Our home for the next three nights is Villa Malinda in Luang Prabang, a little family run hotel with a lovely feel to it and welcoming staff. There are rich polished wood floors and the property feels very loved. Our room is not large but has a certain charm and more importantly a good shower and balcony. It is located on what would be a quiet backstreet if it were not for the shops opposite. More on that later…. It is an easy five minute stroll from the town centre.
Luang Prabang was listed in 1995 as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. No buildings can be more than two storeys so the town has a more rustic and authentic feel to it. It is not a huge town but still bigger than I expected.
We have a couple of hours lazing and freshening up in the room before heading out to explore the town. Our aim is to find the night market and sample some street food but en route we are distracted by a cool looking bar where we can sit under trees outside and drink cocktails. The trip has been quite full on and we are very ready for some R&R.
Sleeping initially is tricky as people in the bar opposite are very drunk; shouting and singing and the local dog population decides to join in too. Apparently one of the guys takes all his clothes off although we were fortunate enough to not actually witness that. Eventually things quieten down and we have a good night’s sleep.
In the morning there is a visit to the small ethnology museum, where we learn about local culture. The different tribes, costumes and lifestyle.
Our next stop is at Ock Pop Tok which means East meets West in Lao. It was founded by women and is run by women for the women of Laos to preserve the textile traditions of Laos. It is situated on the bank of The Mekong and we have time to drink a smoothie and admire the scenery before commencing the tour.
The artisans work mainly with silk, cotton, hemp and piet (a type of string made by scraping the bark of a jungle vine, drying it and twisting the lengths together. Bags and purses are made out of it. We learn how each of the textiles is made – from plant to finished product, how the different coloured dyes are made and then watch weavers at work. The weaving is intricate and an extremely skilful process.
A Willis Jeep is parked outside and Paul very much wants to take it home with him!
Our lunch is prepared by the women in the local community. Firstly they greet us with a traditional Baci Welcome ceremony.
The crux of the ceremony is to invoke the kwan, which in specific terms is explained as:
Wikipedia
An ancient belief in Laos that the human being is a union of 32 organs and that the kwan watch over and protect each one of them. It is of the utmost consequence that as many kwan as possible are kept together in the body at any one time. Since all kwan is often the attributed cause of an illness, the baci ceremony calls the kwan or souls from wherever they may be roaming, back to the body, secures them in place, and thus re-establishes equilibrium.
The ritual of the Baci involves tying strings around a person’s wrist to preserve good luck, and has become a national custom. We are told to keep the strings on for three days and they must not be cut off, but untied, otherwise it will bring bad luck.
Lunch is plentiful and tasty.
After lunch we drive to Kuang Si Waterfall. It is quite crowded and my expectations are not high but it turns out to be a real highlight. Some people swim in the pools but we decide not to and just absorb the beauty of the falls. The late afternoon sunshine filters through the trees and gives a wonderful light to the scenery.
Sundowners are taken at a bar on the shores of The Mekong. It is very rustic as are most places in Laos. The drinks are good and the view is wonderful.
We explore the night street market and then head back to last night’s bar for some escapism from the milling crowds.
A free day sees us heading off to the spa in the nearby up market hotel for a massage. It is a quite a few steps up in quality from our accommodation with swanky cars to transport guests around town.
The massage is very good indeed and we come back feeling totally relaxed. We laze the day away, which is most welcome and then a group of us head off to Gaspard (a classy French restaurant) for a much needed change from rice and noodles. The food is excellent, though expensive by Laos standards.
We say goodbye to Chiang Mai and take the new fast train to Vang Vieng. It is now only an hour long journey compared to previously taking seven hours by road. The service was launched on 13 April 2023 and provides a 1000km high-speed rail link between Kunming in China and Ventiane the capital of Laos. The new station seems overly grand and large.
The terminal in Vang Vieng is similarly grand so we are expecting great things of the town. What a complete juxtaposition of the two. The town is a rather dirty and unappealing backpackers resort. I have been to some pretty dire places in my life and this is right down there with them. Our hotel is actually OK – modern with large rooms and a rooftop pool (on a fairly unattractive rooftop) but with good views. There is also a rooftop restaurant but when we went at midday it was being used as a laundry with sheets draped over every piece of available furniture. Not something I’ve seen in a hotel before. There are also fish ponds by the hotel entrance with the largest koi carp I have ever seen at 20-24” long.
So why come to Vang Vieng? Well the scenery is just stunning. Huge limestone pinnacles tower over the pretty Nam Song River and there are lots of adrenalin fuelled activities: zip lining, hang gliding, hot air balloons, kayaking, tubing and more.
Early morning and late afternoon sees lots of balloons being launched. It is quite a spectacle.
The town comes alive at night. There are numerous bars and restaurants and a lot of loud music, but also quieter venues and we found very good restaurants on both nights that we stayed here. Unfortunately Paul could not partake in any activities here as he had picked up a stomach bug so confined to quarters. How lucky that we are not travelling and he has time to recover.
One of the optional activities here is the adrenalin package, which probably half the group opt for. We start by kayaking on the Nam Song River. We get kitted up and are given a short briefing, which mainly focuses on what to do if you capsize. I hope that is not going to happen!
I thought this would be pretty easy but there were some tricky sections of river. The water level was low and there are lots of rocks and small rapids and apparently people do frequently capsize but none of our group do . I share a kayak with our guide Puna. Experienced guides escort us down the river and get out to help us on the difficult bits.
The river is so beautiful and tranquil and on the stretches without rapids I can soak up the view.
There are certain occasions when steering is an issue and we have some close encounters with the bank, but survive without capsizing.
90 minutes later we are once more on dry land. It’s nice to stretch my legs! We cross a bridge and look back down the river. We are amused to watch people who have run aground on rocks mid-stream and their antics to extricate themselves.
Next we visit Angel Caves which are not large but have some nice stalagmites and stalactites.
Then we enter the wet caves. We are given head torches, sit in rubber tubes and pull ourselves through the cave system by holding onto ropes and kicking our feet against the cave walls. It is great fun.
Lunch is barbecued kebabs, rice, bread and fruit which is tasty and hits the spot after the morning’s activities.
In the afternoon we have a scenic drive to the Blue Lagoon to meet the rest of the group who did not kayak. It is a rather underwhelming place. The tall limestone peaks cast shadow over the pool and the sitting areas are set below corrugated iron roofing. It is dour and dusty. Below is the marketing photograph but it did not look like that.
I am sure in the sunshine the whole place would have been more appealing. Definitely a place for a morning not afternoon visit.
We say goodbye to Vang Vieng and take a comfortable 2 hour bus ride on the toll road to Vientiane, which is the capital of Laos. Not much to report here really. It is a small city and does not have many things to visit. The hotel is pleasant enough, with small gardens and an attractive frontage.
It is hot 30c plus so we decide to spend the afternoon chilling out by the small hotel pool.
We have a group meal in the evening. We walk to the restaurant. Crossing the roads is interesting. Basically you cross as a group and hope for the best!
The restaurant is large and busy but they are very efficient. There is a huge choice of meals. I select sushi for a complete change. We are meant to head off to a bar afterwards but everyone is tired so we go back to the hotel. Tomorrow we fly to Hanoi. It will be cool, drizzly and frenetic!
