After our long journey on the slow boat, we grabbed a tuk tuk for the short journey to our hostel, where we promptly died of exhaustion upon arrival. We managed to drag ourselves out for dinner to a fancy looking Italian restaurant for pizza, before we called it a night at a reasonable 8 or 9pm! 3 days of travel had totally wiped us out.
I Need a Dollar, Dollar
After sleeping for an inhuman number of hours, we all just about made it for free breakfast the next morning. Our hostel had a nice terrace area where we played some pool, then Chloe, Rita, Ana and myself went to explore the town. We met Rita and Ana in Bangkok and haven’t been able to shake them since. Just kidding, we get on like a house on fire! We found a lunch restaurant overlooking the Mekong river, and tried our first taste of traditional Laos food. One of the first things we observed about Laos, to our horror, is how much more expensive everything is than we expected. We later discovered that its because being a landlocked country, they have to import everything, which makes it significantly more expensive than its neighbours Thailand and Vietnam. Everything is still dirt cheap (dinner and a beer for under a fiver), but gone were the days of meals for under a quid that we were getting so accustomed to in Thailand.
First Impressions
Later that afternoon we decided we would tackle a climb up Mount Phousi (pronounced pussy), where we were promised views of the whole city. Luang Prabang is a valley set in the mountains, and is 305m above sea level, and the view did not disappoint. We spent ages admiring the scenes in front of us, and trying to get the perfect picture. However once again the clouds had strategically placed themselves in front of the sun, crushing our sunset dreams again. The climb was steep but relatively short, so we vowed to return another day.
L-R: Eamon, Mario, Annie, Chloe, Keven
Festival of Light
We had heard rumours that we’d arrived in town in time for the ‘Boun Heua Fai’ – Festival of the Fire Boat. This is an annual event to celebrate the end of the rainy season. We grabbed ourselves a spot at the side of the road on the main street and waited….and waited… for the celebrations to begin. Standard Southeast Asia timings meant things started about an hour and a half later than scheduled, but what followed was definitely worth the wait.
Dancing to formally open the ceremony
One of the many dragon lantern boats
Lanterns illuminating the grounds of a temple
The city streets were swamped with locals parading their giant illuminated bamboo boats (handmade by the people) with song and dance, before releasing them into the Mekong river. There was drumming, fire breathing and some amazing dancing, and several of the temples we passed had thousands of lanterns lighting up the outside. We followed the procession for several kilometres, and Chloe even bought her own small floral boat, with candles and incense, to release into the river. We managed to find ourselves a spot next to the river to release the boat, and our friend Mario bravely volunteered to take off his shoes and get into the water to set it to sail! This ritual is supposed to bring good luck, and pay respect to the Spirits of the water. Moments after letting go of our boat, the candle went out. Not sure if that means we’ll still get the good luck, but we tried our best!
A child with a floral boat lantern
It was a spectacular evening and we felt very lucky to have arrived the day before out of pure chance. It was brilliant to take part in such a great tradition! We celebrated on the way back by stopping at a street food place and having the most amazing sandwiches.
Sunrise Yoga
On our third day Chloe and I found a yoga class on a terrace overlooking the Mekong river. The only catch was that it started at 7.30am. Somehow we made it, and we definitely reaped the rewards – the views were amazing and the class was reasonably gentle – just what we needed!
After our zen start, we took that day pretty slowly, spending most of the afternoon drinking coffee in an amazing French cafe. Laos, as a former French colony, has many an amazing French-influenced cafe. We’re bread lovers, so it was baguettes galore.
View of the street from our cafe
That evening we returned to Utopia – the place where our yoga class happened, and by night it becomes a cool riverside bar. Beer and pizza by candlelight next to the Mekong was the perfect way to wind down from a very strenuous day (ha), and we even saw the moon rise; we don’t have photos of this as we couldn’t capture it, but its the biggest I’ve ever seen the moon in my life!
Alms Giving Ceremony
The next day was another early start, 5am to be exact. Chloe and I got up in the dark and walked into the centre to witness a Buddhist tradition – the alms giving ceremony. This is where the monks from every temple in Luang Prabang make their way into the city centre for sunrise, to be greeted by the locals with offerings of rice that they have prepared. The locals line up at the side of the road, and each in turn put a spoonful of rice into the Monk’s basket as they pass; this offering is the Monk’s daily food ration.
