To initially cross the boarder, we took a bus to Chiang Khong, stamped out of Thailand and paid $36 for a Laos visa on arrival ($1 for a “weekend tax”). We crossed “Friendship Bridge #4” with a neutral bus, then headed over to the boats for the long ride to Laos. If you ever take these boats, remember to bring food,since they don't feed you, and remember to bring a sitting pad, unless they tell you that you don't need one (you can buy them at the boat dock).

The slow boat was, in the end more, comfortable than expected but about as nice as a long plane ride. From the boat we saw fishing villages, kids playing in the river, monks, temples, elephants, fish, bison, and sweeping views of beautiful mountains and karsts. The scenery was stellar and I'm glad I saw them, but everyone was antsy by the end of the ride.

After two days, we finally arrived in Luang Prabang and immediately started wandering around the city. Luang Prabang felt like a small town to us, but it is one of the biggest in Laos due to the population. It has 5 bars, all in one area, that close at 11:30, but if you walk 1 mile away, you're out of the city limit and there is a late night bowling venue. Ha. The prices are a little higher here (about 50-75% more than Thailand) but if you work hard, you'll still make your budget. The first night, in order to save our money, we visited buffet alley (see picture) and had some pretty awful cold food, which is never a good idea.

The first morning we immediately negotiated for a motorbike and headed to Kwang Si Waterfall. This waterfall takes the cake so far for coolest waterfall visited ever. The electric blue water cascades over dozens of individual terraces ranging from 1 to 30 meters. Several pools are available for swimming, and several are closed to preserve their function and beauty.

Before the waterfall, there is a moon bear reserve and a butterfly park. This was a great first stop to start Laos right.

The next day we ventured in a random direction, spat seeds into the river, and lounged on a make-shift beach. That night we learn a few new card games from a group of Canadians (31, Oh Hell, and Asshole), and prepared for the jump to Nong Khiew, our next destination.

See you there.

Grant and Danielle

The post Luang Prabang – Welcome to Laos appeared first on Quarter Life Excursion.

The first stop we made in the city was at an establishment called 100 Roofs Cafe. There we ordered an artichoke tea (delicious), but most importantly, wandered through an eccentric maze of various art pieces, staircases, dank rooms, and thresholds hardly big enough for me to get through. It was a labyrinth of the owner's mind and was overwhelming to get through at times. See pic below for an example of what was covering the walls.

After about a half hour of meandering around the cafe, we finally made it to the rooftop garden. We gulped fresh air and celebrated our success of finding the top.

We also stumbled upon a flower park which was pretty enough to walk through, but we couldn't help finding a tad creepy due to the lack of people. Oh, and the weirdo Viet-Mickey statues. Lay off the dope Micky!

One of the highlights of the time we spent there was eating traditional meats at a self-BBQ restaurant.We ordered chicken, beef, frog, goat, crocodile, and ……chicken feet! Our waiter kept asking us if we actually meant to order what we had said…pointing at his feet and waving his arms around like a chicken to get the point across that it was actually chicken feet. Once we had the dish in front of us he watched us grill it, and helped us out after we burnt the first one. He and some friends then stuck around to watch us eat it. It wasn't bad…although there is zero meat on it whatsoever. I think our friend Anna's face says it all. Our group closed the place down, and the waiters gave us each a couple shots of rice wine on the house at the end of it all. I think they liked us.

We also decided to hike up to Lang Biang mountain – 2 miles up a paved road and 1.5 miles out and 600m up a dirt trail. The view was completely worth the steep climb up the mountain. We enjoyed victory Oreos and bahn mis at the top with some locals, and then trekked down a random side trail to avoid pavement. One huge descent later, we found ourselves in a scene that reminded us of home.

The next day was full of pagodas and views. We even found a maze depicting hell at the bottom of one of them. We also visited the Crazy House, a sister establishment to the 100 Roofs Cafe. Apparently a couple built both of them. It was as strange as the former place we visited. We even spotted a vine lady having too good of a time with herself in public.

The final day in Da Lat was spent motorbiking from the main city through a few towns to visit a waterfall. The view of the fall was nice, but the ride there was killer.

After, we are off to travel north. As always, thanks for reading!

D & G

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