Laos Travel Blogs | Travelogues | Travel Journals

What does it take to get from northern Thailand to Laos? Answer: three Chiangs. Unfortunately Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai and Chiang Khong are all uneventful and same-same. Much more interesting are the three other backpackers with me on the bus: Henrietta from Englan and mates Zohar and Niv from Israel (Niv? An omen?? See the Yangshuo blog). On hearing I'm from Amsterdam Niv veers up and claims to be the biggest Ajax fan in Israel, if not the biggest outside of Holland. An omen indeed! This ...

We entered the Laos side of the border and it seemed every bit as shady as the Vietnamese side. Some people had to get visas and the rest of us went to get stamped in. Once again, the border official wanted something. Thankfully, our guide spoke Lao fluently so she sorted out whatever issue there may have been. We exchanged for some Lao kips (currency) before heading up a hill to meet our new driver. Our lunch time fears were soon justified.As I was walking up the hill, I began to smell...

This morning when we were checking out of the Grand Luang Prabang, the clerk informed me that we owed $4 for the glass we broke on our first day. This is a pretty high-end place, and I have never known a nice hotel to bill for such a petty thing. At first I thought he was making a joke. As I was processing this, he got a call from the house keeper. He hung up and asked, “Where is the yellow pillow that was in your room?”  Huh? What? Are you accusing me of STEALING A DECORATIVE PILLOW...

I woke early and left Charlotte in Muang Ngoi as she was planning on heading east and I was thinking of going the opposite way. I decided to head back to Luang Prabang to sort my Laundry and to catch a bus elsewhere. The guys from Muang Ngoi were also on the boat and bus back to Luang Prabang so I spent the evening having dinner with them. After we'd eaten we ended up doing a tour of the bars and even into a Laos club. I can remember vaguely dancing away before some slow cheesy love song cam...

The van dropped us off at the bus terminal and we went to check the timetable. The first one leaves at 13:30 and the second at 16:30. "What time is it?", Wayne asked. I said 13:30. Let's go! Then a bus conductor waved at us and told us to get on the bus! Neither of us wanted to wait until 16:30 for the next trip, really! So even if our tummies have to suffer without anything to digest for another 4 hours, we got to do it! :)   It was packed but we have to squeeze ourselves in and ju...

After a disappointing experience trekking in Chaing Mai I had high hopes that the rumors of a more authentic experience in northern Laos were true.  I met five good people at the border town of Hyuay Sai.  During the three and a half hour long windy minivan journey we determined that we all had similar trekking plans.  We chose Nam Tha Ecotourism Project of the two possible trekking outfits in town and were not disappointed.  Unlike the gimmicky tours offere...

People i met here, who contributed to and improved my trip: Juliana (Russia), Jim (England), Chris (Holland) We caught a mini bus from the Laos border to a small village, from where we caught a motorised canoe to the island of Don Det. It is situated in Si Phan Don, which translates to 4000 islands, due to the many islands and sand banks littering the Mekong in this region. We spent the first day trying to relax in the sun by the small beach, but small flies made this pretty hard t...

What can I tell you about Vang Vieng? This little town on half way between Vientiane and Luang Prabang turned the last years into a backpacker place. It really looks like there isn’t anything else here to get a job then in the “backpacking industry”. The main street is full of restaurants, bars, guesthouses, internet cafes or tour agencies. The reason why most of the young travellers come here are the huge outdoor activities offered in the area around Vang Vieng. And the scenery is real...

Have sadly come to the end of the best part of the trip so far- Luang Prabang. The days have seemed to just disappear in a haze of cheap (but oh so good) massages, fresh fruit like I've never seen, climbing to the tops of waterfalls and swimming my way down, strong hot lao coffee, and lots of time for writing while watching the Mekong go by. Yesterday I went to the Tat Kouang Si waterfalls about 32kms out of town. I wasn't all that excited to be honest because saw heaps of them in Thailand ...

Despite our tummy troubles in Pai, we held up pretty well with our 8-9hr trip to Chiang Kong. We got up pretty early the following morning to get a boat over to Loas, get our visas and sort out cruising tickets down the Mekong for 2 days. Since Neil had done the trip before (and it had not been such a positive experience), plus looking at some tales of overcrowding on the web, we were not feeling great about the trip. However, we were pleasantly surprised....

March 15-20, 2007 Another holiday in Laos, my neighborhood.Got new experience, police caught my friend because he played djimbe in public!! Polices don't speak english, they can speak some but they don't so i became an interpreter. I can't speak Laos but understand most of them. (wondered if he was there alone, how long does it take until they understand each other?) The thing was .. someone doesn't like its sound, djimbe, he doesn't think that was a sound of music but was something noisy. ...

after the bus trip i've teamed up with the kiwi girl and we headed for a guesthouse she had in mind which was a short walk from the bus station on the main road. we shared a twin room and planned our onward trips. i'd loved to do some hiking up there but there wasn't anything interesting available and i had no interest in staying in the town for long as it isn't that spectacular - some long streets with typical tourist stuff aligned but not really a tourist scene except for the few souls that...

Priceless Lao T-Shirt Philiosphy: MIXING WITHOUT RESTRAINT BEING DARRING WHEN NO-ONE CAN SEE SHE PLAYS WITH ALL HER POSSIBLES. I'm coming home now; I've found the meaning of life. Bi-Cultural?   Walking past one of the many tacky TV bars in Vang Vien, Nam spotted a Good Friend waiting tables. The Friend greeted us both with a wide smile and a hearty back pat for Nam. Despite the fact the friend was as small and lean as a 10 year old, he had an impressive semi-full moustache. ...

Well we went through Thai immigration this morning and paid our huge exit tax of five Baht (about 13 cents) and then hopped aboard the "ferry" which is really just a long, wooden canoe like boat with a noisy, smelly outboard engine for the five minute crossing to Huay Xai in Laos. We went through Laotian immigration with no problems - it ends up you can now get a 30 day visa on the spot making our efforts in Bangkok a waste of time and money. We figured we needed to change some money and ha...

You would never believe that Laos is located between two visited countries such as Thailand and Vietnam, unless you go there and see it. Unlike those two countries, beautiful as well but much more tourist, Laos seems to belong to another planet. You´ll notice it by looking at the people. Children and adults will wave and smile to you not because they want to get something from you, but just because they are authentic. Laos is a jewel not found yet. Hopefully it will last forever...