My Egg Noodles

My first trip to Laos 

I wrote this after my first trip to Loas, since then I have revisited around 10-15 times. After returning, there are a few notes I want to add which you may find useful:

• There is only one disco in Vientiane – It’s located in the big hotel along the river.

• You can not bring girls back to hotel rooms as it’s illegal for a foreigners to date Lao ladies

• Mali Namphu Gueshouse is where to stay in Vientiane. I checked out 4 other guest houses when I arrived and none matched the price and comfort as this hotel.

• Flights to Lamp Prabang from Vientaine are cheaper this time around: $62 one way including tax. This sure beats the 10 hour bus journey!

• By far the best restaurant to experience Lao food is Indochine (the image of me eating below was taken at the Indochine)

• I had some spare time one afternoon so decided to visit Beer Lao factory. If you go in and ask, they will give you a tour of the factory, plus a free bottle of Beer Lao. I’ve not seen this advertised anywhere, and I was the only person there… If you are bored one afternoon, I recommend checking it out.

Laos is a beautiful country, it really is. Many people describe Laos as Thailand once was 20 years ago, and I couldn’t agree more (Although I didn’t go to Thailand 20 years ago, but can get the idea). Apart from Laos being undeveloped, stunningly beautiful and cheap, the main attraction is the Lao people. Lao people are the most friendly bunch of people I have ever come across, continually smiling, will go out of there way to help you and will not try and rip you off, like most over South East Asian countries. Laos is a truly magical place, a place I can see myself returning to often sooner rather than later. I fear tourism will kill the good hearted spirit of the people and the overall buzz of the place. All good things must come to an end they say, and it will do for Laos.

I started from Bangkok, flying to Udon Thani (North Eastern Thailand) using Air Asia (Asia’s low cost airline). My single flight was around 1200B (£18) Inside Udon Thani airport there is a counter that sells Bus tickets to The Friendship Bridge, the Thai/Laos border for 200B (£3) which took around an hour and a half. Once we arrived at the Friendship Bridge we cleared immigration and boarded a bus that took us over the bridge for 40B (55p) Not many falang (Foreigner) take this route so I was the only falang on the bus, which I prefer. Upon arriving in Laos after the 10minute bus journey over the bridge, I paid for my visa ($31) Just a note on the visa: Everywhere I read before leaving my trip said that immigration at the Laos side only accepted US Dollars, so I spent 2 hours running around Bangkok looking to change my Baht into Dollars, however they do accept Thai Baht with no problems. I then got a Tuk Tuk to our hotel in Vientiane (The capitol of Laos).

I stayed at the Mali Namphu Guesthouse in Vientiane which I recommend (600B, £8). The rooms are small, have hot shower and TV. Breakfast is included which was very good, pork and cheese sandwich or Banana Pancake the first day and the following day I had Eggs, bread and jam. The guest house is in a perfect location, right in the centre of everything.

We stayed in Vientiane for 2 nights exploring the city, visiting Temples and eating at the many excellent quality restaurants and cafe’s. In a good looking French restaurant, I opted for the set menu, Soup, steak and new potatoes with 3 sauces and a fruit platter which cost the equivalent to £4. The many bakeries here are good too, better than in Bangkok in my opinion.

After I felt I had visited everything worth seeing in Vientiane, I boarded the bus to Vang Vieng (We booked the bus via the guest house for 200B, around £3) The bus took 3.5 hours.

In Vang Vieng I decided to stay at the Xayoh River Side Bungalows at 1000B (£14), the bungalow was clean but didn’t have hot water as promised. I also got an electric shock by turning off the light which pissed me off. I have to admit that I did expect more from this hotel as it was one of the more expensive places in Vang Vieng.

Vang Vieng had the same feel as Kho Phang Nang in Thailand, many restaurants with TV’s showing Movies. Now, I’m here to explor the country, not to see a movie! So what’s there to do in Vang Vieng? There are many Caves to explore and have many activities along the river such as Canoeing and hiking. Click Here to view a map og Vang Vien. Unfortunately it was raining so there were wasn’t anything happening on the river so that just left watching movies in the restaurants or going to explore the caves. I decided to move onto Luang Prabang, which was formally the capitol of Laos.

