After spending a full month in Thailand, we decided to venture up and across the border to a little place called Laos. We had heard nothing but stellar reviews about the country so we decided to go experience it for ourselves.
Late on a Tuesday, we flew from Bangkok to Vientiane, the capital city of Laos. On arrival, we’d gotten behind on planning and didn’t really have a clear plan for how we would spend the next week and a half. After mulling it over for a couple days with our Airbnb hosts, we decided on the following plan.
Vientiane – 4 days
Vang Vieng – 1 day
Luang Prabang – 5 days
While there are several 45 minute flights from Vientiane to Luang Prabang, we opted to rent a car and drive ourselves. It would have been a long drive (9+ hours), so we decided to take our time and break it up over two days.
The choice to traverse Laos by car worked out perfectly. The views of the countryside were absolutely breathtaking and the drive also allowed us to stop for a night in the hip riverside town of Vang Vieng. While we really enjoyed the adventure, we should give a fair warning that the mountain roads were not in great condition – highly recommend paying extra for a 4x4 vehicle!
Here’s a quick recap of our ten days in Laos:
Vientiane (4 days)
The Jungle House and COPE
We flew from Bangkok to Vientiane and stayed in an incredible Airbnb, called “The Jungle House.” The home was located about 15 minutes away from the quiet capital city and was owned by a British/Lao couple, Mike and Xoukiet. Our three night stay in Vientiane revolved around their home and learning about the “Secret War” in Laos.
Since we aren’t here to give a history lesson, we won’t go into massive detail about the Secret War.
However, we did not know that the US dropped 270+ million bombs on Laos during the Vietnam war, making it the most bombed country per capita in the world. Around 80 million of the bombs that were dropped didn’t explode on impact. Now, those bombs are basically buried landmines (called “UXOs”) that explode when farmers, children, construction workers, or other innocent people accidentally encounter them in rural areas.
Mike, our Airbnb host, founded COPE Laos, which provides prosthetics and rehabilitation for victims of UXOs. We visited the COPE center with Mike and it was a very sad and eye-opening experience.
If you’re intrigued like we were by the Secret War, consider checking out Legacies of War, a U.S. based organization “working to address the impact of conflict in Laos during the Vietnam War-era, including removal of unexploded ordnance (UXO).”
What we ate in Vientiane…
“The Jungle House” was all-inclusive, giving us the chance to try some authentic Lao foods right at home (in our Airbnb).
We loved the Lao dishes that our hosts prepared which included “larb” (minced pork with lots of herbs, onions, and spicy peppers), very delicious mushroom stir-fry (we think it was made with “wood ear” and “enoki” mushrooms), and lots of wine!
We only ate in the city one time and we made it count! We tried Nem Nueng Sihom, an outdoor restaurant serving up incredible Vietnamese food. We ordered their most popular dish – and then had fun trying to figure out how to eat it! Our waitress quickly noticed the confusion written over our faces and brought out an instructional video since the staff didn’t speak any English.
As our time in Vientiane came to a close, we prepared for a two-day road trip up to Luang Prabang. We rented a car at the local Avis and drove northbound about four hours until we reached the well-hyped riverside town of Vang Vieng.
Vang Vieng (1 day)
Vang Vieng is halfway between the two major cities we wanted to visit in Laos, so it was the perfect place to break up the long drive.
We opted for a 4WD car, an easy decision ever since our experience months ago in Ecuador, and we hit the road around lunchtime. We arrived in Vang Vieng just in time for sunset over the mountains, river and rice paddies. The town is known for adventure activities but our time only allowed us to enjoy the views and take in the small-town feel.
Our hotel in Vang Vieng was incredible. Definitely the most memorable hotel of our trip so far. We got a last-minute deal on Agoda.com (a great booking site for SE Asia) and stayed for a fraction of the typical nightly rate. This is the place that was featured on Elizabeth’s Instagram.
We took off early the next day for the 5-hour drive to Luang Prabang.
Pit stop - Meeting the unicycle man
The drive to Luang Prabang was fairly desolate and, at some point, we realized we were starving. We pulled over at an unpromising roadside convenience shop, hoping for a bag of chips. The woman at the counter pointed us around back to a seating area and there was a group of guys, two other foreigners, and some locals, enjoying a few BeerLaos together. They offered us some of the beer, we accepted, and then the woman said, “soup?” Things were quickly looking up for us.
As we got to know the two other foreigners, we found out that one of them was also traveling for a year, but he was using only an electric unicycle to get from place to place. He’d already traveled all the way from Paris, France and has plans to make it all the way around the world (a plane or boat will obviously have to be involved at some point). We were fascinated and we now subscribe to his YouTube Channel and his Instagram (@monsieurflex), despite the fact that his posts are in French.
Luang Prabang (5 days)
This was the pinnacle of our time in Laos, where we considered staying for a few extra days or possibly for much longer. It has all of the restaurants, shopping, and activities of a big city, but it was so quiet and peaceful! We were riding bikes up and down the main roads with hardly any other traffic. Lots of other foreigners clearly agree with us because there are quite a few ex-pats living in Luang Prabang. Many of those expats have settled down and opened restaurants, meaning lots of good international foods.
Located in Northern Laos, Luang Prabang was a bit cooler here than our last few destinations, a welcomed change. The city became a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1995 so the famous mixture of Lao and French architecture (from the French colonial times) is extremely well preserved.
The heart of the town occupies a small peninsula at the convergence of two major rivers, the Mekong and the Nam Khan rivers. There are shops, restaurants, and guesthouses lining the streets with some local peoples’ homes mixed in. Many of the streets look distinctly European while some smaller roads maze through residential areas that appear to be traditionally Lao. It was incredible!
We stayed just across the Nam Khan river from the main peninsula, at the Apsara Rive Droit hotel. Although a guesthouse or hotel in the main historic district might have been the more typical choice, we loved walking across the narrow bamboo pedestrian bridge, riding bikes, or taking the boat shuttle into town.
Our top 4 activities in Luang Prabang
Hiking to the temple on top Mount Phousi
Visiting the Kuang Si Falls
Biking around the city
Our hotel had free bikes and we took full advantage!
Sunset river cruising along the Mekong
We’d recommend the Khopfa Boat!
Our favorite restaurants in Luang Prabang
Dyen Sabai: Awesome riverside location with a ridiculous happy hour deal. The food is featured in the photo to the right! Fun DIY BBQ and soup.
Tamarind Restaurant: Delicious Lao food. We especially loved the chicken stuffed lemongrass! Elizabeth regrets passing on the cooking class offered here, next time!
Amigo’s Mexican Restaurant: We are very happy when we find good Mexican food these days! We got to chat with the owner, an Australian ex-pat, who makes the tortillas, sour cream, hot sauces, etc in house because she can’t buy them anywhere. Amigo’s is a little bit outside the main part of town, but very worth the walk or ride.
Popolo Cantina: Proper pizza in the main part of the city! And a chocolate lava cake?!
The Belle Rive Terrace: A good spot to watch the sunset over the Mekong while enjoying a few BeerLaos.
