The Sober Explorer

A country that I feel most people would overlook unless they are travelling around the region, it took us completely by surprise and we loved it! It definitely receives an award for worst roads ever. 😂

We spent a total of 8 days here, and spent on average £43.90 a day, with a breakdown of:

£127 flight (Hanoi to Luang Prabang)
£80 transportation
£46 accom
£42 restaurants
£42 visa and atm fees
£42 activities
£16 on miscellaneous (snacks, coffee etc)

Read below for how we spent our 8 days exploring this less-visited country in Southeast Asia!

Days 1 to 3: Luang Prabang

We really loved Luang Prabang, and it’s beautiful to wander around and explore – temples, cafes, Mekong river views. There is the Royal Palace here, as well as many beautiful temples. I’d recommend Wat Xiengthong (~£1) and Wat Wisunarat. You can also wake up early if you want to, to see the monk offerings that take place around the town around 6am.

We also did a tour out to Pak Ou caves and Kuang Si waterfall which was ok, but it was very touristy so expect crowds and quite a rushed itinerary to squeeze it all in (and some questionable elephant ethics at the lunch stop in an elephant sanctuary).

For your evenings, this town had one of our favourite night markets as well, with delicious food and it was a bit quieter than most which was perfect for us! There is also the opportunity for a sunset cruise alongside the Mekong River, but we opted to view the sunset from Phousi Mountain (~£1) which is central to the town (and quite busy) but provides a beautiful panoramic view of the town and the surrounding mountains.

We stayed at Y Not Hostel, which was nice – quite a basic hostel, and the beds didn’t have curtains, but the key selling point is that it is in the perfect location, within walking distance to everything you want to do in the town and has ATMs, supermarkets and cafes nearby.

Days 4 to 5: Nong Khiaw

You may read some…mixed reviews about how to get to Nong Khiaw, as the roads are terribly bumpy and not in good condition. We decided to make an event of our travel day and booked this tour taking us from Luang Prabang to Nong Khiaw by car and boat, with a beautiful (but easy) hike through rice fields and up a sticky waterfall in the middle of the journey. I’d highly recommend this, just to make a potentially horrible and long travel day into an extra adventure!

Once you are in Nong Khiaw (around sunset if you complete the tour), you are welcomed to the beautiful town when it is quiet and lit under the golden hour. We stayed at Eco Stay Hostel, which was amazing. The most beautiful views around, great rooms and bathrooms, good food in the restaurant area and activities to do! This includes the option to do a 2D1N hike which was very popular, but we decided to just do the many hikes around the town to keep us occupied for our short stay. We would recommend the Sleeping Lady hiking trail (~£1) in the morning before it gets too hot, then head to Som Nong (~£1.40) for sunset.

Days 6 to 8: Vang Vieng

Welcome to the big adventure town of Laos! Our favourite activity here was paramotoring, which cost us ~£35 and was well worth it. You got incredible views, it felt really safe and was very unique. 😍 Other things you can check out here include the Nam Xay viewpoint (which you will definitely have seen before if you’ve used Instagram to research Laos) as well as the various blue lagoons dotted around.

We visited lagoons 1 and 3, and 3 was definitely our favourite. It had a zip line, rope swing and was much quieter than lagoon 1. However, I’d recommend getting here earlier in the day as by lunchtime the mountains surrounding it have blocked the sun so it can be a bit chilly if you are swimming. 🥶 There is also the option to hike up to a cave and a viewpoint just past the lagoon, which we attempted but ultimately gave up because they felt quite unsafe and just a bit dodgy.

We stayed in Freedom View Hostel, which was in an ideal location to the main amenities of the city and includes a decent breakfast, but isn’t a very social hostel so if you are travelling solo I’d maybe not recommend staying here.

The Round Up:

I love Laos, it really took us by surprise so I’m glad we made the effort to explore it whilst we were in the area. I’d highly recommend checking it out, and let me know in the comments your thoughts!