Luang Prabang – Meandering Maxwells

Our first impressions of Laos from the two small towns on the Mekong had been very positive. And when we arrived into Luang Prabang, a UNESCO world heritage town famous for its temples, this continued. We arrived around 6pm and once checked in we headed straight back out to the night market. Unfortunately we arrived on a day when there were no food stalls! So we perused the craft stalls before finding food elsewhere.

The next day we set off on a walk round town heading to the Ethno museum, which had some interesting displays on the ethnic tribes of Laos and a chance to have a go at making a Taleo, which we really struggled with – it was hilarious trying to follow what seemed like simple instructions, but we kind of got there in the end!

We climbed a large hill which had an amazing view of the city, lots of Buddhas on the way up and also a Buddha footprint housed in a tiny shrine. In the same manner as the one in Sri Lanka we saw a few years ago, this was huge! I don’t know if Buddha was a giant but he sure had big feet!

Later on we visited Xiang Thong Wat which housed a huge funeral carriage as well as a beautiful reclining Buddha and a stunning glided depiction of village life.

The following day we rose early to witness the alms giving to the monks, this is a very famous activity to do in Luang Prabang and there is an option to join in if you wish, which a lot of Chinese tourists did do. Unfortunately this also meant that they were in the monks faces taking photos instead of quietly observing from a distance. It was a beautiful sight to witness all the saffron robed monks quietly walking the streets and I’m glad we made the effort to get up early to do so.

We then headed to the Royal Palace and we were then about 10 minutes after opening at 8am and just managed to get ahead of a very large tour group! The palace was very understated and almost just like a big house rather than the palace you might expect! There was a large collection of royal cars which was quite fun as they all dated from the 70s as well as a beautiful gold Buddha.

That afternoon we went and played some crazy golf which was in a British guy’s back garden! It was very random but he had built a course in his backyard. The course was pretty rickety with some of the holes almost unplayable due to the tree roots but it was good fun.

The following day we caught the bus to Phonsavan, home to the Plain of Jars. We’d booked the bus tickets through our hostel and the owner had sent us off with a warning about the bus and the condition of the roads and with a warning not to leave her a bad review because of the journey! With the phrase ‘Don’t say I didn’t warn you!’ ringing in our ears we were prepared mentally for a terrible journey. The journey itself? Well, it sort of set the scene for the rest of our travel days in Laos.

The bus was a minivan, which is quite standard, but in the aisles were beer crates, with half a cushion on – so people were clearly expected to sit on these for 7 hours and they were determined to cram in as many people as possible.

As soon as we left Luang Prabang the road condition deteriorated – the road became unsealed, meaning it was incredibly bumpy and very, very dusty! For most of the journey the plants along the roadside were grey as they were covered in the dust from the road. Then there were the potholes. You have never seen such large pot holes and so many of them! At times in the journey it felt like the road was still under construction and we had to stop once whilst they lay the road in front of us. Then there was the toilet situation. We stopped a few times for a bathroom break, only the bathroom was the side of the road! All the men lined up along the roadside and the few women on the bus scurried into the bushes to find some sort of privacy. Every journey took about twice as long as he should, partly due to the these conditions but also because every Laos driver seems incapable of driving for more than 30 minutes without stopping! They seem to act as DPD drivers, regularly stopping to pick up and drop off letters and parcels! Then there are the sellers who cram on at every opportunity to sell spatchcock chicken on a stick!

We’d originally planned to get a night bus to Vietiniane from Phonsavan but after about 30 minutes of pot holes I decided that perhaps doing this in the dark wasn’t the wisest decision!

We eventually arrived into Phonsavan a bit bruised and shaken but in one piece and we arranged with our host to do a tour to the Plain of Jars with his wife (the only female guide of the area) the next day.

The Plain of Jars are several sites made up of large stone jars, more or less completely intact. Laos is the world’s most heavily bombed country per capita and therefore the site was only cleared of Unexploded Ordnance (UXO) in very recent times. It was declared a UNESCO site in 2019. No one is 100% certain of the purpose of the jars, but the main idea seems to be that they were used for burial purposes. There are also suggestions and myths that maybe they were used for wine storage- I like this idea and quite fancy a giant stone jar full of wine.

The sites themselves are a wonder, the first one is in the middle of nowhere and contains over 100 jars. Site 1 is the largest and most popular site, but even when we were there it wasn’t overly busy. We also visited sites 2 and 3 which both had beautiful settings. Site 2 was in a woods and to access site 3 you have to walk through rice paddies. It was a very peaceful and pleasant day. I’d wanted to visit the Plain of Jars ever since I read about them a few years ago and I am glad we made the effort despite the journey, it was a Laos highlight for sure.

We also visited the Mines Advisory Group (MAG) office to learn about how the UXO is being cleared. Every day new bombs are found and a visit here certainly made me more wary about where I put my foot when going for those bus bathroom breaks!

