I saw that I could get a much nicer and larger space cheaper in Vang Vieng so I decided to stay there for another two nights. I was able to find a hotel with a balcony and a mountain view for only $14.50/night. It was the best decision to get a private room for two nights. The hotel was very nice and I had a huge room with a big comfortable king bed, a table to work from, and a wall of windows to enjoy the spectacular mountain views. From the time I checked in to when I had to leave, I only left the room to get food and book transportation to my next city. While it may sound weird to stay in a hotel room for a day and a half, I really enjoyed my quiet, alone time with space to myself. After having traveled for just under four months at that point it was nice to take a dedicated rest time and had the room been available I would have extended my stay another night because the room and view were amazing.

After having to sadly check out of my awesome hotel, I took a bus to Vientiane, the capital of Laos. Once I arrived it was already evening so I walked to my hostel and then got dinner before calling it a night. The next day I had plans to go out and explore the city, however after walking around for a while I found out that there really was not much to see and do. Before I arrived I had been in contact with others who had already traveled to this city and I was told in advance that there wasn’t much to do and I quickly found out that they were right. The main sight that I enjoyed and saw in Vientiane was the Patuxay Monument, which is a huge ornate arch in the center of the main road in Vientiane. In the end, I had too many nights booked at a hostel in Vientiane and while there wasn’t much to see or do, I made the most of my time. While there I was able to meet other travelers in my hostel and spend time talking with them and I was able to use some of the time to plan and book my transportation back to Thailand.

Overall, I really enjoyed my time in Laos and while I was able to see the main cities that people go to, there are still more places I would have loved to visit. Of the three cities I went to, Luang Prabang was definitely my favorite, with a charming old French quarter and a busy night market. There was a lot to see and do both in the town and outside of it.

“When you travel, remember that a foreign country is not designed to make you comfortable. It is designed to make its own people comfortable.”

- Clifton Fadiman