Travel blog: Laos north to south

Anna Kainberger is taking a year-out from her career to travel in south-east Asia, Australasia and the South Pacific, along with Hawaii and the USA. This month she will be reporting from Laos and Cambodia. Here is her fifth blog entry:

I took nearly a month to travel through Laos, having arrived in Luang Prabang after a rather straining slow boat trip, I took a couple of days to recover and soak in the beautiful French colonial architecture and some of the sights in town.

I was not the only one mind you, as Luang Prabang is a world heritage site and has developed into a rather busy holiday destination for a lot of westerners as well as Americans.

Things to go and see around Luang Prabang range from mountain caves to waterfalls, you can arrange jungle treks and go visit Burmese refugee camps, learn how to make traditional flower paper or just take in the beautiful surroundings.

Just wandering about town with a camera to take snaps of the old colonial French buildings or climbing up Phu Si hill either at sunrise or sunset is a nice little half-day activity.

Luang Prabang is nestled between the Mekong and Nam Khan rivers and is rich in Lao heritage and culture. Accommodation ranges from $4-$35 to suit pretty much any budget and level of convenience.

The town boasts several daytime and night markets where you can buy beautiful handmade bed throws, scarves and silver jewellery, t-shirts, clothing and other hand made souvenirs. The stalls will be manned by fairly tough and sometimes very young (12 years and less) negotiators, but bargaining and shopping for some traditional Lao crafts to bring home is definitely worth it.

For me four days of Luang Prabang was enough and I was keen to either head west to the Plain of Jars or south to the (sadly) very famous traveller's spot of Vang Vieng.

In the end I flipped a coin and Vang Vieng it was, I took a tuk-tuk at seven am to go to the Southern Bus terminal ($1) and bought a VIP ticket ($8.50) to go down to Vang Vieng what turned out to be a rather beautiful and adventurous bus journey.

Bus tickets vary, so make sure you know what you are looking for when purchasing a ticket in either one of the many travel agencies in town or when heading to the bus station on your own.

I was actually hoping to take the local bus (cheapest and chances of meeting some real Lao people higher) but ended up with a VIP ticket (quicker a bit more expensive, but then you have air con and more toilet breaks).

Going through the Lao countryside on narrow and curvy mountain roads for me was an adventure in itself. Every village you pass through the children will wave at you, if you stop they want to talk to you and some of the mountain views down into the next valley are just breathtaking.

Seven hours later I arrived in Vang Vieng which has developed into a backpacker haven over the last couple of years.

Famous for tubing, rock climbing, kayaking and last but not least its various pubs and bars offering all sorts of happy shakes and meals while playing endless loops of Friends, Family Guy or other movies makes it a busy place bustling with young travellers looking for some recreational fun.

I ended up staying in a simple but clean bamboo hut overlooking the river ($3.50) and decided that I simply had to try tubing, as it sounded too much fun to be missed.

Imagine yourself floating down a slow flowing river in a huge tractor tube - enjoying sunshine, water and the stunning scenery of the impressive mountains surrounding the Nam Song River, a Lao beer in one hand and maybe a waterproof camera in the other: pure relaxation.

Though it gets better, Lao people built simple bars and pubs along the way and will throw you a rope and pull you into their little party booth - offering drinks, snacks, buckets (plastic buckets filled with alcohol and mixers) and towers or swings from which you can take jumps into the river to freshen up or simply to show off.

At the bigger places you fill find all sorts of music playing, beach volleyball facilities, volley football facilities and yet more drinks.

Though be careful, the sun goes down rather quick in Laos and making it back to the main exit in the centre of town by 17.30 seems easy, but once you had a few beers it will most likely be a tuk-tuk back into town. Also, drinking and water do not always mix well and several people die each year from irresponsible behaviour on the river.

Vang Vieng also offers a number of mountain caves which you can explore either by yourself or with a guide, climbing courses and facilities, kayaking or mountain biking into the very green and still fairly untouched surroundings.

From Vang Vieng it is not very far into the Lao capital of Vientiane, three hours on another bus and you will find yourself back in reality, no more friends or happy shakes, a real city nestled against the Mekong with stunning sunset views into the Thai skyline on the other side of the river.

Vientiane itself for me was a mere stopover to enjoy some very good food and drinks by the river before heading further south as I wanted to make it to the 4,000 Islands for Christmas.

From Vientiane you have the best options to either cross over the Friendship Bridge back into Thailand, board a bus to Vietnam or go further south to reach Cambodia.

If you fancy heading into Vietnam prepare yourself for a long bus ride and also make sure that you sort out your visa at the Vietnamese Embassy, as you will not be able to arrange visas on entry for Vietnam by bus.

I opted for a VIP overnight bus to Pakse, (eight hours) from where it was another three hours on the local bus to reach the biggest of the 4,000 Islands, Don Khon.

This was the first time I took an overnight bus and I have to say it was much better than I had expected. We even had blankets and movies showing, before the lights went off, as well as snacks and water provided to us for dinner and breakfast.

Arriving in Pakse at six am in the morning and changing into a tuk-tuk to take you to the bus station serving the 4,000 Islands was certainly an interesting experience.

The Tuk-tuk drivers make a run for you, as it is their chance to make a few dollars early in the morning and it can be a bit straining when six people talk to you at once to negotiate a price, trying to undercut each other, while still making a profit.

Travelling alone brings plenty of opportunities to meet new people. And it is often when you get off a bus in the middle of nowhere that you make new friends when sharing a tuk-tuk or taxi to your end destination, so do not be shy and start talking to some people, it is much more fun, plus when no one speaks English: at least you can laugh about the fact that there is a chicken on the seat next to you with fellow travellers.

I arrived on Don Khon at around 11 am and decided to stay overnight to get some rest before heading to Don Dhet the main traveller island on Si Pan Don.

Read Anna's last blog entry