Having heard about its pristine mountains and bountiful nature, it has been my long time dream to visit Laos which I had to keep aside until recently due to expensive travel options from Singapore. Thanks to better connectivity, reasonable flying options in recent times and a friend who was keen to join me on a girls trip, I made my Laos backpacking plan for June 2018. I always travel with a plan, every single movement and itinerary and sightseeing researched and pre-booked 🙂 But the theme of my Laos trip being cross-country backpacking, I convinced myself to go slightly easy 🙂This is my version of easy:
- Singapore to Luang Prabang (LP) via KL by #AirAsia with 2 nights accommodation at Maison Dalabua, LP;
- LP to Vang Vieng (VV) by public transport that was to be purchased before the journey with 2 nights accommodation pre-booked at Silver Naga, VV;
- VV to Vientiane by public transport again to be purchased before journey with 1 night pre-booked stay at Xaysambourn;
- Vientiane to Singapore via Phnom Penh and Ho Chi Minh City with #VietnamAirlines!
What I loved about Luang Prabang: I have flown over some mountains around the world but Luang Prabang had the most unique experience for me. For a full 15 mins we hovered over (or rather amidst) some lush forested mountains and misty clouds until the quaint little airport came to view. The rustic, French-style roads, flowing river along serene mountains, happy smiles and the simple people instantly captivated us! A 2 hour cruise along the Mekong took us to the Pak Ou Caves and a remote village selling local whiskey and beautiful silk crafts, the return downstream was more fun as the motorboat refused to operate! The boatman gave it a patient 10 mins and restarted to get it back on and moving! We also trotted on a long bamboo bridges across the Nam Khan the next day. Some of the sights that soothes us were the men and women plying narrow catamarans for getting to town and carry about their daily businesses, carefree and fearless children diving and bathing and their giggles and chuckles, fishing nets set to cater to local restaurants, the sun going down behind the mountains and casting a deep golden glow on the ceaselessly flowing water… I have cruised in the Cambodian Mekong in 2011 and seeing a similar yet different river-dependent lifestyle of LP, it struck me that everywhere the Mekong flows, she gives to her people and makes them thrive! The early morning ritual of Alms giving to the Monks was so surreal, there was one little boy of about 4, kneeling and awaiting alms looked at me straight in the eye and beyond any barrier we could feel a sense of connection – I sadly bade him goodbye in looks and returned hoping and praying that the lives of these little children be blessed! A dip in the Kuang Xi waterfalls was beautiful, where at one point the rains started coming in and made it an exhilarating experience! A must mention about the stay at Maison Dalabua which has charming cottages settled amidst numerous lotus and lily ponds over which were wooden planks to walk around the premises, restaurant and bar lazily perched along these ponds… Bamboo straws that came with the drinks was an awesome find for a Low-plastic person like me and we bought some to take back!
Lovely people of Laos: With no heart to leave this bliss, we checked out with a little tiff at the hotel due to some communication issues that had to be sorted out with the front desk. The hotel had helped us to buy VIP bus tickets to VV but communicated wrong timings so we ended up landing at the public bus station of LP with the bus long gone 🙂 The bus station staff were quick to come to our rescue by using their own mobiles to call our hotel to clarify, refunded a portion of the money and put us on the next minivan to VV. I’m writing this experience in detail as a reminder to myself about the lovely people of Laos! I met some sweet, smiling, contented people in this trip.Road-trip from LP to Vang Vieng: The minivan journey was nothing like it was described in the many blogs I read before the trip. The weather being cloudy and misty, we snaked through very comfortably along the single lane mountain way. Not many vehicles crossed us, not many settlements, just a few villages at regular intervals and vast stretches of green mountains and plantations, reminding me of the unpolluted bliss that area truly is. With occasional showers that battered against the van, cool air that messed up our hair and grime that kissed our faces and million dollar views rolling by, we didn’t want the 6 hour journey to end. I have to mention the time when the driver stopped us along a steep cliff so people can relieve themselves in the open 🙂 There was a particular village up the hills where some of the co-passengers got off, I wish I could explain the crispness of fresh oxygenated air and the calmness I felt in the 10 minute time we got off to stretch our legs…Stay in Vang Vieng: I picked Silver Naga for the river view and close proximity to bus station. What we got was of a different level, with the monsoon clouds at almost eye level, swarming the mountain across the river. Eternal bliss. I have read and re-read about River Tubing so much that I knew I had to do it even if I don’t know swimming! We joined a day tour that took us to visit the Tham Xang (with a beautiful reclining Buddha and an elephant shaped Limestone). To reach the area of Cave Tubing, we had a good 20 mins trek in muddy elevated footpath along soaked paddy fields, trod on cow dung and slippery clay with some falling off and landing in the adjacent paddy fields. We passed through some huts, chicken and ducks, some smiling faces and local village children who were eager to take our leftover food, it felt like time travel, a muddy but grounding one. Cave tubing wasn’t something that I really planned to do but it was both fun and tiring to float through very narrow caverns of the Tham Nam and watch the limestone formations and water drip from above. It was interesting to watch some elephants get a bamboo meal and have a drink and bath in the cool waters. We river kayaked along the Nam Song for a 5km stretch and finished the tour downstream near town. Crazy thing I did in Vang Vieng: During the 2 days of my stay, I couldn’t find a guide who could personally chaperon me in River Tubing, I had the option to join big groups but I felt it was not worth the risk. I don’t know to swim, the Nam Song was running 10 meters deep from monsoon (so they said) and I was leaving the next morning at 10am to Vientiane – this dampened my spirits as I was close to not getting to do what I went there for. Luckily just before dinner, we managed to find a provider who was willing to join me on the early morning 30 minute River Tubing personal tour and drop me back at the hotel in time for checkout and my bus to Vientaine 🙂 So yes, as scary as it sounds, at 6:45am a guy drove me to some remote mountainside where another guy got into the tuk-tuk and my heart pounded all the way until I heard the river and saw at a distance a River Tubing accessories shop owner opening shop for the day! Phew! The guys named Pong and Phang quickly got me onto a tube, one of them was supposed to wait downstream with the pickup while the other was to kayak alongside and keep me safe while I River Tubed. Thanks to God, it was a safe and serene experience. For 30 minutes I got to float along the Nam Song, enjoy the early morning dew, hear the songs of unknown species of birds, feel the tiny spays of rain showers and watch the lush green mountains topped with misty clouds… It was a trance… A good 20 mins later, my guide who was following me at a safe distance poked his kayak oar into the water and couldn’t touch bottom when I realized how deep Nam Song really was and I froze in fear mid-water! I don’t remember how the next 10 mins went by and when he said lets get off, I think I have never felt happier! As promised, the other guy picked us up at the venue and dropped me back at the hotel on time. I thank both of them for keeping up the trust which again is something that I feel incredibly proud of when I think of Lao people.A short stay at Vientiane: The capital of Laos, Vientiane felt like a more sober version of Ho Chi Minh city. We walked along the streets of Vientiane and got some clicks of Patuxai Arch or the Arc de Triomphe of Vientiane. We hired a tuk-tuk and temple-hopped to Wat Sisaket, Wat Si Muang, saw the presidential building and went on the bumpy, long ride to Buddha Park Xieng Khuan. A beautiful, cool evening spent at the Namphou Fountain was a fitting wrap-up to the whirlwind tour. Xaysambourn was a very good hotel as well. The next morning we were off on the 2 hop journey back to Singapore.
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