From Chiang Mai to Luang Prabang

We are in Laos! To be precise, we are in northern Laos in a city called Luang Prabang, which (as you can see) is a very nice place.

It took us 3 days to get here from Chiang Mai, but everything went according to plan. We took that bus from Chiang Mai to Chiang Khong, slept for 3 hours, and then took that longtail boat from Chiang Khong to Huay Xai. The border crossing was a little bit confusing and swarmed with foreigners who were also confused, but we received our visas easily enough. Huay Xai is one of those horribly depressing border towns and the heavy rains didn't help either. We had been hanging out with 3 American girls who wanted to take the bus to Vang Vieng (that great river town between Luang Prabang and capital city Vientiane where the main goal, I believe, is to ride a tube downstream while holding a beer in one hand and a joint in the other), and we were almost convinced to also take a bus, but eventually we stuck to our original idea and took the slow boat. This turned out to be a good idea, because it was a really nice way to travel - we were able to take it slow, enjoy our surroundings and meet lots of other travelers. The wind made it pleasantly cool on the boat and halfway we were able to stay in a REALLY nice hotel in Pak Beng where I almost cried when I saw the wooden bed frames, AC and immaculate bathroom with a toilet that can flush (not to be dramatic or anything).


traveling from Chiang Khong, Thailand to Huay Xai, Laos via longtail boat


about to board our slowboat from Huay Xai to Luang Prabang


our view from the slowboat for 2 days






coming ashore for a night at Pak Beng, halfway between Huang Xai and Luang Prabang

We have only been in Luang Prabang for 1 day, but we adore it already. First of all, there hasn't been any rain - we are currently enjoying blue skies, sunshine and 30 degree Celcius weather. The Lao people are incredibly nice. Although the Tai people are also very nice, I think that they tend to be a little bit more formal, while the Lao are really easy to talk to (despite the fact that their English isn't as good). Moreover, the city is just so relaxed - there is hardly any traffic and the traffic that is here, moves slowly. Everything and everyone seems to move slowly. The city houses an interesting mixture of crumbling French mansions and shiny temples. There are a lot of orange-robed monks in the streets.

Plus: I have already found my new sanctuary in this city in the form of the Saffron Cafe. This cafe has a view over the Mekong river and has beautiful wooden furniture inside. The staff are incredibly helpful, filling my complimentary glass of water every 5 minutes, and smiling at us from the back. You can order all sorts of fresh dishes, such as the French toast with banana and mango that I had for breakfast this morning. It gets it coffee from hill tribe villagers whom the owner has personally helped to move from growing opium to growing coffee beans. In other words, it is a place with a heart. Just my kind of place.


view over the Mekong river from the Saffron Cafe


interior view of the Saffron Cafe

And because we like Laos so much, and just because we can, we decided not to hop to crazy Cambodia straight away, but to stay a little while longer. And so it came to be that during the heat of the day, we made our way to the Lao Airlines office and purchased 2 one-way tickets from Luang Prabang to Pakse, in southern Laos, so that can we spend a couple of days in Si Phan Don, also known as Four Thousand Islands.

I think that Laos and I will end up very happy together.

If you'd like to see more pictures of our world trip, check out our picture gallery here!