We flew from Chiangmai to luang prabang with Lao airlines. We took a bus from the departure gate to our plane. When we saw it everybody started taking pictures! It looked like something out of Six days, seven nights mum haha. Maybe a tad bigger. The airline was really good though and the little plane made it all the way there! At the arrival airport we had to pay a $35 visa arrival fee which me and Kirstie didn't have the money for because we couldn't exchange our money at chiangmai airport, so we had to leave our passports at the airport go outside to the ATM and withdraw money then come back. It was hard work.

We stayed at Namkham riverside hotel which was in a beautiful location and in close proximity to all the main streets and attractions. We had our own twin room on the ground floor and when you stepped outside the door you could see the river right in front of you. We walked around the town and through the markets. It had some really nice restaraunts, cafes and shops. That night we ate at Lao Lao garden which was recommended to us. I had Pad Kee Mao which was a local dish involving meat, potato's, vegetables and egg. It was gorgeous! Kirstie tried buffalo pasta. Buffalo is very popular in Luang prabang. We had a little history lesson on our menu and we learnt that the only things made in Laos are basic farm crops, handicrafts, textiles, cement, wood products, electricity, cigarettes, beer and soda drinks. Everything else must be imported. We are in a place so remote that it was not accessible by road until nearly the 21st century. The people in Lao are very kind, calm and respectful. There is a curfew on the city and everything shuts down at 11.30. If you want to eat out you have to get there before 9pm.
The following day we had booked on a biking and kayaking tour around luang prabang. The brochure said we would bike and stop off at different things along the way. Then stop and have lunch at the waterfall where we could swim and kayak back down the river. As with all things that we book this was not the case. We biked for 3 hours non stop in the blazing heat. Kirstie had to swap her bike with the tour guide because her gears wernt working. By the time we stopped at a weaving village we were absolutely shattered and thought we had sun stroke! In the village we saw the towns people making scalves and blankets etc. These people really don't have much in life. You must not haggle with Lao people as you are basically robbing the poor. We also got to see them making whisky and had to sample a few. The Laos have 2 shots of whisky in the morning and 2 before bed everyday. There were lots of bottles with different creatures in such as snakes, scorpions, spiders. These are actually medicines!! Ahhh. I did think about bringing one back as a souvenir but I was afraid it may break in my bag.
We biked for another 20 minutes to the lunch point and it was just hill after hill, we had to get off and walk most of them. When we arrived there was no waterfall we just assumed we were going after. They made us the usual rice, egg and veg dish with a soup for lunch which we could barely eat because of the heat. We looked like sweaty messes and just wanted to jump in the river. As we were eating lunch we got to see the elephants again but Kirstie didn't like it because they kept shouting at them :(
Next we got on the kayaks. Only after trodging through knee high mud to put the kayaks in the water. Oh the joys! Paddling slowly down the Mekong river was amazing with the mountains on one side and the village on the other. There was nobody around but us. This part was great its just a shame we couldn't have a quick swim in the river but it was too muddy. That is normal for the Mekong.
When we came to the end of our kayaking section we ran into some elephants coming down the hill we were walking up. When you come face to face with them towering above you its safe to say you get out of there way. We stood aside at the edge hoping they didn't hit us off with there trunks.... Just another day in the jungle!
It was the end of our tour. We were like are we going to the waterfall now? They said no this is not included and the waterfall is all dried up this time of year. You think they would of told us this before. We had to book a separate trip to the kuang si waterfall (A bigger, different one with water) for the following morning before we departed for Vang Vieng.
We got a private tuk tuk return journey to the waterfalls. It was epic! You took a small walk through the forests where you saw rescued bears. You could swim in all different sections of the falls. The water was a blue colour and there was a tree that you climb to jump in. Kirstie got a shot of me jumping in mid air. If you stayed in the same place too long with your feet on the bottom the fish would nibble at your skin. I swam over to the cascading water and sat beneath it. The water was really cold, it was heaven.
Now it was time for the long 6.5 hour bus journey to Vang vieng.
Xoxo