28/06/2023 Vang Vieng
What to expect
Vang Vieng
Visit Lagoon Two
Today the plan was to explore the surroundings of Vang Vieng. First Blake and I rented a scooter and drove to Lagoon 2 where we caught up with the English couple from Nong Khiaw and another Dutch girl. The lagoon was nice, but a little bit too commercialized for our liking.
The way to get there, however, was beautiful with a long gravel round, cows passing us unleashed and so many green mountains all around us.
Hike up to Nam Xai Viewpoint
After relaxing at the lagoon for a bit, the five of us hiked up to Nam Xai Viewpoint. It was less hiking and more actual climbing, where it sometimes got quite slippery on the muddy ground.
A 360° view
The view from the top was stunning and wherever you looked, you had an incredible view over Vang Vieng and its gorgeous landscape!
Go to Gary’s Irish Pub
In the evening the five of us caught up at the only Irish Pub in town, where we ended a great day with a pint of guiness (or two).
29/06/2023 Vang Vieng
Explore the area on a scooter
Today we took it easy after the last few busy days of hiking and exploring Laos.
We first had a smoothie bowl at Kiwi Kitchen.
Then we drove around Vang Vieng to see more of the region. It really is a beautiful part of Laos!
Chillax at the pool
In the afternoon we made use of the pool at our hotel “Sansan Resort“, which was a perfect way to escape the heat.
Get a Lao massage
After another delicious dinner at the Happy Mango Thai Restaurants, we treated ourselves to our first Lao massage (for 4.50€ per hour – the cheapest one all over Asia)!
With all that exploring and all the new impressions every single day, it’s really nice to have some down time every now and then! Now we felt recharged for tomorrow’s activity that was going to start very very early in the morning…
30/06/2023 Vang Vieng
An early start
At 5 a.m. our alarm went off. My first attempt was to ignore it and to just turn around again. Since it had rained all night with a heavy thunderstorm, I didn’t think our activity would take place anyways. But I was wrong. Only half an hour later, a tuk tuk was awaiting us at our hotel while we were still lying in bed… What a great start.
Take a hot air balloon
Only minutes later we arrived at our final destination, where a huge hot air balloon was ready for us to jump in. There was no briefing, no explanation and before we knew it, we were up at 1100m in the air.
To be honest, Blake, the English couple Will and Phee and I were all quite scared. So for the longest time no one of us said a word. But the views from inside our little wooden basket over the grand landscape of Vang Vieng was spectacular! It was one of those memories we will never forget again.
Go tubing
But with that adventure the day shouldn’t be over. Pumped from too much adrenaline (and probably also strong coffee for the early start), Will, Phee, Blake and I decided to do one of the most popular things here in Vang Vieng: today we were going tubing.
Blake and I had already done this in Pai, Thailand only two weeks ago where we floated down the river with about 500 other backpackers.
Three tuk tuks drove us, our tubes and around 100 other backpackers to the start of the river float.
After floating for about five minutes down the river, some locals threw water bottles attached to ropes towards us, which pulled us out of the water and into the first bar.
Finishing at the Irish Pub
Five hours and three bars later, we had floated back into town, where the party continued at Gary’s Irish Pub.
A “normal” day in the life of a backpacker
Blake and I really loved today, starting off with the hot air balloon ride and ending with floating down the river in a tube. Compared to the float in Pai, Thailand, we preferred this float. But it could be because we bonded more with the people this time and randomly met people from different parts of our travels again during the float (such as an Australian guy from Halong Bay, Vietnam or even an Irish guy from the white water rafting in Banos, Ecuador).
01+02/07/2023 From Vang Vieng to Luang Prabang
Train back to Luang Prabang
Our time in Laos and Asia has almost come to an end. This is why we decided we’d splurge on a really nice hotel for the last two nights here.
Luang Prabang
After taking the train back to Luang Prabang, we did a few things for the last time in Asia:
One last time of:
- Relaxing by the pool
- Drinking a fresh coconut
- Eating a pad lao/ pad thai at the night market
- Getting a massage
The last 1.5 days in Luang Prabang have been relaxing and so awesome. Overall, we both loved Laos a lot with its beautiful landscape, kind locals, delicious food (similar to Thai food) and cheap pricing. People say Laos looks like Thailand 20 years ago. But for us it felt more like Thailand 100 years ago as so much in Laos is still very rural and untouched by tourism.
Time to leave Asia
Tomorrow we are going to fly to Bangkok. At midnight we are going to fly back to Europe for two more countries in Europe for the very last week of our world trip.
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