We spent an amazing few days in Vientiane and Vang Vieng. It was now time for us to head to our last destination in Laos- Luang Prabang.
A tuk tuk came and picked us up from our bungalow and brought us to the bus station. I was so sad to leave. I really loved Vang Vieng. I became even more saddened when I saw our bus for the 5 hour drive. It was not luxurious like the last bus that brought us to Vang Vieng. It was a mini van packed full of more than 10 people. Mark and I were the first to be picked up by the tuk tuk so somehow this pushed us all the way to the back…which meant we were last to get in the mini van. We were left with the worst possible seats. The front seats next to the driver! I had to sit in the non seat in the middle of Mark and the driver. I could barely move a muscle. It was a longggggggg 5 hours! Though as uncomfortable as possible, I was enjoying the sights. We saw children coming home from school, they were riding bikes and walking and holding umbrellas. There were so many of them, hundreds.
There were so many cows and chickens and cats and dogs. I saw one sickly dog, skin and bones, she could barely walk. I wanted to take her to the vet or a shelter but I was in the van and we drove past her quickly. I couldn’t stop thinking about her.
The driver drove up a tall mountain with no sides to the bottomless edge. I was terrified and having a mini heart attack. Strangely, at the top of the mountain was a market area and beautiful overlook. We got out for about a half an hour to explore and stretch our legs.
When we finally got to the bus station 5 hours later, all of the tuk tuks were super expensive. We decided our best bet to find a reasonably priced tuk tuk would be to leave the bus station. We walked out and found one right away that was a tad cheaper.
We stayed at Phonepraseuth Guesthouse based on a friend’s recommendation. She had stayed here earlier and loved it. I am so glad I followed her recommendation because it was truly amazing! Not only was it cheap and a beautiful building but the owner and his son as well as all the staff are just the nicest people! They were all so sweet and helpful and gave amazing recommendations. The hotel is very clean and even includes an amazing breakfast menu. All of our meals were great and included delicious smoothies as a drink too!
We were starving when we got to the hotel so we ate right next door at
Dyen Sabai Restaurant and ordered fondue to share which ended up being hotpot. fondue in Laos is hotpot just so you know! Our food was difficult to make ourselves but it was delicious and a lovely atmosphere. It was a fun and cool experience!
In the ally between the restaurant and our hotel were baby chicks! They were so cute.
So, we were a little annoyed because we purposely stayed on the other side of the river because it was cheaper but you could just walk across a bridge to get to town. Well- the bridge to walk across the river was broken. We had to either walk around which took about 30 mins or take a boat. We decided to take the boat in the day cause it was so hot and walk back at night since it was cooler at night. 5,000 kip each boat ride which is 58 cents but I was still annoyed- mostly because this damn boat broke down every ride. It was always an adventure to walk down the long staircase and climb into the rinky-dink boat and have it break down LOL
After our meal we took the boat to town to explore and to try to book our tour for Kuang Si Falls the following day. When we went to White Elephant to book our tour but we found it was grossly overpriced and included a long, 3 hour hike which we didn’t want to do. We decided to book a tuk tuk instead. We found one for almost half the price of the tour! 300,000 kip which was $35 and would wait for us for 2 hours while we explored the falls and bear sanctuary. The driver was going to pick us up at 9am from our hotel. After booking the tuk tuk for the next morning we walked around to explore and walked through the night market.
Luang Prabang was more expensive than Vientiane and Vang Vieng. Definitely do your souvenir shopping before you get there! Though the night market was amazing and probably one of the best I had seen in Laos.
We kept having to get out money from the ATM because it was more expensive here.
The cats and dogs in this town made me so sad. They were all so sick or blind or injured. The animals here were in the worst shape we had seen in Laos.
We decided to take the boat back because we were hot and tired. We waited for a long time. The boat was struggling. It had broken down and was sending a woman downstream. I couldn’t help but laugh even though I was pretty irritated. The poor woman looked so helpless, so did the boat driver! He didn’t know what to do! Luckily the boat started after like 10-15 mins.
The next morning, Friday, I went to breakfast alone because Mark wasn’t feeling well. I don’t think Asia agreed with his stomach.
