The Laos Backpackers Route

Day Two at the waterfall with the group of guys

After my trek in Luang Namtha, I headed back onto the regular backpackers route. Usually from the Thai border, people take a two-day boat down the Mekong River to Luang Prabang, but since I'd decided to go North with the Scots, I skipped twenty hours on a wooden seat on a long boat - figured I'd got the best deal. In Luang Prabang, I was officially on my own, making my own way. To say the least, I've met LOADS of people. After wandering around aimlessly with a couple from my bus looking for my damn hostel, I was put in a room full of guys. Initially I thought 'shit', but it didn't turn out too badly. One thing I learned immediately is that you meet plenty of characters. Among the first few was a guy who biked to Laos from London, and was headed to New Zealand, and a South African who I can only describe as a true nomad (I'll go into more detail later). Like I've said in the past, you constantly run into the same people in Southeast Asia, it's a very small world. When I had been with the Scots in the North, we had met a couple Brits, and it so happens I continuously run into them, so it comes as no surprise that I spent my first night out with a big group of Brits. In Luang Prabang, the backpackers have a routine: go to an amazing bar on the river called Utopia, and when that closes at midnight, head to the bowling alley (naturally, of course)!!!! I had heard from the people in my room that the waterfall near Luang Prabang was amazing, so I headed there the next day with the South African. The waterfall is touristy,  but beyond beautiful. There is pool after pool of crystal blue water the colour of Lake Louise, and at the top is a massive, powerful waterfall. We spent the day relaxing in the glacier cold water, and I learned a suprising amount about this fascinating person who has been traveling for what seemed like his entire adult life. He had crazy stories from being in the Amazon with tribal people to working in the circus. He also happened to be a bit of an artist, and sold little things to make a few dollars along the way. After lazying about and shedding off the previous night, I visited the night bazaar and finally bought a couple small gifts. The next day, I didn't really have a plan, and since a big group of people were heading to the waterfall, I figured why not. On day two, I was with a big group from my hostel and others that they had met along the way. One of the pools there had a giant rope swing that I'd been dying to try, so of course, I had to (ungracefully no doubt).

            The next day, I headed to the next spot on the backpackers trail to a town called Vang Vieng. Not too long ago, this town was infamous for its tubing and partying. Backpackers would rent inner-tubes, head down the river that was lined with bars, rope swings, and slides, and spend hours drinking and getting high. I think it was in October when the government decided that too many tourists had died there (rumour has it twenty people died last year), so they shut most of it down. Now it is a much more relaxed version with a few casual bars. I immediately met a couple British girls in my dorm, as well as the group of Brits from the bowling alley upon arrival. After spending a night at the town's Irish pub, we headed for the blue lagoon - a crystal blue stream with a giant rope swing and tree to jump off of, and a nearby cave to explore. To no surprise, I ran into a Belgian guy and a Spanish guy who had known some of the people from my previous hostel, and before you know it, we're all spending the day together. I had to jump off the tree and rope swing, and then five of us went to explore the cave. Not knowing what we were getting into, we were all wearing flipflops and had one headlamp. A Lao man at the bottom tried to rent us flashlights, but since we're all so used to getting scammed, we ignored him. Turns out, we were slightly wrong. At the cave entrance, my flipflops broke, so I had no choice but to do some barefoot spellunking. The cave was amazing. We had to navigate our own way through the rocks, getting slightly lost along the way. We topped off our day by having our tuktuk driver hit a cow on the way home.

            The next day, it was time to do the infamous tubing. It wasn't too bad, but definitely wasn't too crazy. We met a British couple and a guy who was biking around the world (his name is Neil Churchard and he's raising money for Unicef, check himout on Facebook if you have a chance), and spent the day with them having a few beers while relaxing on the tubes.

            I decided to head to Vientiane (the capital of Laos) with a couple guys I'd met through people at my hostel back in Luang Prabang, the Belgian and Spaniard. I ended up splitting a room with them, and had one night out to look at the night market along the river, and of course, down a few beers at a particularly creepy bar lined with old white men looking to get with young Lao girls. Ugh.

            Getting my visa sorted out for Vietnam turned out to be pretty straight forward (and expensive), but I was able to head to Vietnam immediately on the hellish 26-hour bus ride. I'd never been on a sleeper bus before, so I didn't really know what to expect. It's basically a bus where the seats go all the way down. It's still squishy and not ideal, but it is what it is. After yet another extensive border crossing - it took three hours to get everything sorted out - and another 10 hours, I finally arrived in Hanoi. I'd met a Spanish woman on the bus, and we decided to have dinner together and wander around the Old Quarter. She was middle aged and had left everything - her husband, her house, and her job - to travel and have a new lease on life. Some people might think she's crazy, I found it quite admirable. There's no testament to personal strength like shedding away everything you know and have known. After dinner, I ran into that same group of Brits from Luang Prabang and spent the night having a few beers with them before heading to sleep.

Halong Bay with a similar tour boat

            I had decided not to stay in Hanoi since I'm short on time, and I left first thing the next morning for Cat Ba Island. Cat Ba is part of a large area called Halong Bay, and is currently one of the seven natural wonders of the world. A lot of backpackers do a booze-cruise deal where they take you to an island to stay in huts and you do water sports and get pissed drunk all day. I decided to do my own more relaxed (and less expensive) version. I hopped on a boat for a one day tour of Halong. The tour took us to a giant - and way over touristy - cave lit up with fluorescent colours. We then cruised around the islets, eventually landing on Cat Ba Island. I found a cheap hotel in the town and got some much needed rest. The following day (which happens to be today), I found a rock climbing and kayaking tour. The guides were amazing, and it made me unbelievably jealous that this is their life: going around on a boat taking tourists to beautiful islands and more or less just enjoying life. Rock climbing turned out to be pretty challenging, it's definitely a good workout. For my first time though, it wasn't too bad; no accidents and no deaths. Always ideal. In the afternoon, our guide showed us little caves and routes in between beaches. The rock formations here have created endless tunnels and caves connecting beaches and lagoons. It's pure beauty. And that's it! Tomorrow I'm heading back to Hanoi where I'll spend most of the day before hopping on a night bus to my next destination, Hue. I've only been in Vietnam for a few days, but already my list of things to do has gotten monumentally longer and I feel like there's never enough time. I already happened to have looked into extending my trip by a couple months (unfortunately I don't think it's financially possible). Oh well, I'll just have to plan the next trip immediately after returning home!!!! No guarantees, but it's a nice thought!

View of Halong Bay