Blogs from Luang Prabang, West, Laos, Asia

We said goodbye to our Vietnamese guide Kha in Hanoi and transferred to the airport to board our flight to Luang Prabang, Laos (pronounced ‘Lao’).Officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic, it is the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia, bordered by Burma and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the south, and Thailand to the west. The population is around 6.5 million and the official language is Lao. The country is currently made up of about 60% Lao people and the other 40% consists of various Mon-Khmer groups and H’mong as well as other indigenous hill tribes who mainly live in the mountains and foothills. On arrival, those in our group from the UK and South Africa had to obtain Visa’s which could not be issued before we left as there is ... read more

Imagine that, much to your surprise, you find yourself preparing for a first date at a Lao restaurant. This is that story. As all girls know, the story of a date does not start with the date itself. There are outfits to choose and make up to apply and, oh wait, you’re backpacking in Laos. Your least stained vest top and some baggy harem pants should do the trick. Make up is a bit of a push at 35°C, and frankly if you’re still straightening your hair in this heat then you need to take a long, hard look in the mirror and sort out your priorities. Having got yourself ready and looking delightful, you head out to the restaurant. Watch out for the neighbourhood dogs and chickens on your walk, and try not to be ... read more

Every travel guide says that Luang Prabang is a must see in Laos and everybody we met said it's an absolutely beautiful place. So not stopping in Luang Prabang for a few days wasn't an option. It has this similar colonial style feeling of a town lying on the Mekong river as Kratie or Savannakhet but in all possible ways it is much more enjoyable city than the two of them. You do get immidiately why people like this place so much. Luang Prabang represents a perfect blend and infusion of the old and the new, the traditional and the modern, the touristy and the local, the urban and the pristine nature around. It is hard to imagine other place where you can visit the most amazing Buddhist temples and have the chance to soak in ... read more

13-19th Mar Today we are going to Vietnam but we decided to go on some elephants before. It was really scary because we went down a steep hill. Mum and I were on one elephant on this seat and I felt like I was going to fall out. When we got to the bottom of the hill there was a river. We got into the river and the man said "come and sit on the elephant's neck". I was really freaked out because all you could hold on to was the elephant's head. When we got out of the lake I was fine but then our elephant went a little weird . It kept trying to overtake the other elephants and it nearly ate a garden tree. I reall enjoyed the ride. The plane was only ... read more

It is my last morning here in Luang Prabang. I've decided to splurge a little and picked a place right on the Mekong River to get breakfast. The weather is beautiful and the scenery fantastic. There are hardly any people out, but the silence is broken with some Thai/Laos music and I must say I like that. I got to Luang Prabang the morning of St. Patty's Day. And by morning I mean 1 am and that was after my 30 hour bus ride. Naturally I had made no reservations so I hit the streets with the others who made the same mistake as myself and after a lot of knocking on doors I found myself a $6 dorm room. It's may sound cheap, but for what I got it wasn't but at 2 am I ... read more

13-19th Mar We got up at 5am to go and see monks. Anybody can go here and they can put food in the monks pots. The monks come in lines from different temples. Everybody has to be lower than the monks. They can't beg for their food, the food they get is for the day. Everybody who feeds the monks gets a blessing, they feed them sticky rice. These three men were eating more of the rice than giving it to the monks. We went on a bamboo bridge over the Nam Khan. It was freaky it felt like it was going to snap. In some parts I had to hold my breath because I was so worried. When I got to the end I could breathe. On the way back we saw some huge spiders, ... read more