Laos

The flight from Hanoi in Vietnam to Luang Prabang in Laos took just under an hour.  The approach was not unlike Queenstown, where we were surrounded by hills until we hit the runway and it feels quite rural, from the air.  The heat wave that is Asia hit us again, in force, as soon as we stepped out of the plane and made our way to our accommodation.

Luang Prabang's historic town is set on a Peninsula and is a Unesco heritage site.  Our mission for the arvo was to finish the Vietnam blog, so we didn't venture out until the early evening.  Not knowing our way around yet, and finding ourselves in the dark, we opted for a sports bar filled with westerners and ended up having a fabulous meal to round out the day.

Our first day exploring on foot, and after securing our train tickets (exit strategy), we headed for Phousi Hill (sacred hill) in the centre of the old town, enjoying the sites on the way.

It's a 100m climb (328 steps) to Wat Chomsi stupa and fantastic views of the town, including the confluence of the Mekong River and Nam Khan River. 

The entire hill is a sacred site, covered in multiple shrines, stupas and an operational monastery.

The afternoon consisted of escaping from the heat - lunch, pool time etc.  When it cooled down in the evening (to 30 degrees!), we headed to the Luang Prabang night market.

Open every day the tourist market stretches 1km down one road that is closed to traffic, turning into a walking and shopping street between 5 and 10pm.

The sights are amazing and so colourful.  It is said to be one of the best night markets in Asia because most of the items are good quality and handmade, so somewhat more unique than mass produced items.

The other area of interest, as always, is the food-court style street food area.  So many amazing things on offer (so many less you would be prepared to eat)!

Day 2 in Luang Prabang consisted of a pretty relaxed bike ride around the old town, ending up at one of its highlights, Wat Xieng Thong (Temple of the Golden City).  There are over 30 religious sites here and this one is the oldest, built between 1559 and 1560.  It is one of the most important Lao monasteries and remains a significant monument to the spirit of religion, royalty and traditional art.

Following our ride about town, we jumped in a mini van to visit Kuang Si waterfall, approx 30km out of town.  The van was late picking us up so the drive out was fast and furious (and extremely bumpy).  Once we arrived we had 2 hours to spend at our leisure.

It was beautiful - so many different tiers falling over limestone rocks, apparently contributing to the turquoise colour of the water.  Some almost look like the pink and white terrace formations.  A lovely bush walk followed by a crisp dip in the crystal clear water, shared only with a few small fish that were giving everyone a free leg/body massage.  

On the way out we took in the bear rescue centre.  Saved from much worse fates, these Aseanic bears are taken care of in a safe environment as part of ongoing conservation efforts.

The day was not yet over though and once back in town we jumped aboard Sa Sa Cruise to sit back and relax upon the Mekong River.  Normally sunset, although none today due to cloud, it didn't matter.  It was a perfect way to spend an evening - the mantra of the cruise being to relax, make wishes as we release fish into the river and dumped our 'burdons' at the bottom with a rock.

Special views of the river and some of the life that resides along the banks.

We ended our perfect day, and last evening in Luang Prabang, with a wonderful Italian dinner and bottle of wine (one of the very few we would tempt to drink in Asia).

Now on our way to Vang Vieng via fast train.  Built by the Chinese it goes through Laos and into China and at speeds of up to 160kph takes 3-4 hours off a road trip, taking just under an hour.

If we thought Luang Prabang was rural we had to think again.  Vang Vieng showcases simple in a nice way, enough but not too much, excursions if you want them and one major main road that if you veer too far off ends up by the river or in the rural side of town.

As always day 1 not doing too much other than getting the lay of the land and the priority of the day finding a bar that is showing the All Blacks vs Australia Bledisloe Cup match.  Managed that at Gary's Irish Pub (of all places!).  Great game and great result.

Day 2 was working out what to do here.  We have finally hit some of the 'rainy season' so much cooler (26 degrees).  We opted for a zip lining and kayaking half day tour which turned out to be awesome.  Vang Vieng is a bit of an adventure hub, so there is plenty to do if you are game enough!

The zip lining included 12 zip lines, 2 rope bridges and a controlled 30m 'abseil'.  Exhilarating and mostly done in the pouring rain so quite special ironically (and not at all cold).  The jungle tree tops and views were something else.

