Chiang Mai to Luang Prabang (Laos)

So from Chiang Mai we headed to Luang Prabang, Laos via bus which took around 21 hours. We purchased our bus tickets from a travel agent in the centre of Chiang Mai. It is definitely worth asking for prices in different places as they differ slightly. It cost roughly THB1200 each (today's exchange rate £22).
A minibus will pick you up from your hotel in the morning, and you will be on this until the boarder of Thailand.

The Bus travels through the countryside to Chiang Rai and will take about 4 hours to get there. Take food as you may not get chance to get any. We only stopped in Chiang Rai for 30minutes and I wish we had longer as there was the most beautiful white temple I have ever seen. Its called Wat Rong Khun and made from fragments of mirrored glass which reflect the light and makes it shine. The queues where too long for us to get near the temple but I would have loved to see it up close. If you get the chance maybe stay a day so you get to see the temple as it is comprised of many buildings.

After the stop we carried on to the Thai boarder called Huay Xai, where you will have to fill out immigration forms and pay for your visa. The price of visa's depend on the country your from so with a  UK passport it cost 35 US Dollars. (Today's exchange rate £23). After this you change to coach and onto ferry to get across the Mekong into Laos. It will take about 15 hours to get from here to Luang Prabang.

When arriving in Luang Prabang the bus station is not in town. There are many tuk tuk drivers waiting at the station but when we arrived we didn't have the correct currency on us, so we decided to walk. How hard could it be, right? It would have been very simple if we had know where we were going but we took the wrong turning and i think we ended up walking around the whole of Luang Prabang that morning. So if your like us and prefer to walk then remember this: You want to turn right out the bus station then  when you reach the roundabout you want to turn right again. Follow this road over an old wooden bridge then turn right again. Continue walking straight (as you can) until you reach the main street. You want to turn left up this street to the main area and the information centre. (See map above)

Now the currency for Laos is Kip and the banks will issue you this, a maximum of 2million Kip can be withdrawn at any one time. (Today's exchange rate £160). However many prefers to take US Dollars like the travel agencies. Some travel agencies even tried to charge us extra for using Kip as they get charged to exchange the Kip into Dollars. So its up to you what you use but dollars would be easier when booking and paying for things.

Things to do in Laos:
Even though Laos in the poorest country in Asia we found some of the attractions to be expensive, like the elephant rides which were twice as much as the one we did in Chiang Mai, so this put us off doing anything.

The weather was not in our favour in February its a little cold so we didn't go to the Kuang Si Falls, which is a very popular waterfall in Laos. If you do plan to do to this it is cheaper to get a minibus which you catch outside the travel agencies, it will leave early in the morning but its is cheaper than getting a private tuk tuk.








We took 3 hour river cruise down the Mekong to the Pak Ou Caves, which are filled with thousands of Buddha images and statues.

There are two caves to see here the first one is a short climb up some steep metal steps and is very narrow inside and the second cave is a bit of a hike up to the top of the hill. This cave is bigger but very dark so you don't see much. If I'm being honest they weren't that great I wouldn't go again but they were part of the trip so we looked round anyway.





After this you are taken over to the a village called Ban Xang Hai. Here they produce there own whiskey and wine, (which is very strong), hand crafted scarfs and clay jars. There also isn't much to see here except a few stalls, we did find a lovely little puppy we played with while we waited for the other people on the tour. After the village you head slowly back to Luang Prabang. You are fed on the boat, it was OK nothing special but i maybe just too picky. I'm not sure I would do it again but at least I've done it and tried it. It cost about 60 Us dollars. (Today's exchange rate £40).

The food in Laos was very good from the stalls which sell french baguettes near the information centre to local food and Indian cuisine.

If you cross over the bamboo bridge from the centre of town then walk straight up the road, there is a turning on the right, well on the left hand side there is a school and down the side of the school to the back is a small pizza restaurant called Phan Luang and these are amazing. Its very secret where its positioned but most definitely worth a try.

You should also try the BBQ food. This is where they place a hot cement pot in the middle of your table with a lid over the top and you cook your own food from vegetables to meat or fish.








Hotels we stayed in are: (Booked through Booking.com)

• Soutikone 2 Guesthouse, $203 (Us dollars). (Today's exchange rate £134) for one week. At the time we didn't think this price was too bad, but as our journey continued we realised it was very over priced. The rooms were very small, no wardrobes and old style. The bathroom smelt of sewage all day. Not worth the money.
• Salaphet@Home, $182 (Us dollars). (Today's exchange rate £120) for one week. We also felt this was over priced but had modern big rooms. Very clean and there was always a member of staff at the hotel. This hotel was over the bamboo bridge on the other side of the Mekong.