We had the pleasure of visiting Laos in April, which is, mildly said, the worst month to do so. Just before the rainy season, it is hot, dusty and smoky from the numerous fires. Nonetheless, we stayed there and even enjoyed most of it 😊
Don Khone
Entering on the landroute from Cambodia, we arrived in Laos in the very south, so naturally, our first stop was the 4000 islands. Regardless of the real number of islands, it is a phenomenally beautiful place with some of the most stunning (and the biggest) waterfalls of Southeast Asia. We stayed on Don Khone, one of the three islands that are inhabited. It is connected to the more upbeat Don Det via a bridge, so everything is easily accessible. Most people go around riding bicycles, we somehow didn’t find a place to rent one, so we were walking. Now, you have to understand that it was sunny and 40-42°C, which in combination with the high humidity level meant a real-feel of about 45°C, or with other words, we were dripping sweat even when sitting still in the shade.
This made our exploration of the island rather slow and we sticked to the nearby things. My personal favourite was the Li Phi Waterfalls, which are simply majestic. Apart from that we went to a beach on Don Det, the water there was rather low and warm though, so not very refreshing. So, we also jumped into the Mekong right in front of our rooms, just as the local kids do – and honestly, to this day I wonder, how and where they get out of the river again. The current was incredibly strong and even David, who is a fantastic swimmer, was struggling (Yes, I almost did not make it – there was no real danger, I’d just have had to get out of the water further down the river though). On another day we booked an excursion to the Phapheng Waterfall, which is the biggest one in Southeast Asia, and while it’s not high, it sure is very wide.
Vang Vieng
After our time in the south, we took the easy way out and flew from Pakse to Vientiane, rather than taking a bus. I know, I know, it’s more expensive, the environment etc., if you’ve ever seen the roads in Laos, you understand… Also, we still had to get to Pakse and from Vientiane to Vang Vieng, so I feel like we did our share of bus experiences. Vang Vieng itself used to be a huge party town, before they cracked down on the drug problems and it shows. While there are beautiful viewpoints and lagoons around it, the city itself doesn’t offer much, but bars and restaurants. So how did we spend 3 whole weeks there?
We worked. Was it our best workaway? No, but it was ok. I was supposed to teach Qi Gong and Tai Chi at a Yoga Studio in a hotel, but due to it being so hot and a national holiday and off-season, many classes got cancelled due to no one showing up. So I spent most of my working time either helping with the ponies (which I loved) or cleaning the Yoga room (which I hated, especially since I wasn’t allowed to use it for my own training even when it was empty). David had some (super easy) IT work to do (honestly, he was so overqualified for this, anyone could’ve done it), and helped with the ponies as well. So you see, we have a clear highlight here: the ponies. And, of course, the puppies hihi. Apart from that we quite enjoyed the company of the other workawayers and found some great friends among them and the “local” staff (if Indian and Malaysian counts as local lol).
The views there were amazing though, and on the few occasions we got out of town, we had a great time, even though it was still way too hot and the air quality was horrible. On two occasions it was really stormy during the night, so the next day the air was a bit better, but the smoke quickly came back…
We also had the pleasure of being there during the Laotian New Year, which is celebrated over the course of multiple days by throwing water at each other and painting peoples faces with a flour-water mixture. It’s great fun, but after a couple of days of this, we were really happy, when the loud music finally stopped and you could leave the house without a waterproof bag.
Luang Prabang
After Vang Vieng we had a couple of days to explore the former capital of Laos, Luang Prabang. We were thrilled by the beauty of this city, it was way better cared for, more colourful and cleaner than any other city in Laos we had seen before. There is a lot of greenery there and we found the best Mango-Passionfruit smoothies ever at the night market.
From Luang Prabang we did a half day excursion to the Kuang Si Waterfalls, which are incredible. The blue is simply stunning, the water is refreshingly cold and we would have loved to spend more time there. On the way to the waterfall you can see some bears, who have been rescued and are very cute indeed (and completely harmless and pretty small).
Recommendations we got and didn’t explore
We were told that going even further up north was more than worthwhile to explore rural Laos and some of the most stunning landscapes. For that we got recommended to go to Nong Khiaw and then take a boat from there to Muang Ngoy, a truly tiny town. There you can go on a hike and enjoy a night at a small homestay, no reservation needed. Sadly, we were running out of time and could not stay long enough to explore this option as well, maybe one of you gets the chance?
All in all, we had a good time in Laos and I’d absolutely recommend it to anyone loving nature and waterfalls. Maybe choose a different time of the year for your trip, late October to February is supposed to be a lot better than the hot spring or rainy summer.
Would you travel to Laos to see these beautiful waterfalls yourself? Have you ever had the pleasure of getting a bus-and-holey-road-massage? Let us know in the comments below!
xxx
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