Divanun Guide/ Laos

 

The Divanun Guide is a one pager of everything to eat, see, and do in Laos

Historical

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  • VIentiane

    • Patuxai Monument- Historical Landmark

    • Pha That Luang- Historical Gold Stupa

    • Buddha Park- Large park filled with Hindu and Buddhist sculptures

  • Luang Prabang

    • Wat Xieng Thong- Buddhist Temple Complex

Cultural

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  • Vientiane

    • Night Market

  • Vang Vieng

    • Tubing

    • Caving

  • Luang Prabang

    • Sai Bat (Morning Alms)- see buddhist monks collecting offerings

    • Night Market

    • Tat Kuang Si- gorgeous waterfall

Food

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  • Vientiane

    • Jamil Zahid Indian and Pakistani Food- amazing taste of India in this sleepy capitol

    • Food Stalls at the Night Market

  • Vang Vieng

    • Space Bar and Tifalcony Pizza- great place to relax

    • LaungXaiKham Restaurant

  • Luang Prabang

    • Food Stalls at the Night Market

    • Tamarind

Miscellaneous

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  • Transportation

    • Intra City Tuk Tuk’s are the way to go just be sure to hassle

    • Around the country you can easily find buses both local and tourist that will take you where you need to go. Make sure you shop prices because some hostels or bus stations will charge different prices for the same thing

  • Accomodation

    • Vientiane

      • Dream Home Hostel 2- very dingy hostel but also super cheap. Had great atmosphere among other backpackers

    • Vang Vieng

      • Easy Go Hostel- Has an airconditioned dorm that is more modern than the main house. Also the cheapest hostel I ever stayed in all of my travels. It’s a short walk to the main downtown area

  • Next Time

    • I did not get to see the Plain of Jars which looked really cool

    • South of Vientiane is a lot less explored by tourists but still extremely beautiful

Luang Prabang

 

The road to Luang Prabang from Vang Vieng was a bumpy sojourn into the mountains. There was a couple times I was worried the little van we were in wouldn’t make it. And then a couple more times I wasn’t sure my stomach would either. I was beyond happy when we arrived at a rest stop after going up a particularly steep hill. I ambled out of the van and was stunned but the view of the resulting valley below. I was so focused on not vomiting that I barely paid attention to the stunning scenery out of my window.

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When the van pulled into town it dropped us on the side of the road and then sped off. After a couple of false starts we finally found a place to stay and I laid down for a nap. Later that night we met up with our friends at the night market. Luang Prabang had the best market I had seen in all of Laos, especially when it comes to food options. Vang Vieng had mostly restaurants and the street food was mainly relegated to sandwiches. In Vientiane there was a lot more street food but it tasted so much like Thai food I couldn’t get a sense of Laotian cuisine. I played it safe food wise avoiding anything spicy or too exotic, even though that is exactly what I wanted to be eating. My eyes had to do what my stomach couldn’t so I examined all the sweets and cakes that lined the entrance to the food market. As you dove deeper savory foods like sausage and fish were being grilled over hot fires. There was even a vegetarian buffet of different sauces and soups that cost pennies.

After eating we walked around the market and I ran into a couple of people I hadn’t seen since Thailand. We caught each other up on our adventures and then parted ways. The most curious thing sold in the market were trinkets made from the metal found in all the bombs dropped during the Secret War in Laos. I had no idea we found a war in Laos and so when I went and did my research afterwards I was shocked. The US dropped more bombs on Laos then all of Europe during WW2. This isn’t just a problem in Laotian history, those bombings still haunt the Laotians to this day. Children and farm works are being maimed because there are millions of bombs waiting to explode throughout the countryside. Obama gave 90 million dollars to clean up those bombs but more money is needed to provide a safe future for Laotians. Learn more about how you can help at the Halo Trust.

The next day a group of us piled into a tuk tuk and headed to the most spectacular destination in Luang Prabang Tat Kuang Si. Tat means waterfall, Kuang means deer, and Si means dig. There is a legend around these falls which state that they were created when an old man dug a hole into the earth. After the water was summoned a golden deer appeared and made its home under a large rock in the falls. The waterfalls are so beautiful it’s no wonder they are quite literally legendary. With aquamarine water created by the limestone rock Tat Kuang Si is hands down one of the most beautiful natural wonders I’ve ever come across.

When you first arrive at the falls there is a museum dedicated to protecting bears from poachers who want to use their bile to create medicine. There is even a bear sanctuary where bears that have been rescued are free to live the rest of their lives in peace. After you pass the sanctuary you walk along a tree line path until you reach pools filled with bright water. As you go deeper the pools get bigger and the water runs faster. Halfway to the waterfalls there is a section that you can swim in and even a mini waterfall to play under. By the time you get to the end you are standing in front of a 50m waterfall that really takes your breath away. If there’s still air in your lungs you can do a 45 minute hike up to the very top of the falls though it is quite slippery and steep.

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The next day Emmanuel mentioned this event called Sai Bat, morning alms, where the monks walk through the streets taking offernings from locals. I was unsure if I wanted to go because you have to wake up around 5:30/6am. But when Emmanuel’s alarm clock went off that morning I thought why not. The sun was not yet up to warm the air so it was quite chilly but we continued anyway. The locals give sticky rice and candy to the monks who then share everything they get when they return to the temple. It’s a very quiet activity and was a very peaceful way to start my morning. Sadly my day didn’t end as calmly.

