Vientiane, Luang Prabang, Vang Vieng

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I spent two weeks in Laos at the end of July and the beginning of August this past summer. I spent the time travelling around three cities in the country: Vientiane, Luang Prabang, and Vang Vieng.





Vientiane is a very quaint capital city. It isn’t very big, and the city center provides a wonderful atmosphere. Its streets are lined with nice cafes and restaurants. I had the chance to try many of them. There are plenty of options regarding prices and types of foods from around the world. Patixai provides some great views of the city. The climb to the top is cheap and short, with lots of stalls to buy souvenirs. The walk from the city center to Pha That Luang is nice and not too congested with traffic. A wonderful respite from the city is the Buddha Park, located about an hour from the city center. The bus (#14, 6,000kip one way, when I was there) leaves from the market and takes you all the way to the entrance of the park. The park isn’t at all that big, and you can view all of the park’s sights in under an hour.





Luang Prabang is a very nice city. The city center is a UNESCO World Heritage site. The city center is beautiful, as the streets are lined with great colonial-styled buildings. There are great restaurants and cafés—most on the expensive side—as well as temples on every block. The highlights of the city center include the National Museum and the Buddhist Temple at the Royal Palace complex, Phou Si Hill across the street, Wat Wisunalat (a temple on the other side of the hill), and Wat Xieng Thong (the temple in the city center at the end of the peninsula). Getting lost in the streets is a great activity. There are plenty of activities outside of the city as well, including seeing lots of waterfalls, hiking, and kayaking. Kayaking the Mekong River was definitely a highlight of the city.







Vang Vieng is a small town, and it became very famous due to its party scene. Though due to some unfortunate incidents, the party scene has calmed down. Many people enjoy the town for its river, and the kayaking and tubing it provides. Unfortunately, I was in town during rainy season, which made the river overflow, and they shut the river down to tubing. My time in town was spent relaxing and eating good food. One of the few things that I was able to do was visit the Blue Lagoon. The site was small and full of tourists.





Overall, my time in Laos was nice. Due to the rainy season, there were lots of activities I couldn’t do. However, everyone was welcoming and made my stay delightful. The food was delicious and diverse.

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