The owner came over to me and asked me what we had planned for the day. I told him about our tour of Kuang Si Falls. He seemed bothered and curious and asked me a million questions about it. It was obvious he wanted us to book it with him but we didn’t know he offered tuk tuks or tours. I felt bad I didn’t book the tour with him but then something strange happened. I finished up breakfast and went up to the room to finish getting ready. There was a knock at the door at 8:30. I opened the door wondering who the hell was knocking so early. It was a staff member. He told us our ride was there to pick us up. We were nowhere ready and confused as to why our tuk tuk was 30 minutes early. We rushed around like crazy people trying to get ready. We go outside and see it wasn’t the guy we booked with last night but another staff member at the hotel! We don’t know exactly what happened but it was obvious the hotel stole our business from the tuk tuk driver. I felt so badly for the tuk tuk guy! The owner told us the tuk tuk called him because he couldn’t find the hotel. It was a long and weird (obviously made up) story. We shrugged and got in the tuk tuk. We knew the owner stole our business but didn’t know what else to do.
The tuk tuk ride was an hour long to Kuang Si Falls and Bear Sanctuary. When we arrived there were a ton of stands to get food. We decided to get lunch there after. We were not fans of the cages full of chickens.
We pay to go in and see the bears right away. We didn’t realize that you actually have to walk through the sanctuary to get to the falls.
There were so many bears! They were so cute! They all looked so happy. Their exhibits were amazing. They had so many ponds to swim in and so many toys and hammocks.
My favorite thing was seeing a bear climb into a hammock and chill in it. Unreal! I don’t know what I was trying to capture but I have a ton of pictures and videos of the bear sitting in the hammock lol It was just so precious.
These bears were abused and rescued from bile farms. This experience was educational. There are signs everywhere explaining what they go through and how you can help.
It was a very short walk to the falls. There were a ton of really big, terrifying spiders so be on the lookout for those- you can’t miss them.
Kuang Si Falls had the most beautiful swimming hole I have ever seen. The water was this cloudy, beautiful turquoise.
The falls were crowded but everyone was so nice and chill and relaxed. Everyone left their stuff on the picnic tables but Mark didn’t want to leave our stuff on a bench so we had to take shifts going in the water. I didn’t have as much fun because we weren’t together and I didn’t swim all the way to the falls like I wanted but it was still beautiful.
We stayed an hour or so then got crepes for lunch at one of the food stands. I got lemon and honey. It had absolutely no flavor whatsoever and was dripping everywhere. I was so sticky! Mark got strawberry and nutella. The strawberry was a jam and not fresh strawberries. Whenever we ordered a berry we got it in jam/jelly form.
When we were eating lunch a cute black cat came over and meowed at us. She meowed every time we stopped petting her. She loved affection. I wanted to bring her home so badly! She then ran over to a group of people and began meowing at them. They all bent down to pet her. It was our chance to run to our tuk tuk so she wouldn’t follow us.
When we got to the tuk tuk it was full of the driver’s friends. They were all hanging out. He tried to convince us to go to another waterfall but we didn’t want to. We were tired and just wanted to go back to shower. We think we messed up his plans with his friends. He really wanted to go there so we figured he made plans to go. Sorry dude!
Mark really wanted to take a cooking class because we read it as a suggested thing to do in our Lonely Planet books. We went back to the hotel and showered and lied down for a bit. We then took the stupid boat to town to look for a cooking class. Along the way we passed some beautiful things. Flowers and someone drying out food. We saw this a lot in Laos.
We found an amazing cooking company. We booked our experience for Saturday night through Bamboo Tree Restaurant and Cooking School. Mark tried to pay with a $50 bill but it was ripped so they wouldn’t take it. Be careful because in Laos and Thailand they only take super crisp bills.
We then walked to Phu Si Mountain/ Mount Phousi. We wanted to see the sunset, which was highly recommended by all. Make sure you wear long pants and wear a scarf or long sleeves. You have to be totally covered because there is a temple at the top. Also, we had no idea, but it costs money to get to the top. We climbed a million steps. I was totally out of breath and sweating profusely! It was so hot but at least there was shade.
There were beautiful views and statues all along the way up which I was thankful for because it gave us an excuse to take many breaks.
