Laos is quite possibly one of the most beautiful and surreal places I've been. However, anyone I mention it to never seems to have heard of it. They all ask the same question Jack Black asked so beautifully in Tropic Thunder, 'Where the fuck is Laos?'. Well, Laos is a country in South East Asia sandwiched between the four countries of China, Vietnam, Thailand and Myanmar. It's a country that is often forgotten about, particularly in the history books. Laos has had somewhat of a complicated history that continues on today. During the Vietnam War, Laos was bombed every 8 minutes by the US army. Many of those bombs, or 'bombies', never exploded and continue to pose a threat today. Laotians continue to work hard to rid their country of this problem. However, it's a slow and costly process (I would highly recommend little land of mines, a documentary about the effects the Vietnam war had on Laos). I noticed something from watching others travel and reading up on other travel blogs before I went. Most people seem to skip this country on their journeys through South East Asia. Now, I should mention that this phenomenon could be because of time pressure. As we chose to go to Laos it meant a we had to cut our trip short in certain places. At the end of the day it depends what you want to see.
Our adventure in Laos started in Vientiane. However, we had a limited amount of time in Laos and could not afford to spend time in the capital city. I know this sounds crazy but trust the process. Instead we got straight on a rather dodgy looking minibus, (booked through 12goAisa), beginning what was going to be an eventful enough five hour journey towards Vang Vieng (the main reason we came to Laos). The journey to Vang Vieng started off alright, as Vientiane disappeared behind us we began to go deeper and deeper into the mountainous country side of Laos. Whilst up until this point in our trip to South East Asia we had already seen many cool and wonderful places, this journey seemed special. It seemed special because it felt like we were entering a place that had not been changed by the tourist trade like other places in South East Asia had. Laos offered a completely different experience. We were welcomed by shop keepers that were positively indifferent to whether or not we bought something. It was a nice change of pace from the traders that surrounded us in other big cities with various trinkets that promised to give us 'good price'. In Laos, we were given roads that made the back roads of Ireland seem like a super highway and a minibus that was so past it's prime the back of it fell off half way through our trip to Vang Vieng, leaving us stuck on the side of the road! Nevertheless, events like this is what made us fall in love with Laos. Rather ironically, for one American tourist wearing an 'I Love Laos' t-shirt no less, this was the end of the world. I quote she 'was not going to be stuck in Laos after dark'. To the rest of us, this seemed a bit inevitable if you wanted to visit the county. After being stuck on the road for about an hour, (which I spent this time admiring the beautiful countryside, while listening to the wails of a melodramatic American who seemed to bitten off more than she could chew), we were finally saved by another minibus, even mini-er than the one before it. We all squished into it and to the Americans woman's delight we arrived in Vang Vieng before dark.
Vang Vieng
The adventure and party capital of Laos complete with an Irish pub, (feeding into the narrative that the Irish really are everywhere), we could not of asked for more. Vang Vieng itself has had somewhat of a complicated relationship with tourists. In the 90's, Vang Vieng's main attraction was tubing. This activity involved riding a rubber ring down the Nam Song river and stopping off at bars along the way. Unsurprisingly, this practice proved to be dangerous and the government decided enough was enough. Since then restrictions have been put in place. When we were there only two bars were open. However, in our experience two bars was more than enough especially when you have the bartenders pouring tequila straight down your throat.
Since tubing in the area has taken a downturn, Vang Vieng has rebranded itself as a adventure destination. Tourists are given the opportunity to rent anything from mopeds to ATV's to get you to your destination. We spent our days climbing the limestone towers that surround the town, swimming in the not so blue lagoon (due to the time of year), feeding elephants and flying in the cheapest hot air balloon in the world (to my mother's horror). Once it got dark, we drank cheap beer ($1) and partied into the night at Sakura Bar. This only scratches the surface on what can be done in Vang Vieng.
We stayed five nights in Magic Monkey hostel. We chose Magic Monkey because we are a couple and were looking for a private room and the view from the hostel was amazing complete with a pool and modest bar. However, I would say if you're traveling as a group of friends, or solo, and looking to make friends or party, I would recommend Nana backpackers hostel instead. When our time was up in this beautiful location we were very sad to go. This place was easily the highlight of the trip.
Luang Prabang
The bus from Vang Vieng to Luang Prabang was less eventful and a little more spacious. The town of Luang Prabang and the area surrounding it is a world heritage site that offers beautiful scenery accompanied by restaurants and bars serving food from all around the world. Although, we were disappointed at the absence of an Irish pub. We vowed to come back and open our own someday. The main attraction in Luang Prabang by far however, has to be the Kuang Si falls. It's located about 45 minutes outside of Luang Prabang by motorbike. You can even go swimming in them so don't forget to pack a swimsuit! They did not disappoint. The only down side was that because of the time of year the falls did not have their characteristic blue colour. If you were to Google them now, you'd get a different image to the one I have here. So pick the time of year you choose to visit better than we did. Another unmissable attraction in Luang Prabang is the UXO museum. They gave us an informative experience on what went on in Laos during the Vietnam War. The museum has a modest set up but leaves a powerful impression on a topic not talked about enough today.
Unfortunately, that's all we had time for in Laos. I am told the south of the country is also a great place to visit and it is unfortunate we could not explore it. Even more unfortunate for us was that we were not aware that there is an airport in Luang Prabang we could fly out of and instead got a sleeper bus all the way back to Vientiane to fly to our next destination. Please don't make the mistake we did, it was possibly one of the more challenging bus rides on the trip through mountain roads in the middle of the night. The sleeper bus had double beds meaning if you were traveling alone (which thank god I wasn't) you would be sharing a bed with a stranger for around 8 hours.
If you want to know more about Laos/South East Aisa I will be writing more posts with more details on activities in each area so don't forget to subscribe!
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