We arrived back in town by 3pm after the Gibbon Experience, with a night bus for Luang Prabang booked for 5pm, arriving at 6am the next day. After having lunch, a quick shower and sorting out our packs we jumped on the tuk tuk to the bus depot.
The bus didn't leave until 6:30pm. The bus was simply a regular "VIP" bus often found in SEA; air-con and slightly reclining seats with not a hell of a lot of leg room for a 6'4 bloke - not a sleeper!
The next 11 hours were hell for one trying to get some shut-eye. The roads in Laos are not straight; they twist and wind between towns on an obfuscated route.
We stopped after a few hours to load on more people to the already full bus - locals were seated on children's plastic chairs in the aisleway.
Even after taking a sleeping pill I barely got an hour's sleep - constantly being woken by the bumps on the bus and jerks from one uncomfortable sleeping position to another.
</rant>
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Arriving in Luang Prabang, I didn't have anywhere booked to stay - the hustle between finishing the Gibbon Experience and getting ready for the bus didn't allow for it. We followed the two Canadian blokes we met on the Gibbon Experience to see if their hostel had room - it didnt. Luckily most of the hostels are situated pretty close and we found one around the corner, that even let us check in at 6:30am! Sleep, finally!
That day my two English mates and I reunited with the Canadian's and went to the Kuang Si Waterfall, and it was spectacular. It actually made us all forget about the terrible bus ride we had just had.
I had never seen any waterfall so perfect in colour as this. You are able to swim in it which was a great chance to call off as well... while getting any abrasions you might have bitten at by cleaner fish! We had a few beers at the waterfall while admiring the view before heading back into town on the songthaew.
That afternoon we hiked up to the Wat Tham Pousi temple on Pou si hill to watch the sunset with hundreds of our closest friends.
There is an interesting phenomena in Luang Prabang. The bars all shut at 11:30pm, however one place selling alcohol stays open - a bowling alley. Knowing we had to experience this drunken bowling sensation, we sunk some cheap whiskey between the five of us and headed out - actually getting to the target backpacker bar as it was closing, whoops!
We headed to the bowling alley anyway with the crowd. I can honestly say it was the worst two games of bowling of my life, and I hadn't even drank that much.
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The next day we jumped on our minibus for the five hour ride to Vang Vieng. This ride, despite being in a cramped minibus, actually allowed me to get more sleep than the night bus because I was up the back and could rest on the backpacks next to me, score!
I made a booking for an air-con hotel prior to arriving in Vang Vieng - all of the hostels were booked out. We rocked up there and the room's were gone. "Sorry, I didn't check my email" says the manager, yeah nice one.
Luckily we found a place up the road with three beds for half the price; no air-con but it wasn't that bad.
The big attraction for most backpackers to Vang Vieng is tubing. Tubing is essentially floating down the river in a big truck inner-tube. Prior to 2012 tubing in Vang Vieng was chaotic. Countless numbers of bars lined the river bank with people rope-swinging into the water, getting smashed along the way. People died. The government stepped in and closed it all down, leaving it simply a relaxing way to see the scenery again. This has been slowly changing over the past year or so, moving to a more controlled version of what it used to be. Nowadays there are a total of eight bars, of which only four open per day on an alternating schedule.
I chose not to take anything but money with me whenever I went so only have photos stolen off the Facebook page's of people I met, but you can get an idea from below of what its like.
I went tubing three times and every time it was a load of fun. A bunch of like-minded backpackers out to make the most of their day, with social games such as beer pong and flipcup making an appearance. It was not only a great way to meet people, but to stop to take a moment and think about where you are ... the scenery is just stunning.
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From Vang Vieng there are only a few popular choices of where to go. Vientiane, the capital, largely has poor reception from backpackers. Don Det and the 4000 Islands in the south really drew my attention, but the thought of a 22 hour bus ride killed the idea for me.
I ended up leaving on a sleeper train back to Bangkok after a mere eight nights in Laos. I would have liked to have visited Laos earlier in my trip when I had more motivation, but at this point in time I don't want to be sitting on a crappy bus for any longer than I have to!