I booked a VIP bus via a travel agent in the town, a mini bus with 12 seats at 350B (£5). The journey lasted 6.5 hours, which a few stops here and there. This was my first long bus journey, and it was a nightmare. So cramped and so bored for 6.5 hours, although the scenery was the positive point. It was stunningly beautiful high up in the mountain, driving through the clouds.

By the time we arrived in Laung Prabang I was feeling sick, tired and stressed with sitting in that small uncomfortable chair for so long. I got a Tuk Tuk to the centre of town and looked at many guest houses for somewhere to stay. I fount a nice room behind an internet Cafe (I forgot the name) for 400B (£4)

Luang Prabang is my favorite city/town in Laos, it is beautiful and stress fee. Many locals and falang on bicycles, cafe’s with seating outside and the Mekong River to enjoy. I spent 3 days here exploring the city and could have easily done more. This was the point where I had to end my trip short as I didn’t realise there are no ATM’s in Laos. With little money left I decided to get the speed boat to the Thai/Laos Boarder (Huay Xai/ Chiang Khong) The speed boat cost me 1250B (£18) I got picked up from my guest house at 7.30 to make my way to the pier. at 8.30 we boarded the little long tail speed boat and off we went. I can not even try to explain the size of my space within the boat, I’m guessing 1 or maximum 1.5 meter’s square. It was the worst part of my trip. 6 hours of the noisy engine at the rear of the boat and the uncomfortable little space made it very stressful. I just couldn’t get comfortable no matter how hard I tried. We stopped off twice along the way which was a great opportunity to stretch my legs and get a bite to eat. I’m not really sure where the boat dropped us off near the boader but I had to get another Tuk Tuk to the boader, which cost me 30B (45p). I got my passport stamped and boarded another boat over to Chiang Khong in Thailand. From Chiang Khong I took a Taxi to Chiang Rai city, which took 1.5 hours at 1200B (£18)

It was good to see the sight of an ATM machine where I drew out some money and got myself something to eat before making my way to Chiang Rai airport. As I had cut my trip short, I bought a ticket at the airport at 1600B (£23) through Air Asia. Upon Arriving in Bangkok I was home and am looking at flights to return soon.

To summarise:

Vientiane is well wroth a visit.
I would check to see if the activities on the river are open in Veng Vieng. If they are not, I would skip this town.
Luang Prabang is my favorite, so would visit this city every time I visited Laos.
I would not get the Speed Boat down the Mekong River to the Thai Boarder again. If you want to take this route, use the slow boat which takes 2 days stopping for a night in Pak Beng.

If you just want to sample Laos and get a good feel of the county, I recommend:

From Bangkok, take the same route to Vientiane as I did via Udon Thani. It takes an extra 2 hours this way but you save so much money as proposed to flying direct from Bangkok to Vientiane.
If you like water activities or exploring caves, visit Veing Vang. If you don’t like sporting activities/caves and have the money, I recommend flying to Luang Prabang. The only negative here is missing out on the views, you have to decide whether the views are worth 6 hours on a bus.
From Luang Prabang take the slow boat down the Mekong if you like views or are tight for money. If seeing the same view for 6 hours will bore you, and have an extra £30-£50, fly into Bangkok from Luang Prabang using either Bangkok Airways or Lao Aviation.

My next trip:

I plan to fly direct into Luang Prabang and explore more of this beautiful city. Then I shall do some trekking in Luang Nam Tha, a huge national park with tribal people. There is so much to explore in Laos, which is why I think I will be returning often.

Food:

When I think of the food from my trip 3 thoughts come to my head straight away: Beer Laos, Bread and Laap.

Beer Laos is arguably the best beer in South East Asia, which I couldn’t agree more on.
Bread – French stick loafs are available everywhere!
Laap – Laap and Beer Laos are like Pees and carrots, or like a cigarette in the morning with a coffee, or like red wine and bread. The go so well together. Laap comes in either Fish, Pork, Chicken, Buffalo or Beef. I prefer the beef. The meat is minced mixed with mint, lemon grass and many other herbs. It’s very refreshing!

Western Food is sold everywhere in the main tourist cities/towns.