#  >  > Travellers Tales in Thailand and Asia >  >  > Laos Forum >  >  Luang Prabang to Vientiane with Pops

## mobs00

I took this trip with my Dad in November 2007. He had come to stay with me for 3 months and as I had never been to Luang Prabang before we decided that would be a good place to start.


  I momentarily thought the slow boat would be nice but decided against it. There really is only 2 options of getting to LB: an expensive flight or a slow and grueling 2 day trip on a floating sardine can packed with backpackers. We took the flight. We left Chiang Mai on Laos Airlines and an hour later we were in Luang Prabang.



^ Flying into LP


    I got my first laugh of the trip when we were going through immigration. You get a 30 day visa and depending on where you are from the cost is around $35. So were waiting in line and here are the Canadians bitching about the cost! Why? Because Canadians have to pay $50 and Americans only $35!

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## mobs00

We walked around town for a bit looking for places to stay. Seems that they have plenty of accommodation but all we found were high end, $50+ per night and low end under $20. I talked my dad into staying at the low end place just to give him a crash course on living on the cheap.

  Here are a few pics of the Mekong. It was crap weather we had and was raining or drizzling the entire time. It was also quite cold, something I didn't pack for.

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## mobs00

LPB seems to be full of the rich European travelers. Everywhere you turned there were couples dressed up as the Steve Irwin family like they are some modern day Stanley and Livingston out to explore the new world.

  LPB is also full of cafes and artsy shops; crap like that. Needless to say it wasn’t really my kind of place so off we went to look for the nightlife.


    We found this great Tuk Tuk driver and he was our guide for the night. I told him to take us to a bar or club and our first stop was the local bowling alley. Turns out he is quite good. He acted like he didn’t know how to play at first then saw we could hit the pins and started cleaning the floor with us.





   We also went to one disco and some type of lounge bar. There is some nightlife but it is few and far between and not in the city. We drove for about 15-20 minutes before finding any bars. Most of the girls speak no English and the Laos guys constantly forget to smile in your direction. 



The town also closes down at like 10pm. I had to bang on the door of the guesthouse for 10 minutes before the guy woke up and let us in.

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## mobs00

The next day we went out to see some temples.

  The entire town of LPB is a world heritage site due to the many old temples and history of the city. The most famous temple is Wat Xieng Thong built in 1560, previously a royal temple.



^ This house some royal Buddhas and other items

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## mobs00

The temple grounds consists of about 3 structures and the main temple has some pretty impressive artwork. 






^ this scene was very intricate and depicted different aspects of life in LPB back in the 16th and 17th century.


Below I believe is the tree of life also impressive when the light hits it just right and reflects off of the ceramic and glass.

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## mobs00

One thing I noticed was the state of disrepair of the buildings interior. Seems they dont make any effort to restore or even clean this important monument. Every visitor pays 20,000 kip so there should be some maintenance going on.





^ Some Royal artifacts.




If you like temples Luang Prabang is a great place. I have seen plenty in my time so a few hours was enough for me. I found the town to be quite boring; not just the nightlife but the lack of decent food or even a nice place to have a beer. Laos food is really bland and boring and the attempts at "western" food fall far short of even the Thais interpretation.


I will say though the Beer Lao was good and the fish is recommended.

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## mobs00

The next day we were off on what we were told was a 3-4 hour bus ride to Vang Vieng. 

  I will never take this bus again!!!! The Fckn bus from hell! I dont know how many of you have ever experienced sea sickness. I used to do a fair bit of fishing in the Atlantic off New England and have had my share. The feeling is indescribable. The misery, pain, all you want to do is throw yourself off the boat. Once you get it there is no cure except to get off the boat.









  Well I got seasick on this bus. Probably due to being hungover and the winding, curving, ups and downs, potholes, bumps, I dont know how but I got it. And the buss will stop right? Pee break? Nope. No stops. A horrible 6 hours of feeling like sh_t. My father had a great time teasing me though and I was not happy. I said in not so kind words that if I spew he is going to be in the line of fire.

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## mobs00

^     The scenery was nice though when I managed to open my eyes.

