Luang Prabang

It was strange to leave Vietnam, but knowing that the journey simply continues elsewhere. I felt a bit melancholic, but somehow it was also okay. For the first time, I needed a visa to enter a country. Fortunately, I had a nice seat neighbor on the plane who helped me a bit and with whom I had a pleasant conversation. He was only in Luang Prabang for a few days, but one evening we crossed paths again and spent some time enjoying food and drinks, Rod from Melbourne.

Upon arriving in Laos, I first organized everything for an easy start and was dropped off by the taxi at the hostel, somewhat closeby. The taxi driver didn't pay too much attention to properly dropping us off at our accommodations; he said, “Luang Prabang is so small, just walk, walk.” 😄

I wanted to start the first days in a relaxed manner but immediately accepted Kurt's offer, a Korean living in Australia, to go to the waterfalls. On the way, there are also some cafes on rice fields that were very idyllic, and so I actually had quite a full first day.

In the evening, I felt a bit unwell, I was feeling somewhat nauseous, and for the next few days, I experienced mild nausea and was cautious with food. Nevertheless, even though I wanted to rest thoroughly and did so for a while, I spoke with Anne and joined her and two other German speakers, Luka and Tom, in their plans. We relaxed in a pavilion by the Dee, played cards, had good conversations, and with them and a Laotian they met in a school, we went bowling and then ended up in a club.

The school is a place where tourists can simply have conversations with Laotians who want to practice their English. It sounded so good to me that I went there twice in the following days and also had lunch with several people who were participating. I had some interesting conversations and gained a better understanding of the locals' lives. One of the boys from the school told me that if I was interested in Buddhism, I could simply join the monks in the evening and talk to them afterward. So, I went there and sat quietly through the entire process of chanting and meditation. An exciting experience! However, I didn’t talk to them; it just didn’t feel right, and I believe not many of them spoke English, yet it was still a cool experience :)

I met Matt and Lena, a Brit and a German, who came by slow boat from Thailand, and I joined them and the people around them for an evening. In Laos, the travel route seems to be even clearer for all tourists, making it easy to form groups for further travel. I met Mark from Malta, and we were with a group of people another day at the waterfalls. On departure day to Nong Khiaw, we also met Logan, forming the little group for the next part of the journey.