I headed out for the northern bus station of Vientiane to catch a bus to Luang Prabang. A place 9 hours in the north of the capital. As soon as the bus left the city I had to realise that this country might have a lot of bush land. During the whole journey we could enjoy all the fabulous green environment which once in a while got interrupted by a small town or settlement.

Luang Prabang itself is surrounded by jungle, green hills and the river Mekong. The place is well known for its monks and the numerous monasteries around the town.

A new kind of temple and also my new favourite. This time a ‘Temple surrounded by palms in the jungle’.

The centre of the town is dominated by a big hill with a temple on the top. On the way back down I found a couple of Buddhas and for the first time I realised that they have one for every week day. Not sure why the Saturday Buddha looks kind of creepy and the Tuesday Buddha seems to be tiered for some reason. I guess the weekend was too long 😀

Hidden in the jungle near Luang Prabang are some beautiful waterfalls. The perfect place to escape from the heat and humidity in the town. There is one big drop and later on couple of cascaded basins which are perfect for a bath. The water on top of the waterfall is crystal clear and becomes turkish coloured on the bottom of it. The free fish massage was awesome. It just became a bit scary after a big fish started to feed itself. I decided to stay safe and to keep my toes and left the bath after the attack.

Another reason than the monks and temples that this place is popular are the slow boat trips down or up the MeKong. Most of the tourists coming from Thailand by boat and keep traveling Laos later on. A few go the opposite way against the mass – up streams. And so did I – as usually.

The trip takes two days with a night in a small place in the middle of the jungle. During those two days you will see a lot of green. Seriously, its all green except the water and the sky. And the few moments when the jungle is opening up to give you a view on a hill tribe settlement. We could see kids playing on the water site, women washing the laundry or guys fishing in their boats. Normal life for those living here.

For those who are in a hurry or who don’t want to spent 2 days in their life on a slow boat, there are also some speedboats and they go fast … So fast that a helmet is required and that you might feel your bones for a couple of days afterwards;)
However, everybody is ending or starting at the border to Thailand. Our drop off was just next to the ‘former’ immigration office. Unfortunately not opened anymore to foreigners. For us was the brand new ‘friendship’ bridge a couple of kilometres away.

Somehow it is a shame I left this country after just five nights but there might be the opportunity to see more of it when I’ll be back in Thailand. Getting into it in the south to see the islands there. Lucky me that I do not need a visa 😉