 Please see the Part 2 of our Laos Inspection trip in May 2006 with highlights in Vang Vieng and Luang Prabang.
Our next destination is Vang Vieng, situated midway along the Vientiane to Luang Prabang road, Vang Vieng has become (for better or worse) the backpacker's pit stop in Laos. Surrounded by splendid karst scenery and overflowing with activities (caving and tubing down the river are two of the most popular activities), many prolong their stay here far longer than originally planned. For many visitors, Vang Vieng is a highlight of their Laos holidays thanks to its many outdoor activities like rafting, kayaking, caving and cycling.
Along the way, we had a short stop at the Vang Xang Archaeological site, which dates back to the Mon-Khmer period of the 8 – 11th century.
The drive from Vientiane to Vang Vieng is pleasant with beautiful scenery outside, however, if you’re a ‘car-sick’ people, it’s advised to take some medicine in advance as you will have many sharp curves on the way. We arrived in Vang Vieng at around noontime and checked in our hotel, the Ban Sabai Bungalow located right by the Nam Song River. The bungalows are nice and ideally setting among lovely garden. After lunch, we had a short hiking and enjoyed a fun kayaking in the Nam Song River and back to the hotel in the late afternoon.
The next day was a long drive from Vang Vieng to Luang Prabang, which we were warned in advance. The drive took around 6 hours but not as tiring and boring as we were afraid of as we enjoyed seeing mountains, forest as well as local people along the way. We arrived in Luang Prabang in the afternoon and had the rest of the day visiting Wat Xiengthong, Wat Mai, Wat Visoun and climbed to Mount Phousi enjoying a panorama of the ancient royal city and the Mekong River.
The rest of the day we were free wondering around the ancient streets, the Night market and tried very good Laos food at a local restaurant.
The next day was a special day as we got up early in the morning, at around 5 to see the Morning Alms Giving. The time when the long line of monks appeared was very special. We saw many local people, including men and women go down on their knees and gave sticky rice, foods, fruits…to the monks’ baskets. We did not have sticky rice but we had some fruits prepared by our guides and we donated some money for them. The guide told us the money will be used in restore the pagodas and we were happy that we could do something to prevents many beautiful wats in Laos.
We then back to our hotel and have breakfast before driving to the Kuangsi Waterfall, which is around 30 km from the centre of Luang Prabang. The place is a serene beauty spot where you can splash around in the pools or stroll the forest paths. We went on the dry season so the waterfall is not really a waterfall but if you go from October to February, the waterfall is really nice and deserve of the must-see sites in Luang Prabang.
Said goodbye to the charming World Heritage City – Luang Prabang, we boarded our flight back to Hanoi with a promise, we will be back someday!! |
