I have an itch...

Luang Prabang in a nutshell

We arrived by slow boat and were pretty hungry do we had some touristy food in some random restaurant.
We regret doing so when we discovered the food alley :/

I paid 60000kip instead of 10000kip. Oh well :)

Day after I barely made it through one temple and I went back to Spicy Laos because something felt off. Caught the travel bug and was in bed the entire day, but probably lost some weight I gained :D

Luang Prabang is a sleepy little picturesque town catering to tourism.
I didn't really think the food was especially authentic. It was sandwiches or western food for breskfast if you didn't feel like combing Luang Prabang for less western food stands.

I did manage to have a chicken laap along the Mekong Delta which is probably the only proper Lao food I had.
Kudos to the Lao coffee though!

The nature around here is amazing so if Luang Prabang is too touristy you can always take a slow boat to remote villages or head south on the Mekong to 4000 islands and other gems like Khoun Xe cave. The landscapes are beautiful especially heading to Vang Vieng (next post :)

Definitely check out Utopia Bar, Icon bar and The Hive if you can (close 23:30).
Remember that there's a curfew at midnight do most places will be closed by 23:30 but you can go to the local discotheque too if you like mixing with the locals more or to the bowling alley where everyone meets.
It's ok to be in a tuk tuk but don't walk around at night :)

Blue Lagoon

At Utopia

Chiang Mai in a nutshell

I simply love love loved Chiang Mai.

I've heard from people that 3-4 days suffice whereas others have said 3 weeks should be spent here.
If you love sitting in cafes with or without company Chiang Mai has an abundance of options.
The street food is divine and you can splurge on beautiful paintings to souvenirs to great food on walking street on the weekends.
Had I not planned on quite a few diving expeditions, and kitesurfing course as well as wake boarding I'd have done some hiking, elephant trekking, downhill mountain biking and rafting in Chiang Mai as well as visiting more temples but as time is limited I need to restrain myself.

So here a summary of Chiang Mai in pictures and video.

Food video :)

P.S. I miss Khao Soi...

A typical lil cozy cafe

White temple at Chiang Rai

Deep frying noodles or pork for Khao Soi :)

Heaven...

Khao Soi - my love!!!

Sunday night market in Chiang Mai

Thailand to Laos

So every guest house in Chiang Mai offers a package of bus and slow boat to Laos. I paid 1700 baht at Junior guest house.
This includes bus ride to Chiang Khong, overnight stay/dinner & breakfast and a very tiny lunch on the slow boat the first day.
It's recommended you have more food, water and toilet paper with you on the boat as food and drinks are overpriced. It's a long but enjoyable ride but not everyone with a ticket gets a seat!
We did hear that if one complains they will be forced to use another ferry though...

Watch the video if you plan doing this trip. Last part is our guide on the Laos side of the border and he's the first person who didn't bullshit us :)

Night 1 - Chiang Kong
The first house at Chiang Kong tried to charge us 30USD to check us out at immigration but left us under the impression this was for our visas in Laos.
Had we paid her, we'd have to pay another 30USD at immigration in Laos :P

Day 2 - Crossing the border

One of the many things our tour lady said was that there is a lot of people queuing at the Thai border and that the boat leaves at 10 do it was risky if we wanted to check out ourselves. BS. Boat leaves between 11:30-12:00

The meals we had in the tour package are small so it's recommended to hunt for some street BBQs.
Once in Laos there were great street stalls to stock up on sandwiches etc so don't do it in Chiang Kong. The guide in Laos was probably the only person who did not bullshit us despite his hangover, so check it out before crossing to Laos.

We were somewhat unlucky that we got to the boat so late, so we ended up sitting in the engine room
Pros: it's warm so if the sun isn't out, you can lie down and sleep, play cards etc.

Cons: it's loud. Check the video ;)

Night 2 - Pak Beng
To our surprise the rooms were really nice, clean and comfy.

It's a lovely atmosphere and there's a Thai bar further up the main road if you wanna sing karaoke with the Thai girl in the bar or request songs :)

Day 2 - Pak Beng to Luang Prabang

Pros: we got seats in the front so no engine room!!

Cons: it was overcast so we were freezing our asses off. Wrapped my head in a cardigan cause I already got semi sick in Chiang Mai and lost my voice twice within 4 days of being out at night in skimpy clothing :P
Had one of those annoying Asian toilet holes. What a curse for women!

When you arrive in Luang Prabang you literally hit a plethora of guesthouse s so no need to book one in advance.

We stayed at Spicy hostel but it's very low budget and not the best location!