Kuang Si

An hour's drive outside Luang Prabang is Kuang Si falls. At the very entrance is the usual cluster of souvenir shops and restaurants that I'm now accustomed to seeing at every tourist attraction we come across. However, the few touts hanging around are very laid back and there's a generally relaxed and pleasant atmosphere. There are also a lot of locals around, on their way up to to the falls - always a good sign.

Luang Prabang

Luang Prabang is a relaxed town at the confluence of the Mekong and Nam Khan rivers. Much of it seems to exist to support the throughput of Europeans and Japanese, so the extent to which the town itself exhibits true Laos culture is questionable. Nevertheless it has it's own sleepy charm, rather than being tourist-hell and we stick around for about a week, eating noodle soup and exploring.

The Mekong

The next two days where to be spent on the slow boat along the Mekong to Luang Prabang. Wikitravel suggested that the going rate for thr trip was about 250,000kip (£20). Our guest house offered a slow boat ticket, transport to the dock and a sandwich to eat on the journey for the same price. It's been our experience that buying tickets direct from the point of departure can save you a lot of money, with agents adding on massive commission but this seemed like a pretty good deal.

The next morning, we took a ride to the dock and waited for the guy from our guest house to sort our tickets. There were a few other backpackers with us, who had all apparently crossed the border that morning. Some had bought a package deal in Chiang Mai to Luang Prabang. Our guide handed out the tickets and set about giving us some advice on what to expect from the trip.

Border Crossing to Laos

In both Thailand and Laos there's a form of public transport called a songthaew, which literally means "two rows". It's a covered vehicle with two benches in the back, usually either a large pickup or small minivan type vehicle. They operate like a cross between a bus and a taxi - you can flag them down from anywhere along the road, share them with other passengers and the driver will take what he considers to be the best route that links all the desired stops. They tend to be cheaper than taxis or tuk tuks, the price varying depending on the number of passengers and the distance to your stop.

The songthaew we took to the Chiang Mai bus station took a rather circuituous route. We intended to take a bus from Chiang Mai to Chiang Khong, site of the main border crossing between Northern Thailand and Laos. By the time we reached the bus station the coach we wanted was full. Rather than wait four hours for the next one, we elected to take a coach to Chiang Rai and get a local bus further on to Chiang Khong.

Quick Update - No Internetz

Sabaidee boys and girls. We're in Laos right now, in a guest house on the banks of the Mekong. We're in Don Det, which is a tiny island of Si Phan Don: the four thousand islands.

It's our third week in Laos and loads has happened. I've got several blog posts typed and a ton of pictures and videos, but the upload speed here is painfully slow and I've not been able to get any media up.

So as soon as it's possible, I'll show you some photos. It's beautiful here.

Laters xx

Chiang Mai

More pictures after the jump.

Check Alice's post here.

Sukhothai

After a load of waffly posts I'll not bore you with words for a while. Sukhothai is an old capitol of Thailand and a UNESCO world heritage site. We bombed round it on bikes. Check the pictures.