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## mobs00

As we started to descend you can see how the landscape changes from high mountain ridges to steep karst mountains. At this point I knew we were getting close to Vang Vieng and I couldnt wait.

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## mobs00

Finally we arrive in Vang Vieng. This town is about a 3-4 hour bus ride from Vientiane and a great place to come while you are waiting to get your visa processed. I have been a few times before and after this thread I will start another from Vang Vieng to Si Phan Don or the 4000 islands in the south near Cambodia.





The entire region is covered with countless caves and these karst or limestone mountains. During the war these caves were used as bunkers and most are not even on the map.

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## mobs00

Vang Vieng's real claim to fame though is its crystal clear river. This is the river where you rent an inner tube and float on down the river stopping at makeshift restaurants and bars along the way.


^ German gay friendly!  :yerman: 

^ This is the launch point. As you can see the river was quite high this time of year. It only takes about 1.5 hours to go down the river when its like this. On the other hand when its slow it can take 6 hrs with lots of paddling. Both I've done.

The way it works is you rent a tube for about $4 and this includes a ride to the river. They drop you off and you just walk down to the water and float away.




You can also rent waterproof bags for $2. Which is highly recommended.

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## mobs00

There are loads of stops along the way. Here is a small restaurant and beer stop.




The river during this time of year is free from the scourge that plague this part of Laos: The Backpacker. My next thread will show this in more detail.




^ It was so quite on the river. Although as you can see they are planning mass development for this area. I was just here 6 months before and during this time the amount of development was noticeable.

If you want to see it in all its beauty you'd better get here quick as it will not last. The signs of mass development are everywhere.

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## reinvented

that looks ace
ive done the overland trip on the back of a tobacco wagon, murder it was
but didnt stop at vang vieng

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## mobs00

This is one of the many recreational stops. You can get drunk as a skunk climb 25 feet up a rickety bamboo platform and swing off into the river with no idea whats below of if the Laos engineering will hold!

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## mobs00

The trip ends at Vang Vieng itself so it is only a short walk back to the guesthouse.

  Nightlife here is also lacking but there are freelancers and a brothel in town. 

  The food is better here than Luang Prabang and the bars stay open late. Mushy shakes and smoke are available but I wouldn’t trust them. Two friends of mine were pinched for possession here and had to make an early run for the border leaving all their belongings behind. The cops brought them to the station and told them to go and get $2000 if they wanted to stay out of jail! They went back to the room and in the morning made a run for it. Got away clean as it was most likely a set up but still, not fun.

  Tomorrow we will be caving.

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## Topper

Great thread!   Thanks!

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## klongmaster

Good stuff...I love especially the 'floating down the river' part...reminds me of younger days back home...except that South Island rivers are a bit colder than what you experienced...

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## Seekingasylum

> but the lack of decent food or even a nice place to have a beer. Laos food is really bland and boring and the attempts at "western" food fall far short of even the Thais interpretation.
> 
> 
> I will say though the Beer Lao was good and the fish is recommended.


You have to be kidding, right?

The whole point of LP is the easy charm of the place which has an atmosphere of tranquility and peace doubtless generated in part by the many temples and hundreds of monks in training. The pace never seems to exceed the flow of the Mekong alongside which is lined by any number of unpretentious outdoor cafes offering chilled 600ml bottles of Lao Beer. 

Having exhausted the charms of lazy daytime drinking amid Conradian tropical scenery one repairs to the excellent Villa Santi resort for a late afternoon snooze in wood panelled luxury and airconditioned refinement. Thus refreshed and suitably douched one may take an evening stroll about the town before ambling into the L'Elephant restaurant for cocktails and some of the best European food to be found in the most unlikely of locations.

The place was (is?) co owned by an expat Laotian returned from France and his French business partner who evidently knew their craft.The food was excellent and featured some of the best steaks I have enjoyed outside of Paris. The bar is sensibly placed and designed in the traditional manner that promotes conversation among strangers. Prices are reasonable but I suspect may be challenging to those on a budget. The clientele on my visit mercifully excluded the stupid and ignorant so characteristically found practically anywhere in Thailand and so my time spent there was most agreeable. 
Think of Noel Coward and a touch of Somerset Maugham and you will get a rough idea of the style of the place on a good night particularly when the rains are falling.

