Laos

Vientiane to Thailand – Days 252-256

Mike P1 Comment
Family peace sign on second class train

Should we have skipped Vientiane?  Probably.  Maybe I feel that way because we were sad to be leaving Laos and excited to return to Thailand.  Our time in the Laos capital was so unremarkable we’ll focus on our epic journey from Vientiane down to Khao Lak in Thailand.  I imagine there were things to do in Vientiane, but we just phoned it in.  We barely left the hotel, didn’t care about eating local and spent too much time playing Pokemon.  Looking back, we just weren’t in the right head space from the get-go as our train from Luang Prabang wasn’t enjoyable, and it set the tone.

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Luang Prabang – Days 247 – 251

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We had high expectations for Luang Prabang, with many of the travel bloggers we follow writing that it was their favourite location in Southeast Asia. We knew we were heading to a city packed with Unesco-protected temples encircled by the beautiful Mekong and Khan Rivers. We booked a hotel with a river view and prepared for five days of exploration. Walking around the city was as beautiful as we had imagined. French colonial buildings were set next to temple after temple. We visited several sites and walked up the mountain in the town centre at sunset for beautiful views of the area below.

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Laos Homestay – Days 245 & 246

paige m1 Comment

One of the reasons we’re taking this trip is that we want the girls to see how different people around the world live. While we’ve been to many places, we have not spent much time in rural communities and have not done a homestay yet. This all changed when we disembarked the slow boat and set off to visit the village of Muang Soune with our homestay guide Kham. She grew up in this village, which is home to both ethnic Lao people and Hmong people. Kham returns with small groups of tourists to a newly built wooden house she owns surrounded by fruit trees on the outskirts of the village. This place is not on Google Maps – a tiny village on the Ou River north of Luang Prabang.

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Mekong River – Thailand to Laos by Boat – Days 242 – 244

Mike PLeave a comment
Girls boarding boat on mekong river

Up next was our scheme to take the slow boat from Northern Thailand to Luang Prabang. Floating down the Mekong on a boat turned out to be a blast. The children entertained the like-minded travellers, while it was a chance for the parents to be social with other adults again. Upon reflection, we spent two awesome days recapturing some of our old backpacking glory.

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