Vang Vieng

After a long nearly 4 hour bus ride my next stop in Laos was Vang Vieng, which is well known for tubing and other water activities! I really liked Luang Prabang so I thought that nothing could really top it but arriving in Vang Vieng and seeing all the beautiful scenery I think it was going to be pretty close - another lazy beautiful riverside town built in the middle of the mountains! Again, similar to Luang Prabang, it has a really chilled vibe (apparently most of Laos is like this!) I stayed on the main road which runs through Vang Vieng, not far from the river. Conveniently all the bars, restaurants and hostels are all on this road so you really don't need to walk far or rent bikes! Thankfully my hostel had a pool which was defiantly needed in the 35+ degree heat.

On my first day I signed up to go tubing. This is what Laos and Vang Vieng in particular are famous for! Basically you get given a rubber ring and you float down the river stopping at bars along the way... It's an all day event and is really fun but has been regulated a lot over the past few years. Obviously alcohol and water activities don't really go well together! We started the day at midday at the first bar then we set off down the river and stopped at 3 more bars along the way. I ended the evening with a pad Thai and mango sticky rice... followed my an early night!

The next day a group of us decided to rent a driver and thought it would be a good idea to do a hike to see one of the view points called Pangern Viewpoint... probably not the best idea considering we were all very hungover from tubing! The hike was pretty hard and it was midday so possibly the worst time to be out in the sun. It took us about an hour to get to the top but the views were defiantly worth it... Reason 57 why I love Laos: The Views!

After the hike we drove through the dusty streets and local Laos villages for about 40 minutes to get to Blue Lagoon number 4! There is numbers 1,2,3, 4 and 5 but I'd read/heard that 4 was the best as it was furthest away from town so there is less people there! It was what we needed after the hike to cool down. Also time to get some much needed food as well! 
A few of us did also end up doing another small hike through a cave to see another view point which I think was actually better than the one we did earlier but who'd have known!! We left the lagoon just as the sun was setting and time for a drink back in town!

My final and last stop in Laos and of travelling :( will be in Vientiane! So my next post will be all about that! 

Luang Prabang

My first stop in Laos was the beautiful, lazy, riverside town of Luang Prabang. I'd heard so many mixed views about Laos as a whole, a friend of mine told me not to even bother going! But I have to say I fell a little bit in love with Luang Prabang and its super chilled out vibe. I only had a week in Laos in total but I could have happily spent a week in just Luang Prabang!

Laos is a landlocked country so with it being a sweltering nearly 40 degrees on somedays it would have been good to have had a pool to cool off in! But I guess I'll know for next time. Sadly the river wasn't safe to swim in! On my first day I explored the town, visited the Royal Palace and crossed over to the river to go to a temple via the old bamboo bridge. 

I spent a lot of time hanging out at Utopia, one of the 'must go to' riverside bars in Luang Prabang. Chilled out by day, lively by night! There is cosy bean bags to lie on, cheap drinks and food, amazing views and great wifi!! Apparently they also do yoga classes and an amazing breakfast in the morning but I didn't get up early enough for that!

One day I took a day trip to the beautiful Kuang Si waterfalls which was around a 40 minute drive from Luang Prabang. I've seen a lot of waterfalls while I've been travelling (mainly in the Philippines) but this is defiantly up there with one of the best! It was also nice to have a swim in the cold water and cool off from the heat. Luckily it also wasn't too busy when we got there so we had the waterfall almost to ourselves!

One evening just before sunset I climbed Phou Si Hill in the centre of Luang Prabang. It was a sweaty climb of 300+ steps to the top but on the way up there were some sculptures of Buddha's to look at, so I could take a rest! It was definatly worth it when you got to the top and saw the views over Luang Prabang - you could see all the coloured rooftops, the Mekong River and as the sun came down the locals started to set up the night market. No better way to end the day with a drink by the river and a traditional Laos curry!

On my final day in Luang Prabang before getting the bus to Vang Vieng I got up at around 5.30am (it was still dark!) to go and see the Monks! Every morning at 6am they do a holy ritual called the 'arms giving ceremony' - you can participate in the ceremony if you like but I just watched. Locals come to give rice to the Monks before they head to the Royal Palace. I'd say it was defiantly worth getting up early for! 

My next post will be all about my visit to Vang Vieng!