Laos

Huay Xai (28 April - 30 April)

Called into the gibbon office after on the main street to book the tour commencing Monday. For the 2 nights and three days for the waterfall experience cost me 240 euro. Really looking forward to this trip. Stayed in bap guesthouse next door for 80000 kip a night. Its my own ensuite room with a fan.was pretty tired so only ventured out to grab some food; traditional Lapp dish and a dark beer lao.

Next morning headed off on the trip. Funny thing is on the way, one of the Jeeps broke down. For this amount of money surely they can invest in Jeeps, right!? Got to the base around midday and broke into two groups of eight. Decided to do the trek the first day and the waterfall the second. Happy with my choice as the group I was in was pretty cool. It was so humid trekking and the jungle was so dense. Pumping sweat! A lot of water is needed on this trip..... Stopped off halfway and picked up our harnesses. This is where the fun begins zip lining! First zip line we tried was 60m long. Bit nervewrecking at the start, but once you get going its exhilarating. No signs of gibbons unfortunately but did see some other wildlife. That night ziplined to our treehouse where we were staying for the night. It had two floors, spacious and incredible views of the forest. The tour guide provided us with dinner and played cards in the evening to pass the time.

Next morning we were up early to start hiking. Did not sleep very well. There was a lot of commotion between bats and rats moving around.....  Seen some gibbons tho in the trees when we were having our breakfast which was our goal all along.. Left the treehouse around 8 for a tough trek in the heat to the waterfall. They prepared lunch for us (quality of the food BTW is not great) and then we chilled out at the waterfall for a while. There was an old zipline across the water that we all practiced jumping in on; good laugh.

We then headed back to the treehouse and rested up after a hard days trekking. At this stage I was wishing I brought more snacks; so hungry! Took a pretty cool shower in the treehouse. Amazing views of the surrounding jungle. Need to be careful also not to slip and fall when your a 100m up! That night we played cards again under our flashlights as the lights did not work in the treehouse. The next morning had a light breakfast of bread and jam and hike back to base. Majority of the trek back was out in the open and in that humidity and heat was pretty challenging. When we finally arrived back to base, we waited in the shade for the Jeeps to bring us back go huay xai.

Overall, I really enjoyed the trip. The group I was in were outgoing and friendly. The treks were pretty tough in the best and the terrain. I loved the ziplining along the way also. The only real disappointment was the quality and portions of food we were given and the lights not working in the second treehouse. Decided not to get the slow boat down the Mekong river in the end and get the Vip bus instead down to luang prabang with a group I met on the gibbon experience. Ticket cost me 180,000 kip.

 Luang prabang (May 2-3rd)

When we arrived in the bus terminal on the outskirts of the town, it was not what I was expecting. But once we got a tuk tuk into downtown, started to see the affects of the French colonialism. The streets and roundabouts were well maintained and chains of restaurants and guesthouses lined the Mekong river. Stayed in khammany guesthouse on the outskirts of the town. Cost 40,000 kip per night. The mixed dorm was fine. Very spacious, clean and each bunk bed had their own reading lamp and socket. As we arrived early we went to grab breakfast in a cafe nearby called Jo ma cafe. Was not disappointed. Their signature bacon and egg bagel was yum.

We strolled around the town after that and checked out some of the temples before stopping off along the riverside for lunch in a place called saffron cafe. Again, not disappointed with the quality of the food. There is many excursions you can do here including elephant treks, waterfall and cave sightseeing. But I decided to book my ticket to Hanoi the next day to get there for the weekend. We checked out the markets that night before heading for dinner in a restaurant called tamarin that was recommended. It was nice to try the traditional laos dishes but the portion sizes unfortunately were very small. Ended the night off by going for a drink along the riverside and getting drenched running back to the hostel in a thunderstorm... :-)

Conclusion

Overall I found Laos to be very expensive even though it is a lot poorer than Thailand. The locals are rather friendly and felt safe at all times.