> La La Lao <

Hello dear ones at home,

here we are again with a new post about our time in beautiful Laos. Since we have squeezed our entire trip to Laos into one post, it is again packed with a bunch of colorful pictures and a lot of text! So cancel your appointments for today, make yourself a coffee and let's go 😄 ...

We traveled from the North to the South for a month... Although that's a pretty long distance, we only made 4 longer stops in total... We are really slow travelers, but we prefer to spend more time in one place instead of rushing around... Less but more intense :). But one thing at a time... 

After crossing the Lao border from Chiang Rai by bus, our journey in Laos started with the Slow Boat from Ban Houayxay to Luang Prabang. For 2 days, we traveled along the Mekong River for about 7 hours a day on a long wooden boat... Passing water buffalo herds, children playing in the water, and small villages along the river, we could relax and get a first taste of Lao air and get to know the culture a little bit. 

The seats on the boat, which were mostly made up of benches from old cars, were not really comfortable, so we weren't so unhappy when on the second day of the trip all passengers from two boats were crammed into one boat and we were forced to sit in the cargo area between luggage and the engine... The engine was deafeningly loud but we could lie down comfortably, read, and watch the scenery pass by - tissue in the ears and off we went ;).

When we arrived in Luang Prabang, we took a break for 6 days... The city with its old colonial buildings, beautiful shops, and nice restaurants looks like a perfect tourist movie set. Everything is beautifully arranged and geared towards tourism in every price range... Actually, not really our thing but you could easily spend time strolling around, visiting temples, climbing Mount Phousi hill, trying Laotian food, or having a cold beer at the trendy bar 'Utopia' right on the banks of the Nam Khan River. There is also a huge night market where you can find really nice things, so it's not as shabby as in other cities. We would say Luang Prabang is a nice mix of a village and a big city, so it has a pleasantly manageable size.

Yoga is not widely practiced in Laos because it is not really part of the culture like in India or Thailand, so there are only limited offers in Luang Prabang or Vientiane, or you can do multi-day yoga retreats in the area. Sergi and I did a yoga class in the morning at 7:30 am right on the banks of the Nam Khan River at sunrise... Great location and a nice hour :).

To get out of the city, we rented a Honda and drove with two girls we met here to the Kuang Si Waterfall, about 30 km away... Woooow folks!!! We have already seen many waterfalls on our trip, but this one really blew us away. This giant waterfall with its clear, cool, turquoise water and natural pools is amazing! You just want to jump in and never leave! You can walk along the waterfall, bathe in a small secluded pool at the top, or visit a small cave... I think we spent 5 hours here and would have stayed longer if we hadn't eventually gotten hungry (the food within the area is quite expensive!).

After a week, we had enough of the Luang Prabang air and considered whether we wanted to go further North or continue the typical route to the South... We chose the unconventional way and drove 140 km to Nong Khiaw in the North. The right decision! Here you experience the original Laos and its beautiful nature still quite authentically! The small village is picturesque on the Nam Ou River between towering karsts and lush green jungle. 

The roads around it are hardly developed... when driving with a scooter, you drive on dusty paths, small shaky bridges, or directly through the creek. 

Here we met Mr. Boullit in a small village while looking for a cold cola. He runs a homestay where tourists can stay and experience the local life of the Laotians for a few nights on guided tours. A very sweet guy who proudly showed us his small marijuana plants and gave us super nice homemade Lao Lao glasses made of bamboo pipes as a gift... The unplanned experiences are always the best!

In the small villages we passed through, the children and locals are even happy to see a 'farang' ... very different from Thailand, where most of the country is already accustomed to tourism.