The next day we decided to try and make our way back to the Mekong, to Thakek. We had to catch a bus to Paksan and then hope for a connection from there. We caught the 6.30am bus and our host was saying that there was a chance we would miss the connecting bus. The first bus journey was long and arduous again but it wasn’t full so we were able to spread out a little. We waited about 15 minutes for the next bus so I think we’d been spun a line there! As we weren’t sure if we were going to make it that night we hadn’t book any accommodation. I asked a tuk tuk to take us to a hostel I’d read about it but upon arrival there was no room at the inn. Luckily he had a friend with a room and he called him – he was our hero as he even came to pick us up on his motorbike! I went first and when I arrived there was loud music blaring and I immediately thought I’d made a terrible mistake and booked us into a party hostel! I have to say though the owners were great and every night Nico (the guy with the bike) hosts a briefing for people who want to do to the Thakek loop. The loop sounds great with amazing scenery and caves and waterfalls, but honestly? Having done two long bus journeys there was no way we were getting back on those bumpy pot hole ridden roads!

So the next day we caught another bus and continued our town hop down the Mekong to Savannakhet. Again we didn’t book any accommodation but identified a couple of places online and headed there. It’s fun but frustrating when your first choice is full!

We didn’t do a lot in Savannakhet, we meandered the Mekong and watched the sunset and that was about it. The long, hard journeys were starting to take their toll with me and for the first time since we’ve been away, I was feeling burnt out. We were both lacking energy and the terrible roads meant that we weren’t keen to get back on them to go and explore further. Exploring new places is what energises and motivates us so we were stuck in a bit of a rut.

After a couple of nights rest here we headed to Pakse by bus. We got ditched at the side of the road outside of town and I couldn’t help but think that we’d be done over and scammed. I was starting to dislike Laos. Pakse was another place that had loads of interesting things to do outside of town but we just didn’t have the energy to do them.

Our last stop in Laos was 4000 islands, a mass of islands and sandbanks right in the middle of the Mekong. It was a relatively short bus ride followed by a short ride across the river to get to our accommodation. We chose to stay on the smaller island of Don Khon rather than the large party island of Don Det and Joey managed to find a lovely place with a swimming pool! We jumped straight into the pool after arriving and instantly felt revived! The following day we hired some bikes and cycled round the island and it was a beautiful day, possibly the best day we had in Laos! There was beautiful scenery and a great waterfall to visit. The evenings were spent watching the sunset and the local kids swimming in the Mekong. It was a very peaceful place. The next day we spent just chilling by the pool and we felt so much better after.

Overall we didn’t come away feeling like we loved Laos, and a lot of that was down to the travel between places. As I’ve said before though, it’s ok to not love everywhere that we visit. I hope as time goes on Laos is able to invest in its infrastructure and improve the roads. A lot of our journeys were so uncomfortable they were really draining and this took it out of us and hindered our enjoyment. Maybe if the infrastructure improves we’ll return and have a better experience.

The slow boat is an absolute rite of passage for any backpacker wishing to travel between the north of Thailand and Laos, and it’s something I’ve wanted to do since I first heard about it 9 years ago. There are a couple of starting points for your journey from Northern Thailand to Laos, Chiang Rai is extremely popular as it’s only a couple of hours from the Laos border, but we were starting from Chiang Mai.

Spoiler alert: the boat doesn’t actually start in Chiang Mai, but as I say this is a popular starting point for many backpackers.

We caught the Green Bus from Chiang Mai terminal 3 bus station, going to Chiang Khlong, the Thai border town. It left at 9.30am and we had booked it a few days ahead when we were in Chiang Rai from their bus station. It cost 311 baht each which is roughly £7.50. You can book this bus online for a higher price but we’re more ‘go in person to sort it’ people. Also, if you book online you have to wait until the day to be allocated seats.

The bus was full and the journey took roughly 7 hours and made a couple of short stops. Most of the bus emptied out at a town about an hour from the border and there were mainly backpackers left. It made a stop at the junction for the Friendship bridge outside of the town so we jumped out here and into waiting tuk tuks which took us swiftly to the border point for a fixed fee of 50 baht (£1.15) each. We quickly got our exit stamp, the border was very quiet as it was late in the day. We noticed a sign saying that we would have to pay 10 baht overtime fee as it was after 4pm, but in the end they didn’t charge us.

You walk through the Thai border and to a counter where a woman is selling bus tickets to the Laos border, over the other side of the Mekong river. This cost us 35 baht (80p) each, which included an ‘after hours’ fee. We had to wait for the bus to fill up, but this only took around 10 minutes or so. The bus ticket seller offered to exchange our remaining baht for Laos Kip but as we were returning to Thailand at a later date we didn’t opt for this. You can also pay for a lot of things in Laos in baht (particularly in the border town) so unless you have a lot of leftover baht I wouldn’t bother.

Once you arrive on the Laos side you need to go to a window to collect a set of forms, make sure you have a pen handy to complete these! You will need a passport photo and then hand your forms in to the window along with your passport and then wait by the next window! We had to pay 40 baht (90p) to get our stamp. It’s important to note that when they return your passport to keep the departure slip safe as you will need that when leaving Laos. We left via land border to Cambodia and those who didn’t have this slip had to pay $5.

