Thailand and Laos Part 3: Let’s Look at Luang Prabang, Laos
We are going to write in different colors. Nick in Orange, Luke in Blue.
When planning this trip, I wanted to do something that wasn’t just Thailand. I wanted to visit another country as well. It was a toss up between Laos and Cambodia, and I’m really glad we picked Laos. The first stop was Luang Prabang.
We flew into Luang Prabang, Laos from Chaing Mai. It was a short 1.5 hour flight. It was inexpensive for an American, but surprisingly expensive for the region and the distance flown. There are cheaper ways to get to Laos, either by bus or by slow boat (I’ve heard slow boat is real cool), but due to the time restrictions we were on, we decided to fly.
I recommend you stay awake for the flight in, which is always a struggle for me.
The view out my window was pretty neat.
Laos has a visa policy for Americans, you can either apply for it before you get there, or apply for a visa on arrival. The Luang Prabang airport was really small, so visa on arrival probably wouldn’t be an issue, but we got our visas beforehand which took about 8 hours from submission to approval. I remember some entitled lady was making a HUGE deal about needing a visa upon arrival because she was slow to get through and it was hilarious. Before leaving the airport, I got a SIM card for less than $10 USD.
In Luang Prabang, we stayed at the Mad Monkey hostel. It’s a relatively large SE Asian chain hostel known for having maybe one or two parties. The one we were at was considered a party hostel, but I would disagree with that. The Mad Monkey in Luang prabang had more of a chill compared to a party vibe. It was relatively new, with a real cool pool, nice beds, good food, and a bar. This is a hostel that I recommend staying at for anyone in Luang Prabang.
Our first night there we checked in, grabbed some beers and hopped into the pool to rinse off plane stank. We then went on a walk up the road to find some ATMs to grab some Kip. Of the four ATMs that were sitting right there, none of them worked….luckily there was an exchange booth just up the road and Luke was able to exchange Thai Baht for Kip there. We went back to the hostel, got some all you can eat pasta, and chilled there for the night, trying to recover from New Years the night before.
The next morning was our first full day to explore Luang Prabang. We met up with Tori (the Canadian girl from Chaing Mai) in the morning, met a guy named Ryan from the Philippines, and decided that we’d rent some motorbikes and explore the town. It was a good plan, but we didn’t leave early enough.
We met Ryan because he had the same camera as me, a Fujifilm XT-20. I introduced myself and we quickly became friends. Side note: Ryan is currently building an Air Bnb in the Philippines!
All of the bike shops were rented out. Change of plan. Walk around the city, grab lunch along the Mekong River, and explore some of the temples that the town had to offer.
As far as temples go, Luang Prabang seemed to have one every other block. You could tell that in Laos the money and tourism isn’t as abundant as in Thailand. The temples in Laos are more run down and show their age. I liked it, it added some more authenticity, and there was essentially nobody there besides us, some more tourists, and the monks themselves.
We continued wandering throughout the day, with the plan to see the sunset from Phousi Hill in the center of town. The sunset over the Mekong, though crowded, was fantastic.
I tried to avoid the crowds by going at sunrise, but it was probably only marginally better. The pre-sunrise vibes were cool though. Also, I felt my sunset time was better spent exploring the obscure corners of the city. I found a really neat outdoor bar where I sat and had a drink and then encountered some kids playing soccer in some courtyard.
Post sunset, Tori, Luke and I decided on a place to meet and hit the market. The main priority in the market, for me, was food. We found some fried rice right away, and that was just the start. We spent most of the night wandering around, trying new food and looking for some cool souvenirs. When looking at the markets we went to on the trip, this market seemed like the most “authentic”. The products people were selling seemed more hand made then other markets we went to. Later that night we got a tuk-tuk back to the hostel, had some Beer Lao. Lao being a full blown communist country has government owned everything, including beer, which is called Beer Lao.
After the market, we played music trivia at the hostel. We came in 2nd. It was a close battle. My dance moves during Sean Paul’s “Temperature” were a hit. These two Australian dudes really killed their lip sync of Celine Dion’s “My Heart Will Go On”, even posing like Jack and Rose from the Titanic. They ended up winning.
The next morning we slept in a bit, as it was our first “slower” day in a while. We signed up for a boat tour with the hostel to go up the Mekong to the Pak Ou Caves and the “whiskey village”. The Pak Ou Caves are local religious caves with thousands of Buddah statues that people bring there during religious holidays, there are seemingly thousands of statues throughout the caves.
The two Aussie dues from the night before were also on the boat. Somehow, we ended up playing “Would you rather?”. My favorite they asked was “Would you rather live in your hometown for the rest of your life or live in a different town every week?” Nick and I both agreed that living in a different town every week was the better option. I think Nick took the prompt a little too literally…
The scenery, in my opinion, was the best part. Here are some photos:
We spent about an hour or so at the caves, before a quick ride to the “whiskey village”. The village is called that because an old man lives right up the path from the dock, selling home-made whiskey to dumb tourists from his hommade still. Selling is a strong word for his business plan, I would call it giving a lot of free samples to tourists until they either sneak away or they’re drunk enough to buy a bottle. Outside of the guy selling the whiskey, the village was small, and we explored it in about 30 minutes. It was nice to see a smaller type town on the trip.
I had a handful of samples from the nice whiskey man and I had the most zen-like, peaceful nap on the boat ride back.
We got on the boat and headed back to the “city”. To my pleasure, we got to see another Laos sunset while on the water. That night we had dinner there, and hung out with the people we just met on the boat tour all night. After plenty of drinks, we decided to go bowling with a bunch of people in the hostel.
Luang Prabang is a UNESCO historical city, because of this, the government requires everything to be shut down by 11 pm. The only thing that stays open is a bowling alley, so it’s the place for the party to continue if you want to be up later than 11 pm. After 2 good games of hitting pins, I got too drunk and shit the bed on the third.
It was a weird place. The bowling TV screens were flat screen tv’s from the early 2000s hanging cock-eyed from the ceiling. You could buy food, beer, cigarettes, or nitrous, if that’s what suited your fancy. If bowling wasn’t your thing, you could pay to shoot a bow and arrow on a range. It was a place.
The next day, we booked a trip to see Kuang Si Falls through the hostel. People have told me that it is one of the most beautiful spots in Laos, and I can see why they say that. The system of multiple waterfalls was breathtaking and the water was this distinct aqua-blue color that I’ve never seen anywhere else.
At the touristy conclusion of the hike, I saw a little trail and decided to go, it led up to the creek that leads to the falls. It was really peaceful as there wasn’t anyone else up there. The trial/road continued to a local village and caves, but due to time restrictions I couldn’t go.
While Nick hiked, Tori and I swam. The water was absolutely chilling. Some of the lakes in the mountains of Montana are warmer. Also, *warning*, the rocks were slippery. I knocked my ankle on one at some point and found a nice bruise later on.
We returned to the hostel and prepared for our bus ride to Vang Vieng…. and holy shit was that a bus ride… Gravel roads, mountains on mountains, car sickness, smelly hippies… holy…fucking…shit…. that was rough.
It was an unpleasant ride with pleasant views. I vividly remember a guy wearing a mask in stores and in the bathroom and I asked him why he was wearing the mask and he said, “you never know…”
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