Frankly, I can think of no better retreat when the rigours of Bankok begin to pall.

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## Marmite the Dog

> any number of unpretentious outdoor cafes


So you didn't enjoy them then?  :Confused:

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## Seekingasylum

I rather think the moronic comment thread is taking place elsewhere.

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## mobs00

> Think of Noel Coward and a touch of Somerset Maugham and you will get a rough idea of the style of the place on a good night particularly when the rains are falling.


No offense Gent, but as I said before the place is crap. The snobby well to do Brits that infested the place really put me off. And the arty, stuck up folk on the $4000 week long tour to see "remote and untouched" Asia were a bunch of twats. I really wish I would have got a pic of the many couples in matching expedition gear. They really thought they were headed into the unknown. 

I couldn't wait to leave.

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## Seekingasylum

None taken chum but one wonders what experience has provoked your prejudice.

Or is it just a dreary class thing?

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## mobs00

We get up bright and early the next morning and go and rent some peddle bikes. My father wanted to rent a motorbike but due to previous experience renting them in VangVieng and having it breakdown 3 times before I just left it on the side of the road, I decided against it.

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## mobs00

It takes us about an hour to find the right road as there are no legible signs around. So we’re off now and after around 5km of peddling these bikes we see a sign that just says “cave 1 km”. So we follow it to the left. There are so many caves we had no idea which one we were heading to. 

  After about 3 km of peddling down a dry river bed we come to a bamboo shelter with some guy a sleep and two kids no more than 11 years old. We pay the $2 fee and our youg guide brings us up into the mountains. 

  Still following the river bed which has now turned to bedrock heading up to the mountains there is this guy trying to break the stones with just a sledgehammer and iron bar. I think he was trying to make the cave more accessible but geeze, tough work. We also came across some hilltribers transporting goods on there backs and heads going somewhere. 

  About another 1.5-2km of hiking we finally come to the cave entrance.




^ The entrance is just behind me.

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## mobs00

With our seasoned guide we start our spelunking expedition.





  I am really glad we brought our own lights. Our guide had some sort of homemade flashlight attached to what looked like an ATV battery. Some of the time we even had to use the LCD on the camera to give us more light.

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## mobs00

We had no idea what we were getting ourselves into. My father actually had a lot of faith in me. He thought I had done all this before! Yeah right!

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## mobs00

The deeper in we went the smaller the cave got. At first it just got narrow. Thats ok as we can still stand up.

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## mobs00

Now the ceiling starts to shrink to the point where I need to throw the pack ahead; it will no longer fit on my back.




At this point I start asking myself WTF am I doing here. I don't know if any of you have seen the movie The Descent, it is a great movie about caving and scared the crap out of me when I first watched it. Well, scenes from the movie are starting to come back to me.






^ Here's dad thinking his son knows what he is doing!

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## mobs00

The cave at this point was so low we had to slowly push ourselves through with the tips of our toes and hands all the while lying on our stomachs.





^   Great! An arrow, we must be getting close. As you can see our guide had no trouble maneuvering through these passages.

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## mobs00

Finally, we make it out alive! We looked at each other and just breathed a sigh of relief. 




  ^ That was fun, wheres the next one?

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## mobs00

Dad acting like a kid. It’s fun to watch people who come out to this part of the world for the first time. The years just seem to disappear. He said more than once that he felt 20 years old again.

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## mobs00

This place was actually the cave we were looking for on the map. Its somewhere back in the mountains, but after the adventure we just had we decided it was enough and headed back into town. It was our last night and in the morning it was off to Vientiane for a night.

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## mobs00

Back in Vientiane we had a few drinks at the rooftop bar of Bor pen Yang. In the morning we headed back to Udon Thani to catch a flight back to Chiang Mai.

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## mobs00

I'll post another thread sometime of a trip from Vang Vieng all the way down to the south of Laos and the Si Phan Don Islands in the Mekong.

