We crossed the border from Vietnam to Laos after a night bus and then a small minibus with some locals and a few tourists.

The border police stopped 2 tourists who were queuing before us as apparently that particular land border does not give visas on arrival. Luckily I got an e-visa for us. 

We were dropped off in a small village called Muang khua. We wanted to go to Nong Khiaw from here and got ourselves a SIM card and some cash. We then learnt that there isn’t a direct bus to Nong Khiaw and that we had to go via Muang Xai. Moreover, it was possible to get there by boat as the Nam ou river flows across both villages. However it left once in the morning.

So we stayed in the village for a night and left to take a boat in the morning. When we realised that we were the only travellers and that the boatman quoted more than what we’d heard, we went to the bus station and headed off to Muang Xai to then go to Nong Khiaw. Unfortunately, our bus broke down and we stepped out to wait with the others. It was hot outside and it felt like almost an hour but the Laotian folks seemed unperturbed. Perhaps they were used to this. Finally, a replacement bus arrived and we all got into it. By now you might have guessed what happened. Yes, the only bus to Nong Khiaw was full and about to leave. We were asked to come the next day! I dropped my bag and myself on the nearest seat and asked the boys to look for an accommodation. I was fed up and wondering if we’d manage to go anywhere at all in Laos. 

Leo was very helpful and he quickly found a place on my phone. We took a tuktuk in the blazing heat and got to our guesthouse. The next day, after almost 3 days of travelling, we managed to reach Nong Khiaw. 

We understood why this place had been recommended. It’s a laid-back village full of kind and friendly villagers, great trekking trails, waterfalls and all this close to the river bank. Laos is soooo beautiful 😍

After relaxing for 2 days, we signed up for a 3 day trek with our guide Than. 

On day one we walked along paddy fields and then in a bamboo forest. It was tiring but beautiful. We stopped by a village to have lunch. There were many children playing around us and we started chatting with them. We learnt that a french NGO was building a school for the kids in the village. On a hill close to the village, there were patches of land burnt on the hills to prepare for the next harvest season. As we were climbing down the hill we were asked to pull up our socks and watch out for leeches. Leo did not know what these creatures were and we tried to explain to him. Rightly so, we were all attacked by the blood suckers! They managed to creep in the tiniest of openings. We were all yelling and trying to pull them off. Leo was petrified! Two of the trekkers were bitten and they had blood flowing from their wounds. As we reached a safe spot everyone peeled off their footwear to check for any hidden parasites. We left when we were certain that there weren’t any more. We reached a village by evening and our dormitory was next to the river.

Arjun and I went straight to the river for a swim after trekking the whole day in the sun. It was refreshing! I managed to swim here without any fear and realized that I’ve conquered my fear of deep waters. The evening was spent walking around the village, chatting with the villagers. The dinner was served in one of the houses. We were surprised to see skewers of tiny barbecued frogs. Leo was very keen on tasting the frogs and they did taste good. We then learnt to weave a basket and all of us made one big enough to hold our water bottle. The next morning we had our breakfast of porridge with tender coconut. We were supposed to trek to a waterfall. After crossing into and over several privately owned fields, we managed to reach the spot which had turquoise blue waters. We felt refreshed! We then went to have a picnic with meals wrapped in a banana leaf. Our group split here and Arjun, Leo & I continued our trek. We were to visit a remote village which had a weaver community. The others were to go there own way. As we said goodbye, we took a boat to one of the villages and did a small trek to have a look at a cave. Laos and Vietnam has many huge caves hidden in the mountains. This used to house all the army personnel during the war. We then went to the village where we were to sleep and start our hike the next morning. The village was beautiful beyond words. We went for a swim and Leo started chatting with some french tourists who were fishing. They gave him one of their fishing rods to try his luck. The French group was here to build a school for the children. They had collected money from crowdfunding and used this here to repair the school building and buy provisions. I could see the look of satisfaction in their eyes. The  next morning we met a few weavers, mostly women who were spinning the wheel or creating beautiful patterns. Here I picked up a beautiful piece of work done by one of the weaver’s grandmother. This was the heirloom left to her granddaughter in case she was ever in need. The weaving pattern is apparently not done anymore. 

On our way up the mountain it was super hot and we were wondering if it was a good idea after all. The tour owner had told us that his grandfather had shown him this path as this is where he hid during the war. We were so fascinated by the story that we decided to come. Once we were at the base of the mountain, we were sheltered by the trees and it felt much better. There was barely a pathway but our guide Than had a sickle to pave the way for us. I doubt if we’d have been able to get here on our own. The way down was even more tough. Leo started getting cranky and each of us took turns to cheer him up. Somehow we managed to make it through the jungle, past the leeches and into the boat. With great relief, we picnicked near the riverside and feasted on the fish freshly caught by the boatman. 

We were back in Nong Khiaw by kayak. My biceps felt stronger by the time we reached. This was the first time I went kayaking for such a long distance.

We were back in the village and it was time to go to Luang Prabang. We went there to witness the famous waterfall and we weren’t disappointed. Infact, we managed to go there 2 days in a row. The sweltering heat and the sheer beauty of the multi layered waterfalls made us go back.

From Luang Prabang we went to Vientiane – the capital. We wanted to go by land to Cambodia and most buses to the south of Laos left from Vientiane. We did not see much here and headed straight to Thakhek to do a motorcycle loop. It was super hot on the first day. Leo and I came very close to having heat strokes. The almost dried up waterfall gave us some respite. It was here that we met a young German group. We started chatting and found ourselves do the rest of the loop together, staying at the same guest house, sticking through tire punctures and food poisoning. One of the gems along the Thakhek loop was a pristine pond called cool waters which as the name suggests has coooool waters which were a clear blue. We managed to go there twice. Leo had an interview with a private school in Paris. This was a backup plan incase he didn’t get admitted to the public school of our choice. We were supposed to go to a beautiful restaurant with WiFi except that the motorcycle needed fuel and we didn’t have enough cash. The next hour was spent looking for an ATM that worked. It was too late to go to the selected spot so we rushed into a school by the roadside. We found an empty classroom and quickly did a zoom call. The kids in the school saw us and thought it’d be fun to burst crackers near the window. Inspite of the chaos, the interview went well and Leo was admitted to the school! Yay! no

After Thakhek we all headed to Pakse where it rained quite a bit and we ended up being mostly indoors. We did manage to visit a local market to witness the kind of food that locals eat. I found most Laotian local markets very fascinating. One of the local delicacies is field rats and I think we had eaten a version of this meat cooked with sweet rice entirely by accident. It was covered in banana leaves and the lady selling the food told me it’s sweet rice. I’m sure I didn’t understand it when she probably mentioned the meat. Anyway, we’re alive and didn’t have any issues 🥴

Our final destination was Don Det. It takes hours and hours of bus rides from one place to the other in Laos. We were in a tiny guesthouse by the river with our German friends. All we did was chill, swim in the river, cycle around the village, and go to waterfalls. We managed to swim in the southernmost part of the river. We could see Cambodia from here! Leo and Arjun managed to perfect their backflips here with one of the German travellers explaining what to do. 

It was soon time to go to Cambodia. Laos was a surprisingly lovely destination. The country is so beautiful and still untouched by mass tourism.