Luang Prabang, Laos

The sun had just set when our shuttle bus dropped us off in Luang Prabang, Harrison and I made our way to DownTown backpackers; where we checked in and chatted with the roomies, two girls from London. They were explaining to us that they were going bowling?? Turns out that all the “night life” in Luang Prabang closes around 11-midnight and then everyone goes to a bowling alley because it’s the only place in town that sells alcohol that late. Harrison and I were pretty drained from riding the bus so decided to take it easy, shower, and then go check out the night market for dinner.

We happened upon a buffet type dinner two minutes from our hostel. $1.80USD for whatever you could fit on your plate, noodles, egg rolls, stir-fried veggies, fruit, and steamed veggies, rice. If you wanted you could pay for an entire BBQed fish or chicken or other meats to add to your meal. It was literally such a steal especially for kids like us who were ballin on a budget. Then we wandered the streets of the night market but after about 10 minutes all the stalls started to blend in together and look as if they were all selling the same things. While shopping we ran into the Arizonians and made plans to hang out the next day!

May 20th

We met up with Keri and Rowan that morning and walked up Mt. Phousi which had a 360 degree view of the town, checked out some other attractions, had lunch, found cheap manicures ($3.50USD!) & massages, and booked a sunset cruise on the Mekong River ($10USD- everything in Laos is so cheap!)

Top of Mt. Phousi

Cave Buddah

Royal Palace

We caught a BEAUTIFUL sunset on the river, and we had drinks, chatted, played up-the-river, down-the-river and presidents (card game) and then after continued the shenanigans back at our hostel for the rest of the night.

May 21st

DownTown Backpackers Hostel was a really great location, close to the river, and close to the night market, but it really lacked atmosphere so we decided to switch to Vong Prachan Hostel. After we checked in, we chatted with some girls in our room, (from England, SURPRISE) until we left to get lunch.

Markets were literally on the doorstep of DownTown Backpackers

We met Rowan and Keri at Utopia for a DELICIOUS lunch. It's kind of hidden behind some alleyways, but it is such a great venue, with lounges looking out to the river, with an amazing menu. It’s a perfect place to spend a lazy day, grazing, ordering coconuts or smoothie bowls, or drinks. You can just waste your whole day away here; eating, drinking, napping, reading, or utilizing their free Wi-Fi. They also have a resident cat that walks around to all the lounges looking for food so if you’re into cats that’s a plus.

After lunch we tried avoiding the heat by playing pool at our hostel, and get this... I RAN INTO SOMEONE I WENT TO MIDDLE SCHOOL WITH. Harrison, Keri, Rowan, and I were just hanging out on the rooftop of this hostel, and I’m changing the music or something on the computer and then one of them strikes up conversation with a girl sitting by herself. So, as it goes, they ask the backpacking questions, name, how long you've been travelling, where've ya been, what's next, and where ya from. Everyone is interested because this girl is also American, Harrison gets excited cause this girl is also from Oregon! And then when he asks where in Oregon, she says West Linn, he calls me over, and then we do this weird like wait… I know you!? And then realize we used to go to school together. It’s such a weird experience, being in a third world country, sooo far from home, and running into a girl that I hadn’t seen in at least 8 or 9 years?? We used to have classes together all the time, we even got stuck in an elevator together once before... Anyway, shout out to Makynna Hampton from West Linn, Oregon!

After this weird but funny, blast from the past, we went for happy hour cocktails, and then split up to nap/shower/get ready for the night. We also got news that our three favorite lads were finally on a bus and arriving from Vang Vieng that evening and so we grabbed a quick bite to eat from a local spot where were coped curry, rice, and soup for dinner for 17,000 kip which is like two US dollars!! Picked up beers from a cart on the side of the road and played drinking games until our friends arrived.

Harrison and I brought back some college memories with kings cup, and epic game of Pangea, and Piccolo games to pre-game the night. We hit up Utopia for ONE drink before they closed at 11pm, then we all hopped onto a tuk tuk to take us to the bowling alley to continue the night. I don’t know why it stands out so clearly to me but I specifically remember our whole gang (the two new roomies S/O to Lucy and Molly, the two Arizonians, and 3 boys) were screaming Vanessa Calrton’s-A Thousand Miles on the way to the bowling alley. It seems super sketchy, and far from town when you pull up to the bowling alley but hey, we were told that’s the spot for Luang Prabang night life? The boys tried their hands at some archery outside of the bowling alley and shot a couple rounds and then we bowled for the rest of the night.

May 22nd

The next morning was a ROUGH one. More so for others, than some, but we decided that since we had a big enough group we could hire a shuttle van to take us to the famous Kuang Si Falls. This is probably the highlight of Luang Prabang. The waters were a gorgeoussss teal color and the cool temperatures felt amazing especially on a recovering post-bowling night body. However, there were tiny fish that would nibble your body while you stood there so we weren't in there for too long just cause it gave us the heebie jeebies. There was a longer 30-minute-uphill-hike that would take you to a secret pool/ higher spot on the water fall but since we were all dead from the day before we opted to stay near the bottom which was still stunning.

And as a bonus attraction, on your way to the falls, near the entrance, there was also some sort of bear rehab or something where you could watch a bunch of lazy baby bears play and explore their enclosure.

I don’t know what it is about Asia, maybe the heat, but somehow we always find time for afternoon naps. We spent the rest of the evening eating dinner at the night market, playing Piccolo at the hostel, and bowling the night away again. I even won a pack of cigarettes for bowling so well that night. Lol. (Don’t worry mom, I gifted it to one of the boys)

May 23rd

Molly, Lucy, Harrison and I checkout of the hostel this morning, because we were on our way to the next adventure! We didn’t need to go to the airport quite so early, so we went and had lunch at Utopia, and just chilled out. We had some good chats with the girls about university tuition in England vs. the US, they asked about Greek life at our universities, and then I don't even remember why but somehow we got onto the topic of the PDX carpet… Now, have any of you ever tried explaining that Portland phenomenon to anyone before? Saying it out loud was so funny because it sounds absolutely ridiculous, taking a picture, of your feet, at the airport, and everyone does it?

Keri & Rowan trickled in to join us for lunch and then at a casual 1pm the boys awoke from their slumber and met up with us just in time to have a, yet another, sappy goodbye before we jetted off to Vietnam!

All-in-all I found Laos to be pretty boring, if you have time, check it out, the waterfall is amazing, but if you’re crunched on time in Asia I probably wouldn’t recommend it. But I would NEVER regret it or take it back, because we ended up meeting some pretty amazing people along the way.