There’s another window towards the exit where you pay for your visa – ours cost $40 each. Once you’ve done this you just need to grab a tuk tuk to the town of Huay Xai, it’s a short ride and tuk tuks are fixed at 200 baht (£4.05) a person. I’d read a few blogs about this part and I was worried it all sounded a bit complicated but it was incredible straightforward and took very little time.

We stayed at Little Hostel in Huay Xai as I’d read great reviews about the helpfulness of the owner and we weren’t let down. There’s only two 4 bed dorms here so it is (as the name suggests) a small hostel, but the owner sold us our tickets for the slow boat (430,000 Kip each – approx £16.70) for the next day (which included a pick up from the hostel) and also sorted us out with SIM cards. If you buy your tickets direct from the pier it will cost 400,000 Kip (about £15.30, we were happy to pay an extra £1.40 each to save the hassle of going to the pier). We were also able to order breakfast and a takeaway lunch for the boat. We dined next door at Bar How and whilst the food was good, the service was pretty slow!

We were picked up from the hostel the next day at 8.30am and were told the boat would leave at 9.30am. The hostel owner told us our seat numbers for that day but her parting advice for the following day was there were no seat numbers for the following day and to be there early to fight for your seat!

We arrived to the boat in good time and found our seats. The seats are made from old mini van seats and aren’t fixed to the ground so there is a little bit of fighting for leg space. The seats had pieces of paper on them representing numbers so you can do a little bit of switching of you don’t like your seat! We did switch ours slightly so we weren’t next to the doorway leading to the back of the boat. We were happy with our seats on the first day though – we were in the front of the boat about half away from the noise of the engine and on the outside so we had unrestricted views and we were facing into the gangway so we had a bit of leg room.

A selection is of the seats on the boat on the first day – note the plastic seats!

We eventually set sail around 10am and sailed for about 6 hours on the first day. The scenery was beautiful and it was nice to watch the world go by with nothing else to do. The boat was quite large and a bus load of backpackers from Chiang Rai arrived late so were left with the plastic stools and seats at the front of the boat in the blazing sun all day. They didn’t seem to mind though as they made their way through several cases of Lao beer and got louder and louder as the day went on! As we set off to start with on both days the breeze was a little chilly and people were pulling on hoodies to keep this at bay.

We arrived into Pakbeng around 4pm and Joe at some point had managed to climb into the luggage room at the back and reposition our bags at the top so we were able to make a quick getaway! If you can do this I recommend it! We were one of the very few that hadn’t booked accommodation in advance and therefore didn’t have a jeep waiting for us on arrival!

We enquired at a couple of places on our way up the hill but they were full and I started to panic that maybe I’d made a mistake. It wasn’t long before we were approached by someone from Thipphavanh Guesthouse asking if we needed a room. We looked at the room and took it – it wasn’t the most luxurious room we’ve ever stayed in and there wasn’t hot water but for 200,000 Kip (£7.70) we really couldn’t complain. We had dinner that night at Saibaidee restaurant which was definitely the go to place. It overlooked the Mekong and I can thoroughly recommend the buffalo and pumpkin curry! We ordered sandwiches from a place near the pier to pick up the next day.

The next day we got up and went for breakfast before heading down to the pier for around 7.45am. There were lots of slow boats around and we could see the one that we caught the day before. What we didn’t realise was that we wouldn’t be on the same boat so ask around when you arrive. When we realised we made sure we were quick to board and handed our luggage in. We found a semi decent seat (difficult as the boat was much smaller and we had to have a forward facing seat with less leg room). Those who didn’t arrive early were stuck right at the back, almost in the engine room and even a short stop at the toilet in that area was deafening!

The boat set off around 9am and the scenery again was incredible with lots of stops for local people to get on and off. It seemed that more people were getting on than off and after a while there were people standing and sitting in the aisles. It was so crowded it was hard to manoeuvre yourself to the toilet and it definitely felt a little unsafe at times as it was that crowded. Day two was much longer than day one and hard going, the seat felt more uncomfortable and the legroom was small. We were glad to finally disembark around 5pm. There is an office at the port where you queue up and buy a ticket into Luang Prabang which had a set fee of 40,000 Kip (£1.55) each. These drop you at the Night Market so make sure you know where you are staying from here! A lot of people who got on the boat from Chiang Rai didn’t have a Laos SIM cards yet so found themselves a little lost. We had local SIM cards so we were able to give directions in the tuk tuk to the centre but this isn’t something to rely on!

Overall I’m really glad that we did take the slow boat, it was a unique way to travel, but I’m not sure I would do it again! If you do take this journey I would recommend taking a hoodie for first thing and maybe a pillow to help increase comfort levels. There are snacks and beer available on board to buy but these are more expensive than on land so take snacks and lunch. The toilets were pretty clean to start but as the day went on they got a little dirty and were running out of toilet paper. The first day was definitely the worst for the toilets and I put that down to the amount of beer consumed on board!

Tag: Luang Prabang

Not loving Laos!

Catching the slow boat from Chiang Mai to Luang Prabang