Laos: It's a Wrap!!

Mountainous Laos is an underrated sleeper hit in our books. We simply had no idea how spellbound we’d become by its lush raw natural beauty, its friendly people and its serenity during our four weeks in the northern part of the country. Below is our personal list of highlights and statistics, as well as upsides and downsides for the country. If you’ve been, what would you add?

Highlights

Floating down the Mekong with Greg’s parent on a fancy cruise (Shompoo Cruises)
Embracing the peaceful and charming vibe of Luang Prabang
Staying with a local family and seeing/swimming in Kuang Si waterfall without the crowds
The gorgeous sunsets and floating through a river cave on a tire tube in Vang Vieng
Coming face to face with the most gorgeous mountain scenery we’ve seen this year in Nong Khiaw

In Summary

Time Spent: 28 nights

Money Spent: $1242.05 or $44.36/day*

(*This budget is a bit skewed due to the generosity of parents for the first 4 nights.)

Our itinerary: Pak Beng (1) Luang Prabang (10) Kuang Si Waterfall (1) Vang Vieng (6) Nong Khiaw (7) Luang Namtha (3)

Favorite Place: Luang Prabang

Least Favorite: Luang Namtha

Favorite Experience: Mekong River Cruise

Least Favorite: Being sick for 7-10 days with head colds. This definitely put a dent in the activities we had planned to do in the north.

Would we return? Yes. But probably only to do the south and maybe to LP if we could afford an apartment and stay for an extended period.

Best takeaways for saving money:

Use the Loca Pay app to pay digitally with your credit card
Use the LCR Ticket app for train travel. You will overpay on sites like 12Go Asia
Book hotels which include breakfast

Upsides of Laos

If you stick to the main tourist trail (Luang Prabang, Vang Vieng and Vientiane), train travel is easy, affordable, and straightforward.
It’s the most peaceful country we’ve ever been to.
There are colorful and flitting butterflies and moths all over the place.
The abundant & gorgeous nature
It’s the most culturally rich and traditional country we’ve visited in SE Asia.
Boat travel on the Mekong is unique and wanderlusty.
It’s easy to rent and drive a motorbike here with little traffic.
The wine, beer and spirits are significantly cheaper than other parts of SE Asia. The wine is often good quality because of the country’s French influence (not something we experienced in Vietnam).
The food seems to be a melting pot of Thai, Vietnamese and Cambodian. We loved it and had few issues eating vegetarian here.
Warm and friendly people, especially the outgoing and smiling kids. They are in neck and neck competition for the world’s cutest (with Nepal.)
Luang Prabang’s alluring architecture and traditions
There are a lot of unique things to do and see
There is very little crime.
After paying $40/each for your visa, you are now granted 60 days in the country.

Downsides

Overall, it’s more expensive than most other countries in SE Asia. This mostly applies to transportation costs and accommodation value.
That said, it was challenging to find apartments, either in our price range or at all, so we lived out of hotels the whole month, which is exhausting.
There are definitely a lot of bugs. Expect to spray regularly for mosquitoes, which is widely available.
Your motorbike gas tank will always be empty when you rent it.
There are a whole lot of roosters
Overall, the country is considerably dusty with very poor road conditions. This can all make for rougher travel, especially when you go off the beaten path.
There are soooo many tour groups, especially in Luang Prabang. This can sour the experience significantly if you don’t learn their habits and stay away from them.
The internet can be very hit or miss
The personal safety standards for almost everything can be shady.
The grocery store selection is challenging. We couldn’t even find oatmeal all month. This is usually a sure fire staple anywhere in the world we’ve traveled.
The bus station positioning always seems to be located way outside of town which incurred extra expenses for tuk tuks
There is no app like Grab/Uber. We tried using Loca Pay for this but ran into challenges.
In light of recent news, we would also add that you have to be quite wary of any shots or liquors you are served. We mostly drank wine and beer, but did have a few shots of Lao Lao whisky in designated tourist places.