The actual ritual was fascinating to watch, and we made sure we were respectfully dressed, and stayed well back – making sure not to make eye contact with the monks and not the interfere with the ceremony – all advice we had gathered from our research before attending. Our fellow tourists, however, really let the side down. Massive tour groups flocked the streets, making lots of noise (its a silent ceremony), taking flash photography, waving cameras in the Monks’ faces, and even taking selfies. It was truly horrific to watch, and was a stark contrast between a beautiful, generous act between the locals and the monks, and a horrible gabble of tourists displaying the ugly side of tourism. We were outraged by what we saw so promptly left, ashamed to be associated with these idiots. We had previously read that the town was considering stopping the alms ceremony because of the tourists, and now we understand why. Such a shame.
Tourism at its worst
The Alpa Returns!
As we were up early we managed to make it to another yoga class, and this time it was a real workout! Afterwards we treated ourselves to a well-deserved nap, and then we chilled at the hostel while we waited for our friend Alpa to arrive. We met Alpa in Bangkok and really hit it off, but went our separate ways as we headed North while she travelled south to the Islands. We made sure to keep in touch and before we knew it Alpa was on a plane to join us…the 5 foot troopers were reunited! We took her out to explore the town and went for lunch in a nice French cafe. Shortly afterwards, whilst walking along the street we all saw our first snake of the trip, just slithering along the pavement. Our reaction was maybe a little over the top, 3 screaming girls running across the street away from it!
We then returned to conquer Mount Phousi for the second time so Alpa could see the view, and my god i’m glad we did. This time the sun was actually out, and as you can see from the pictures below, the sunset was sublime. Here’s Alpa looking like an absolute pop diva.
We took ourselves out to the night market for crepes, then headed back to Utopia for more drinks, also with Ana and Rita, Mario and Eamon. It was there we made friends with 2 English girls, Connie and Lyra, who we ended up travelling with for a little while.
Waterfalls Galore
On our fifth (and supposedly final day) in Luang Prabang, we hired a mini van for a group of 12 of us (we have been accumulating people along the way, and by this point we were a massive group!). That was Chloe, me, Alpa, Keven, Mario, Eamon, Ana, Rita, Connie, Lyra, and two brand new friends (also from the UK), Mel and Sophie. A full-on SQUAD! After some well-practiced negotiation skills, we got it for a couple of quid each. We headed to the famous Kuang Si waterfalls, and they certainly didn’t disappoint. We hiked to the very top of the waterfall and stood at the top looking down, it was quite the view. Afterwards we swum in the pool near the top, and spent waaaay too much time trying to get the perfect photos on the swing. As Chloe put it, these two photos demonstrate Instagram vs Reality!
Instagram:
Reality:
After we got out of the pool, someone screamed that there was a leech on my leg. I calmly flicked it off, but it spent the next hour bleeding. Little fucker.
We then made the descent to the smaller falls, and all swum in the main pool. We all swum right up to the waterfall which meant swimming hard and fast against the current, it was pretty thrilling! After that our time was up so we headed back to the bus. Chloe and Keven hung back behind the group to take more photos, and it was then they encountered the second snake of the trip. They say it was a cobra – I’m not entirely convinced, but I’m pleased they got the hell out of its way and didn’t hang around to speculate!
Beer and Bowling
After a relaxing afternoon, we got ready and went for a night out. We were all really missing wine by this point in the trip (it had been 3 weeks…) so we took ourselves to a fancy looking tavern for a cheese and wine dinner. I must stress how desperate I was for a decent glass of red wine, because the boys went to a bar to watch the Arsenal v Palace game, and I turned it down for wine. BIG deal. Next we headed to our usual spot, Utopia for a quick drink, before grabbing a tuk tuk to the bowling alley! This was a little bit out of town, and for some reason its the only place with an alcohol license after 12pm, so everyone goes drunk bowling! The bowling alley was great fun, and some of the group even went to play archery next door! About 2am we headed back to the hostel, and had some drinks in our dorm before calling it a night!
Uh ohhhhh
The next day we were due to depart with the group on the 1pm bus to Vang Vieng. However, in the middle of the night I got struck by the plague. Its estimated that 30-50% of backpackers get ill in their first 2 weeks. I made it to 3. Although it wasn’t terrible, I was in no fit state for a bumpy bus ride, so Chloe and I booked to stay one more night, and I literally slept for about 20 hours!
The next morning we got the early bus to Vang Vieng to catch up with the others. Although I wasn’t feeling fully recovered, it didn’t matter. It was nearly halloween so I’d fit right in without needing any face paint!!
Next stop, Vang Vieng!
Annie x
Beds slept in: 7
Items lost/broken: 8
Number of bus/train/plane/boats: 5
Pint-Sized Adventurers 