To get to the next country, Tim and I had to book a bus to get to the town closest to the river.
Why River?
Tim and I decided to do a popular route of taking the boat to Laos! We rode along the Mekong River that borders both Thailand and Laos.
Before boarding.. Every other traveler onboard had bought identical sandwiches from a small stand. Between three competing stands, they sold just about the same thing. If it wasn’t for that, it’d probably be nothing. It was part of that backpack route. There was a station to purchase our tickets. Once that was complete, we hopped on the boat straight away. We were the last few passengers to come on board.
It was interesting and extremely over-packed. The backpacks were piled on top of the boat, strapped down. Every space of this boat was filled. Up until midway to the first stop point, Tim figured out that the rest of the backpacks were stacked up (probably my height), at back of the boat.
On day 1, we were both very lucky with seats at the edge of the boat. We got to be parallel to the view. Tim turned our seats towards the water.
Pakbeng Town
When we landed in our overnight stay destination, there were a bunch of locals trying to advertise hotels to stay at. And when I say advertise, they’re printed paper sheets or even big white posters. The minimal material. Tim and I had a reserved spot and hopped onto the back of a truck. We waited for others to be pulled by their advertisement. Once we dropped off our stuff at the private room, we met up with a few people we met before boarding the boat. Grabbed an okay dinner.. And afterwards, went straight to bed. Once we hopped on the next boat it was much more organized, and spaced out. This is because they brought an additional boat to separate the one overcrowded group. By this addition, it was much easier to enjoy our take out food for lunch as well.
We had fried rice + fried noodles + cheers to Beerlao (local Lao beer)
Luang Prabang
Finally, Tim and I were excited to have a more broad of a food selection. Luang Prabang was the final destination (off of the boat). In the last city, Pakbeng, we didn’t have the greatest dinner experience. The town was so small and minimal. I’m sure they had limited sources. The take out food from our homestay pretty much was the only option for the boat. Once we got to Luang Prabang.. we ate here! Please see below.
Don’t be fooled by this photo, it is not a big city
As I mentioned before, sometimes, at busy spots like this, you must share tables. Tim spotted two people that looked approachable and asked to join/share. This is how we met Georgia and Andrew, a lovely couple that we unintentionally met again in another country. Tim and I shared soup.
That night we went bowling, lots of fun.. and lots of drinks.
By morning soup – Lao Khao Sao, Lao Khao Piak Sen. Here is a post below of the soups we tried so far.
Eventually, of course, we visited the most famous, Kuangsi Waterfall Park. It is one of the most visited spots in Laos. The waterfall pours over limestone rocks. There is a black bear sanctuary, a cool cat with leopard skin, three different swimming holes, which from the third one, Tim jumped from a tree log. The viewpoint is at the end. Not many do, but there is a hike more towards the top. From here, you lose the noise from the tourist below.
Lots of teal and green colors <3, more than these photos that a random person took of us haha..
Within the city, we also encountered a grocery market – reminded me of how anywhere but America, the mini marts love to play loud music.
Vang Vieng
Next we took a van to Vang Vieng another small town. This van ride was very memorable. The bus was completely full. Partially tourists but also the driver took on friends? or family? Who knows, someone that stopped the ride midway for a break but also to slice up some goat. It may have been too gruesome for some to watch. It was probably fresh from the morning as it’s head was advertised along the road. It was funny because the sliced up parts – weren’t cleaned off. It got tossed straight into a plastic bag and hung under backpacker’s seat.
Activities
- Roam the street/markets
- Explore with the bike
- Hot pot + plastic table + plastic chairs, build your ingredients
- Lotee pancake
- Free breakfast at our hotel
- Hiked with motorcycle at the viewpoint/cliff
- Checked out lagoons to float around in
- Cows in the streets
- River tubing with Andrew & Georgia
Vientiane
The capital of Laos. Tim and I enjoyed a particular cafe called the Naked Espresso Misay – also enjoyed their WiFi since our hotel didn’t have any unless it was limited.. they had great food!
As for accommodation – I remember in this hotel we also binge watch the few episodes regarding the flight that was lost heading towards Malaysia from China.
Activities
- We explored majority of the city by foot. Long miles.
- Bus to buy tickets to exit
- Pha That Luang Vientiane Buddhist temple and Reclining Buddha
- Museum – surprisingly really enjoyed this museum when I don’t normally. I learned about the bombing, how children were raised to be cautious of bombs (by a tune) soooooo sad, how people recovered and what synthetic materials or items used, the homes of Laotian people, able to watch a film regarding the history
What I missed but really wanted to see – Buddha Park (Wat Xieng Khouane Luang)
Conclusion
There were more disappointments in Lao’s food than tasty ones, unfortunately. It’s crazy, the best one we had was home-cooked from friends who are Laos but at home. We tried to something that matched that, but never did! Throughout, we tried different tiers (hole-in-the wall, market, higher priced, big city). Nonetheless, still very pretty, had my fun and enjoyed exploring with Timothy!! (:
Beyond Rose 
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