Kitty drama- When we finally got to the top we saw a bunch of stray cats. This hurt my cat rescuing soul. There was a beautiful calico that was friendly. She let us pet her but then she left. To my sheer and utter misery I then heard some kind of tiny screaming. I see a tiny kitten stumbling around the temple screaming.
People kept saying its mom died but I was pretty sure the calico cat was nursing. We didn’t know what to do so Mark looked up 2 vets but they were closing shortly. A man walked by us and told us he saw the mom and she was the calico. Mark went to go look for her to make sure she was a nursing cat. While he was gone I found a second crying kitten! I put them together in a basket. I was annoyed because a woman let her 2 year old child hold them and she dropped them on the floor. I was pissed. The kittens had finally gotten to sleep and stopped crying and then this woman lets her kid manhandle them. I was livid but trying to hold my composure. I took them away, put them in the basket with a blanket and put them in the corner of the temple under a table with a cloth covering so no one could see them.
We tried our best to enjoy the view but every 5 minutes I kept going back to check on the kittens to make sure they were okay.
I didn’t take pictures or videos of the top area but it was super crowded! I couldn’t believe how many people were waiting to see the sunset. I honestly had to push my way through to get a good view of the sunset because I am so short. It was very cloudy but the sunset was still beautiful!
After the physical and emotional exhaustion, it was time to eat. We had read that a highly recommended restaurant to eat at is Utopia Bar and Restaurant. We had trouble finding it at first. It was down a long pathway, hidden way in the back of all these other restaurants and shops. Once we got there sadly it was too crowded to get one of the cool seats by the lanterns and water. We had to sit in the back but it was still a beautiful place to eat. The food was honestly just okay. It was good but it wasn’t as phenomenal as some of the other meals we had been eating. I think Utopia is highly recommended for the atmosphere.
After dinner we decided to take the long walk back to our hotel. We had to walk across this large bridge and it was terrifying!
Saturday morning we woke up early to see the Alms to the Monks at 5:30am, which conveniently took place right outside of our hotel. The Alms to Monks is a very beautiful ceremony where the monks walk through town and collect donations from the townspeople. If you want to take pictures and videos it’s very rude to get in their face or up close. We stayed our distance so I could document the monks- my obsession. I was so in love with the monks. I just thought they were so fascinating.
Once the monks did their thing, we went back to our room and went back to sleep. We went to breakfast around 9am. The breakfasts at our hotel were so delicious. I looked forward to our meal each morning.
Saturday was a nice and relaxing day. We walked around town and went to shops and galleries. We went to a grocery store and saw all these Lao teas. We decided to buy a bunch for ourselves as souvenirs and for other people too (I tried them when we got home and they are delicious!) I always love getting some sort of food or candy for people as a souvenir.
We then came upon a strange sight- roosters…in trees. They were tied to branches by one foot. Curious.
Our cooking class was at 5pm. It was around 3:30pm. It didn’t make sense for us to go back to our hotel so we decided to kill our time at the chain cafe Joma Bakery Cafe. It was hot out so we both got delicious and satisfying freeze drinks. The wifi was horrible. It didn’t work at all. We were tired and hot so we just lied there in the chairs for about an hour then headed down the block to our cooking class.
We arrived at Bamboo Tree Restaurant and Cooking Class to find a whole awesome set up for us. There were cool plates and awesome cutting boards and chef hats and aprons for us to wear. We were in a class with 4 other people. Three were older and together. They were two sisters and their mother, they were from New Zealand which was very cool and then there was an older french lady. I honestly didn’t like her so much. She wasn’t friendly and she was rude.
We were each able to pick 1 meal for us all to cook so we would all be cooking 6 items together. The French lady went first and Mark went last. When he chose his thing for us to cook the French lady said, “Well, what about the food on page 13?” Ummm lady- you got your chance, sorry! Rude!
Our first task was incredibly difficult. We had to carve a flower out of a tomato! Ha! It was so hard. It looks much better in the picture than it actually was. Mine was broken and falling apart.
Mark and I had everything vegetarian substituted for us. We had tofu stuffed lemongrass, soup, bamboo, spring rolls, vegetable noodles, and for dessert we had sticky rice with mango. I did the cooking class to humor Mark because he wanted to but I ended up having so much fun.
