Advertisement
Published: September 2nd 2009
Edit Blog Post
To get to Luang Prabang was no easy bus ride…we opted for a 2 day slow boat package for 1750THB. First mission was a bus from Pai back down all those bends in the road to Chiang Kong on the border with Laos, arriving around 2am. After a brief sleep we exited Thai immigration, and got a small boat across the river to Laos immigration, collecting our visa on arrival.
After a strange sales pitch for a bus instead of a boat, which we chose to ignore, we waited around for the midday boat to depart. It was a long afternoon on hard wooden seats, but there was a good atmosphere and pleasant scenery, with a few stops along the way to deliver goods to remote villages. We arrived at about 5pm at our overnight stop, Pat Bang. We’d been told to be very careful, and look after our belongings and not get ripped off, but actually the town seemed to be fine - just people keen to bet our business.
The next day was much longer, departing around 9.30am and arriving in Luang Prabang at 5pm, so the seats were not the comfiest, but again the scenery was
stunning and the ride was well worth it. One thing to note….bring your own food supplies - snacks on board are limited.
Pleased to have arrived, we found a room for the night, and enjoyed walking around after being on board all day! Luang Prabang is a lovely little town, and the French influence is evident. There are lots of old Wats and the national palace museum is worth a look.
Kuang Si waterfall was fantastic! Ben and I were slightly nutty and decided to cycle to 20miles to get there…either keen or stupid, I’m not sure, but after 2 days on a boat we wanted the exercise! We hadn’t really taken into consideration the sun and heat! However, it was an incredible ride with stunning scenery and rolling down hills was bliss. A highlight was stopping in a small spring for a quick swim by the quiet road, just to escape the heat - no on e was around! Once we made it, we fully appreciated the fresh cold swimming pools at the bottom of the falls. There are about three different swimming areas and it costs 20,000 kip to get in. We also took a walk
up to the top, most impressive falls.
Phu Si is a wat in the centre of Luang Prabang, providing excellent views from the top. A boat trip will take you to the other side of the Mekong for 5000 kip, but there isn't a lot to see there, just a few more villages and another wat. Luang Prabang also has a lovely market, where it's nice to know the money goes back into the local people. Also, it's a great place to take advantage of great french bread and sandwiches - not common across all of asia!
A lovely town to spend a couple of relaxed days. It's not a party town, there's a curfew and most things shut at around 11pm.
J x
Advertisement
Tot: 0.414s; Tpl: 0.012s; cc: 30; qc: 130; dbt: 0.175s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.4mb