Then followed an 8km kayak downstream.  The weather helped and when not paddling we were still heading in the right direction.  A few small rapids and lots of serenity with the surrounding landscapes.

Back for a warm shower and out for dinner.  Went to Happy Mango and have to say the food and service was fantastic.  Got to relax whilst the heavens opened for a while.  Great day!

Next outing the following day was to head to one of the many 'lagoons' on offer.  We opted for #4 after a fellow traveller recommendation and took a tuk tuk 13km out of town.  As promised #4 was less crowded and for a while there were only four of us there.  As with most of Laos, so far, there were butterflies of every description everywhere!  It was a tranquil site with very fresh spring water.  A little cloudy after all the rain but nice nonetheless.

The ride in and out of town showed an even more rural life, roads that need a lot of love and beautiful rice paddies backed by towering limestone cliffs.  It pays to keep your eyes open when travelling anywhere as you can learn alot from what you see.

Back 'home' we wandered around the corner to Wat That, the largest temple in Central Laos, and an operational Buddhist monastery (as it happens 1 August is the beginning of 3 months of Buddhist Lent so lots of activity).  Short visit, as we managed to get a few photos before the heavens opened again, and made a beeline back to the hotel.

The next day the weather had different ideas to us, so our planned hike didn't happen.  Too wet (therefore somewhat dodgy) and too cloudy to see anything.  

We opted to use the day for a bit of admin, exercise (great workout at a local gym), and general meandering around town.  Easy place to wander and just soak up the local life.  We did manage to find and enjoy a massage though!

The ATMs here have been interesting in that only small amounts can be withdrawn (at least what we found) and lack of international bank options (which tend to be better).  After finding yet another ATM we couldn't use we couldn't resist taking a photo of 'Budget' with one!

Travel day saw us back on the train and headed to the capital, Vientiane.  The fast train is a godsend and we are very thankful given the state of the roads here.  Compared to Vietnam, so far, they have been terrible and full of pot holes.

We arrived in the rain and think we are destined to see the remainder of Laos this way.  After somewhat working out what to see and do, we headed out for a Mekong River front walk and to check out the night market (maybe smaller than usual because of the rain).

Our second day was a big walk day taking in the key sites we wanted to see. We passed the Presidential Palace for the second time and then the first site up was Haw Phra Kaew, a former temple and now a museum (built between 1556 and 1565).  It's been restored a number of times but does hold a few ancient relics.  The gardens and butterflies were lovely (see the end of the blog for the few butterfly photos captured).  They are everywhere but super fast!

Next up was That Dam, known as the Black Stupa.  It's surrounded by legend, not least that you will befall bad luck if you try to restore it.  It is Laos' oldest Stupa.

Next on our journey was the morning market (Talat Sao), and what appeared to be 'finance/bank street'.  Weirdly enough we came across the ANZ before moving on to our next site.

Patuxai (Victory Gate or Gate of Triumph) is a war monument in the centre of the city.  It was built between 1957 and 1968 and is dedicated to those who fought for independence from France.  It's quite a sight to see.

Pha That Luang (Great Sacred Stupa) was next up.  The 44 metre high Buddhist stupa was established in the 3rd century and has undergone several reconstructions since.  It is regarded as a national symbol in Laos.

Alongside is Wat Ghat Luang Neua which houses a fantastic reclining Buddha, many statues and lovely grounds.

Half pie decision - tuk tuk versus walking back (ended up a bit of both), we clocked up over 25,000 steps and still had to go out for dinner.  We headed back to the new fav and Lesley enjoyed a couple of French Chardonnays while we reminisced over our last night in South East Asia.

Our last day consisted of more walking, picking up laundry and organising ourselves for our flight to London, via Bangkok in the evening.

We had time to kill so another 10km+ walk, we headed off to What That Khao via the river front.  Some amazing local abodes along the way (and if you're wondering - that is Thailand in the background).

The Wat has a giant seated golden Buddha and a huge reclining one.  A lovely, quiet Wat tucked away just on the outskirts of the centre.  Great way to use up our waiting time, topped off by a final river front walk back to our accommodation.

Athough a short visit, Laos has been interesting with each stop specifically different.  Our fav was Luang Prabang but the weather may have influenced that.  Will definitely remember the neverending display of beautiful butterflies!