In contrast, Laos is still relatively untouched and outside the touristy cities, you will only find a few locals who speak English or kids who own a smartphone. Even in Luang Prabang, the English-speaking proportion is very low, but especially the children and teenagers are eager to learn new languages. There is a social organization in LP called 'Big Brother Mouse' that gives children and adults the opportunity to learn different languages through conversations. As a tourist, you can come by in the morning and evening for 2 hours each and talk to the 'students' there. Sergi and I were there one evening too and had a lot of fun chatting with the kids and teenagers about everything under the sun. :)

Continuing the text... In Nong Khiaw, we stayed for another week. We climbed two mountains (the ascent was really steep!) and visited the adjacent Pha Kuang Cave. This is where the locals hid and lived during the war for up to 2 years to escape the American bombings. It already sounds crazy, but if you've actually been inside one of these caves, you can approximately imagine how tough those living conditions must have been. Apart from the high humidity or the lack of air the deeper you go into the cave, it's just pitch dark... it really gives you an eerie feeling. In some places, the cave is only 30 cm narrow, so you have to crawl or squeeze through holes. I don't have claustrophobia, but without Sergi's motivation, I would have turned back halfway for sure. We survived and were covered in mud and dust from top to bottom. ;)

What kept us in Nong Khiaw for so long was dear Sepp... A Swiss guy who has been living in Laos for 6.5 years and runs a restaurant in the village. Through him, we learned a lot about the culture, the gossip in the village, and also the dark sides of the country. Thanks to him, we even had the opportunity to participate in a family celebration. Sepp is fully integrated into society and speaks fluent Lao, which means he is invited to every celebration in the village. The celebration was held in honor of the family's deceased mother. During the day, a monk from the neighboring monastery came and prayed for the family's ancestors. Donations are collected for the monastery... e.g. money or donations such as a fan, pens, blankets, or notebooks. All guests sit together, pray, eat, or chat. At the beginning, we felt a bit awkward and didn't even dare to take pictures, but everyone was interested in us and welcomed us with open arms. In the evening, there was food, music, and dancing until the early morning hours. No alcohol is consumed on this day, but there is still a small corner where beer and Lao Lao are on the table or you pour the schnapps into a plastic water bottle ;). The next day, the donations are handed over to the monastery and afterwards, they celebrate and officially unpack the alcohol. Unfortunately, we had already left by then and didn't get to see everything from the celebration... but we are very grateful to Sepp for taking us along and letting us experience it.

Since we had no desire to go to Vang Vien or Vientiane, we continued south to Thakhek to ride the famous 'Thakhek Loop'. We were on the road for a total of about 20 hours with a sleeping bus and a regular bus. Thakhek itself doesn't have much to offer, but the Loop is really beautiful. The roads are well-developed and you can enjoy the surrounding landscape, and it's always great when the dusty wind blows through your nose. The goal of the approximately 500 km long route is the famous Konglor Cave. For 65,000 kip per person (6.50 euros), you ride on a motorized wooden raft for 7 km over the river that leads directly through the cave. Sergi, of course, enjoyed the ride the most. ;)

When we returned to Thakhek after 4 days, we looked for accommodation, which is really not easy there because everything in our budget is run-down. Therefore, we decided to take the night bus to the 4000 Islands that evening.

About 500 km later, we arrived in the idyllic and hot Don Det... a completely different Laos! The original remains and combines with a paradisiacal island feeling. In the south of Laos, the Mekong River splits into many small rivers between which small islands mostly consisting of bushes or shrubs are located... 3 of these islands are touristy. We rented a nice bungalow right on the river and spend our last week here doing sweet nothing... 

One day, we went on a tour and paddled with kayaks across the Mekong, visited the largest waterfall in Southeast Asia, and observed the last four Irrawaddy dolphins in Laos. It reminded us once again that guided tours are actually not for us... here you can see how many limited and rude tourists are traveling in Asia... We got a really strange group... :p Well, the trip and the impressions were great and somehow the stupidity of other people is sometimes amusing.

Otherwise, we zoom around the island on our bicycles, cool off in the Mekong next to the beautiful water buffalos, eat delicious food, or chill on our terrace in the hammock and read. Sweet happy life... 🌱

The next stop is Cambodia... We are looking forward to it and send lots of warm greetings home!!! ❤️

Peace & Love! Sergi and Mine