After we cooked for hours it was time to feast! Everything was so delicious, well ironically I chose the vegetable noodles and that was the dish I liked the least. I couldn’t get enough of all the other dishes though. I was so full and couldn’t eat everything. I do wish though that they let us take leftovers. I hope they take the food home or feed the staff because we didn’t even make a dent in the servings.
After dinner we were presented with these cool certificates that stated we completed the class- so stinking cute!
Because I was so obsessed with the monks, we woke up at 4:30am to watch the Alms of the Monks again. We went outside at 5am but they never came! We went back to bed and woke up at 5:50am to try to see if they were there at 6am. We saw maybe 8. Defeated and sad, we walked back to the hotel. One of the staff saw us and told us to stay outside. He said there would be a lot of them at 6:30am. We sat outside for a half an hour- in the rain! It started drizzling and we got all wet. This should give you an idea of how much I love the monks. At 6:45am we saw over 100 monks! I was so happy. It was so exciting to see them. Because it is pretty controversial for tourists to watch the Alms, we kept our distance. We were far away. The hotel staff said it was okay for us to watch so I felt okay about it. We weren’t in their faces with cameras or anything. If you go to watch the Alms, be sure not to be rude about it.
We went back to our hotel and I Facetimed my family. It was so strange that we had a full day still and my sister was leaving to go to the airport to meet us in Thailand the next day!
We went back to sleep for a few hours then woke up, got ready to go out and had breakfast. We decided to borrow bikes that the hotel has for their guests. We went on a search for a paper store the owner of the hotel recommended to us. We rode for about 15-20 minutes until we found the paper store. I had my doubts but it was actually very cool. We didn’t realize but the owner of the paper store gave us a whole tour of the store and the process. He took us outside to the back of the store where we saw some women making decorative paper. He even let me peel the dried paper off of the drying rack that was sitting in the sun. He then sat us down and had us watch a long movie about himself and the awards his store has received. I ended up buying a large sheet of paper with real flowers in it. Ironically the container to hold the paper was more expensive than the paper itself. I have no idea what I am going to do with it and it was a big ordeal to carry it around for the rest of the time in Thailand lol
Around 2pm we headed across the river to get lunch. We planned to go to a story telling show at a local theater but they weren’t selling tickets just yet. We decided to walk around town for our last day and take it all in!
We went to a french cafe but it ended up being too expensive so we split a pastry and then left and I got some friend cheap rice somewhere. I really could never get enough of fried rice.
We walked around and saw a movie/model shoot being set up. We watched that for a while. It was so cool to see!
We walked around looking at temples where were saw them selling birds as an offering. I really do not like this practice.
I was excited because after the show we planned to spend all of our left over money at the night market. We saw them setting up. My anticipation was growing!
Something I was pretty disappointed about was that Laos was having this huge lantern festival like two days after we were leaving. Everyone was in the streets building their lanterns. Damn! That would have been so cool!
It was time for the show so we headed back to the theater and bought our tickets. Mark wanted one last Lao beer so we stopped in the bar across the street while we waited for the show’s doors to open. The show is called
Garavek Traditional Lao Storytelling and Music.
When we sat down in the theater, the theater doors burst open. The bartender from the bar across the street ran in and handed Mark his backpack. We were shocked! We hadn’t even noticed it was missing! The people in Laos are so incredibly nice. This woman went around looking for Mark to return his backpack and she didn’t even speak the same language as us. We were so thankful to her and how nice the people here are (besides the pickpocket incident you can read about in the Vientiane blog). Funnily enough, we ended up sitting next to the 3 women from our cooking class. Small town I suppose.
After the show we hit up the night market one final night. I loved this night market. It was amazing! I got some prime stuff here!
We also tried this very strange coconut pancakes. We both loved and hated them. They were delicious yet gross.
Welp, that was my last city in Laos! We spent 9 full days in 3 incredible cities. I loved Laos so much! The people are so nice, the night markets rock, and almost every meal was incredible! Once we explored Laos it was off to Thailand. My sister was meeting us there in Chiang Mai. Those blogs to come in the future. I will be covering the 5 areas we explored: Chiang Mai (elephant sanctuary will be getting its own blog), Khao Sok, Phuket, Phi Phi, and Bangkok.
Check out this great sign at the airport!
Have you visited Laos or plan to? Let me know in comments below.
Check out my last two blogs about the other 2 cities we spent time in: