Traveling next door to Laos

I talked to my dad recently for the first time in way too long. I don't have a phone and he doesn't do Facebook so our communication is limited to email and Skype. He asked me what the link was to my blog. Wait, I have a blog? I'd almost forgotten with all the traveling, classes, volunteering and socializing I've been doing. Without even doing so he gave me the little nudge I needed to get on here and tell everyone about my adventures.

Picture thanks to Kunthara Kunna

Here in Chiang Mai we just got done celebrating Songkran (the water festival). This meant a break from classes and a chance to get out and travel. My three weeks off from classes began with a group trip down south to Sukhothai, Phitsanulok and Ayutthaya. We traveled in style for a week having a whole charter bus to ourselves visiting the ruins and temples of old Thailand.

view from slow boat

The real adventure began the following week when a three of my close friends and I ventured out of Chiang Mai and over the boarder to Laos. We opted for a five hour van ride to the Thai-Lao boarder where we took a ferry across the river into Laos. 


Then after two hours of immigration we headed to our two day slow boat. In no way will anything I say or any picture I show do Laos justice. It was beautiful. The two days on the boat were a nice time to relax, make friends and look at the view.


The boat took us to Luang Prabang, a decently sized, charming little tourist town filled with guest houses, little shops, and plenty of places to eat. 

Volleyball at Utopia. Picture from Kara McDonell

The first night there we were pointed towards a rather interesting restaurant called Utopia. This is the only restaurant that I've been to that has it's own sand volleyball court which I took part in and received a small battle wound on my shin. The food was delicious and the company was great. That's the nice thing about backpackers, they're really friendly.


The next morning we took a hybrid tuk tuk to the Kouang Si Waterfall. Our driver dropped us off in the small market just next to the start of the path where I spotted a small fresh fruit with yellow mango. Not long after that I headed with my friends, fresh mango in hand, towards the waterfall.  I voted for the more scenic route that took us past a bear sanctuary. The path took us to the bottom most part of the waterfall where we got our first look at the opaque blue water. 


Further up the path we came across a tree that perfectly shot out over the water complete with a rope swing. Another group vote sent us up further to the main part of the waterfall. People from all over were here there and everywhere taking pictures. To our right we saw a more precarious path up to the top. On the steep climb up, mid-gasp I realized that I' wasn't in as good of shape as I had thought. Never the less we a;; made it to the top, took in the beautiful view and spotted some smaller but vacant waterfalls down below. 


We remembered a small path further down that was blocked off. Our curiosity sent us to that path where we ended up finding a breath taking piece of the waterfall complete with a place to swim. Now I'm pretty positive we weren't supposed to go swimming there but we all plugged our noses and jumped in anyways. 

Picture thanks to Kara McDonell 

One of my friends discovered that if we swam parallel to the waterfall really close to the rocks we could actually shimmy our way underneath the waterfall where there was a small pocket in the rocks to stand. I, however, only did this once. As I swam closer to the pocket the more water was pouring down on me which made me feel as though I couldn't breath and was suffocating. 


My friend decided to swim straight out of the waterfall right under where the water was pounding down the hardest, obviously a bad decision. The pressure forced her under where she lost her sense of direction and began to drown. She decided to stop fighting and go limp. The pressure from the water threw her against some rocks underwater but then pushed her out and up in front of the waterfall where we all were, unknowing of what just happened. No worries, she's alive and well with only a few small scratches. 

Picture thanks to Kara McDonell

Picture thanks to Kara McDonell

Not long after we decided to head down to the rope swing and see what that was all about. Piece of advice: it's a lot harder than it looks so hold on tight. I, however, did not know this so with a very loose grip I threw myself out over the water only to loose my grip entirely and fall. Accepting the rope's challenge I went again and again trying to hold on tighter each time. I successfully had a better swing each time. After I grew tired of the rope I decided to try jumping off the waterfall which was equally as exhilarating. My crew had grown tired so we left our little paradise and headed back into town. 


The next morning we continued on to Vang Vieng. I was expecting it to be packed with backpackers but when we got there there were only a few people wandering about. Where was everyone? It didn't take long to find out that everyone was partying down by the river. Everyone spent the day down there and then at night everyone moved to the bars in town. 


The next day we headed to the river to see what it was all about. Here we discovered a spring breaker's dream. Bars lined both sides of the river and every bar had its own rope swing or slide.

Picture thanks to Kara McDonell

These rope swings were 100 times better than the measly little rope in Luang Prabang. I couldn't get enough of them. After the first swing I decided I would have to go off of every swing. I spent two days making friends, swimming and having an all around amazing time.


While Vang Vieng is amazing it has become many people's last adventure and for few, their coffin. When you combine alcohol, gigantic swings, water and rocks you can only expect injuries.  I met a guy who's friend had just broken his neck the day before. Thankfully, he lived but it was pretty terrifying to think about. As for myself I got a little banged up from landing on the water wrong but I left with everything still intact.


While in Vang Vieng we went to the lagoon and Tham Phu Kham cave. I didn't swim but I did explore the cave with one friend. I had left my shoes at the hotel that day so I headed into the cave barefoot with only a head lamp. We chose to go guide-less and to explore it by ourselves. 


We found huge disgusting spiders, nasty bugs and dangerously deep holes. Creepy huh? Personally, I can't help but to think of "The Decent" every time I go into a cave. So with that in mind we went deep into the cave where the air was thick and the light was non-existent. On our way back out we got a little turned around and couldn't decide which way was the way out. Staying calm but also growing claustrophobic we fumbled our way around and soon we found the path and in no time at all we were out.


The next day we left Vang Vieng and headed to Vientiane, the capital. There isn't a whole lot that I have to say about the capital other than I really, really didn't like it and I've heard the same remark from more than one person. So, if you're going to travel to Laos skip Vientiane. 


After spending two awful days in Vientiane we finally got on our bus back to Chiang Mai. Crossing the boarder into Thailand was easier than crossing into Laos. Unfortunately, our bus was a pile of junk and what should have been a 14 hour bus ride became a 20 hour bus ride. It broke down more than ten times, each time requiring at least a half an hour before we could get back on the road. The bus ride was a disaster and when I finally arrived in Chiang Mai I was tired, on edge and my feet were swollen to a painful degree. 

My poor swollen feet

Despite the fact that the end of the trip wasn't so great the majority of it made up for it. I loved Laos and I would recommend that everyone who travels to South East Asia goes. I have one month left in Thailand, starting today, and I still have so many things to do.