My plan was to spend a couple more days in Laos before heading off to Vietnam. I was going to go by land and unfortunately you can’t get a VISA on arrival by land so I had to get a letter from the embassy. I thought my letter could be used at any land border until I asked one of the women who worked at the guest hose what my Vietnamese visa letter stated. I had hoped to be able to take a bus from Luang Prabang into Hanoi since they were a little cheaper then buses I saw in Vientiane. I was told that my visa was only acceptable at one land border crossing (the one closest to Vientiane) and that my visa was for two days from now meaning I had to take a night bus back to Vientiane that day or else I would have to pay money all over again for a new visa. I said goodbye to my friends hoping that I might be able to see them in Vietnam, and then proceeded on my two day two night journey to Vietnam. The highlight/ nightmare would be a 24 hour sleeper bus from Vientiane to Hanoi which I had read a couple of travel blogs called the bus ride to hell.

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Vang Vieng

 

There’s a certain rhythm to backpacking. You show up in a new country, you don’t know anyone, and while you’re in the capitol city you meet people staying in your hostel or through sightseeing. They start out as strangers and then over the short time you travel together they grow into something so much more. While in Vientiane I met a couple of people in my hostel while drinking around the table. The intense heat of the day was still present despite the fact that the sun had already set. Cool beers down our throats helped to give us a respite as well as provide social lubrication. Seeds were planted in Vientiane that blossomed in Vang Vieng.

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I sat on the balcony of my new hostel in Vang Vieng when I heard a familiar voice fill the room. Emmanuel had just come back from caving with another girl that I’d met around the table drinking beers in Vientiane. The intensity of our reunion belied the short time we had known each other. We walked through the small town and had drinks on the Nam Song River. I could see the tiny mountains shrouded behind some mist just beyond the river. While even smaller then Vientiane this town had a much more bustling energy. We ended the night at Tifalcony Pizza relaxing and planning the next day’s adventure.

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The two main things to do in Vang Vieng are tubing down the river, which used to be such a debaucherous activity in the late 90’s and early 2000’s that a couple people died, and the blue lagoons. Tubing is presently a much less ratchet activity after numerous bars along the river were closed. Thankfully we voted on the lagoons because I wasn’t sure I could survive tubing even if I was sober. We wandered the town a bit looking for food and when we saw a monk leave an empty restaurant we knew that was the spot. We were justly rewarded when all the dishes they offered were authentic Laotian dishes. A lot of the other restaurants in town served pizza or other western staples which did not interest me at all. I tried the famous Laotian dish laab and it was so delicious. Laab is a minced meat salad topped with fresh herbs and chili’s and if your mouth isn’t watering at the sound of that I can’t help you. The portion size was huge that there was no way I could finish it all. So as we departed to head to the lagoon I took the rest to go, which I would come to regret.

There are three lagoons in Vang Vieng and after seeing all three I was underwhelmed. Some of the lagoons were super tiny and others just weren’t that appealing visually. However my favorite part of the trip came as we were leaving the last lagoon. It started to rain suddenly and we ran to our tuk tuk before we got drenched. The rain stopped just as suddenly as it began and in the distance the light broke through the clouds and illuminated the mountains to beautifully. Just when we thought the scene couldn’t get any more beautiful a rainbow appeared. Our spell was broken as the rain reappeared and we piled into the tuk tuk. On the way back to the town we started singing songs from the top of our lungs.

After Thailand I wasn’t sure I would find another travel crew that I really connected with but that trip back to the city was pure unfiltered joy and connection. The next day we kept it chill before heading off Luang Prabang. All was well until my stomach started to feel uneasy in the evening. I left the bar early to lie down but the laab I had taken to go with no way to refrigerate gave me food poisoning. We had planned to take the earliest bus out that morning but I was in no shape to go anywhere. I told the rest of the crew to go ahead but Emmanuel stayed behind to take a later bus with me. We had only known each other for a couple days but the fact that he offered to stay with me really proved the connection was real.

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Vientiane

 

 My return from the islands ended the first part of my Thailand adventure. When I arrived back in Bangkok I bought a train ticket to Nong Khai a city which bordered Laos. From Bangkok the train headed North and then West. Packed urban landscapes transformed into rural countryside outside my window. Small cities and towns clustered around the train tracks. When I first boarded the train some woman came by carrying fruit and soda. As the train continued the dishes became more and more elaborate until around dinner time a man walked through the train aisle with a chicken spatchcocked and roasted over a fire. The ride took a total of 10 hours and when we arrived at Nong Khai the sun had set on my last day in Thailand. I hopped in a tuk tuk and made the short trip to the border. I got my exit stamp out of Thailand and then road a bus across the border into Laos. I wasn’t sure what was waiting for me on the other side but I thrived in Thailand and I knew I would thrive in Laos as well.

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When I was looking up things to do in Vientiane not much came up. It has a reputation as being one of the “sleepiest” capitals not just in SE Asia but the world. I wandered the night markets after my late night arrival and they did not have the bustling energy I had grown used to in Bangkok. When I woke up the next day I wandered around the downtown area. With a population of around eight hundred thousand people I was able to walk down large parts of the city without seeing anyone. The streets seemed to never know the weight of traffic- the air free of congestion.

Vientiane has a number of beautiful temples, the oldest being Pha That Luang which i didn’t get to see, but through my wanderings i stumbled across some beautiful sculptures and temples celebrating Buddha. The architecture had slight differences from what I had seen in Thailand. It’s clear that Lao and Thailand are like sibling nations.

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The crown jewel of the city for me has to be the Patuxai, a war monument built between 1957-1968. It is dedicated to everyone who died fighting the French during the struggle for independence. I loved sitting under it and examining the details in the ceiling. Vientiane was a very relaxing entry into the country of Laos, I had one more excursion around this capitol before I headed north to continue my journey.

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