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## mobs00

> None taken chum but one wonders what experience has provoked your prejudice.
> 
> Or is it just a dreary class thing?


I guess maybe I came off sounding like a Nazi.  :yerman:     DD, I thought there was a pop up system after 12am to warn the drunks about posting under the influence? I never got one.

What I mean is that I just don't like that kind of scene. I am more of a backwoods traveler and I didn't think LPB was full of the artsy, cafe, jazzy stuff. I thought I was going to a small village up in the mountains. I guess I thought it was more like Vang Vieng which draws a different type of crowd. Vang Vieng actually had none of the upper class holiday makers or the arty scene there. Which I found a little funny as it is on the tourist trail. 

The weather (cold, wet and dreary) and my getting sick, the lack of anything to do after 10 pm, and the food, all played a part in my dislike of the town. I may in the future try to head back during the high season and see what it's like. 

Just my honest opinion of the place. I would be curious as to what jandajoy and others have experienced while staying there.

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## DrAndy

I have to agree with Gent on this one Mobs, LP is a charming laid back place that has a nice veneer of civilisation and very friendly people. They even have excellent wine bars where you can watch the world go by.

As for those tourists, yes they can be a pain, but they can be found everywhere in the world, and avoided. It is not their fault they have more money than sense.

Every time I have visited has been great. You did not mention any trip to the waterfalls; they are one of the most beautiful places, and the swimming is fun

Van Vieng is also fun and beautiful, worth staying a while

your dad looks familiar; thanks for the nice pics, they brought back memories

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## Mr Earl

Good report. I wasn't especially impressed with LP or VV either. I was glad I went, but couldn't escape a sense of artifice which permeated everything. 
And I was glad I rented a truck for the trip up north.
We went all the way up to Phongsali which was interesting to see how backwards economic development looks in a communist country, if nothing else.

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## Key Knock

Im looking at the date this thread has been posted, So it IS possible to tube in the wet season ( even better with no backpacker around) I havnt been to vang vieng for 5 years, I went caving not tubing... thinking of heading there again in late October, then again its heart breaking to see such a peacefull comunity in a beatiful location completely ruined by tourism....

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## Key Knock

I just saw the second page..... what is the bopenyoung rooftop bar on top of in vientianne??

thanx

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## JoGeAr

Great thread. Thanks for sharing.

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## dirtydog

> what is the bopenyoung rooftop bar on top of in vientianne??


It's Bor Pen Nyang, where dirty old farang men go to pick up Laos women  :Smile:

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## Key Knock

That nasty behaviour used to go on [at] the future, what about pub on the rock is that still there>?

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## notanameleft

I'm going to Laos next week. I'll tell you guys what it's like at this time.

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## sunsetter

your there already, what were the fireballs like? heard there was lots?

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## mobs00

^ I think you may have the Thai/Laos border confused with the Thai/Cambodia border.

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## sunsetter

you might be right there, but i thought they had them in nong khai ?  yeah just on msn with notanameleft( whos doing a lil bit of lao at the mo) now, they saw the fireballs in nong khai, on the thai/laos border

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## notanameleft

> ^ I think you may have the Thai/Laos border confused with the Thai/Cambodia border.


hi mobs, i was at the fireball festival last night. it was in nongkhai thai-laos border.
i'm now in vangvieng

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## sunsetter

^ :Smile:      hello laos!!!

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## mobs00

> you might be right there, but i thought they had them in nong khai ?  yeah just on msn with notanameleft( whos doing a lil bit of lao at the mo) now, they saw the fireballs in nong khai, on the thai/laos border



Just a bit of dry humor, I was talking about the fireballs between the two armies at Preah Vehar Temple.

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## sunsetter

ahhh !!   that went roight over my head mobs me old mucker  :rofl:

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## Watanaporn

> Originally Posted by Key Knock
> 
> what is the bopenyoung rooftop bar on top of in vientianne??
> 
> 
> It's Bor Pen Nyang, where dirty old farang men go to pick up Laos women


Hi..i thought you cannot pick up Lao women in Laos?

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