July 17-19, 2015If you’re lacking the funds, have the time,...





















July 17-19, 2015

If you’re lacking the funds, have the time, and/or want a story, there are ways other than flying to get from Chiang Mai, Thailand to Luang Prabang, Laos (i.e. bus or train). I opted to take the $155.60 USD 1-hour flight through Lao Airlines

Attempt to get off the flight quickly so you can queue for a 30-day visa on arrival. U.S. citizens should have two passport-size photographs and and $35 USD ready. You’ll make your life infinitely easier if you do. 

Luckily we avoided the taxi drivers from the airport and haggled a reasonable price into town from a truck that was dropping some people off at the airport. We walked around to different guesthouses to test for good wifi, which was mostly abysmal. We settled for Sengphet Guesthouse because it was clean, conveniently located, and the internet was slow but working. 

You’re at the mercy of convenience stores to buy a SIM card and have it work. Unitel worked throughout Laos for me, but it took a lot of work to get it to work initially. 

I loved my time in Luang Prabang. Great food, kind locals, beautiful French colonial buildings, and close-by waterfalls. A short list of things I enjoyed:

  • I ate a few meals outside in the rain along the Mekong River. I really enjoyed everything I ate here. And, wow, I miss the iced coffee and iced tea!
  • It’s a UNESCO world heritage site of 33 Buddhist temples, where around 6am each morning Buddhists give alms to monks. This has become a tourist attraction, so please remember to be polite
  • The night market is fun to walk through. We bought a bottle of lao-lao (sans snake) there that we carried throughout Laos. 
  • Like most foreigners, we had a meal and a few drinks at Utopia. Lots of fun people to talk or play volleyball with. One of the quirks of Luang Prabang is that the whole town closes up at 11pm except for a Chinese run bowling alley on the outskirts of the area. Be at Utopia to share a ride with new friends to the bowling alley. 
  • The view from Phu Si Hill (aka Mount Phousi) is worth the stairs up.
  • I started my obsession with Joma Bakery Café here. I also made friends with a bunch of Koreans there so we could share a ride up to Kuang Si Falls, which was hands-down the best I’ve ever played in. Also, on our way in, we stopped by the moon bear preserve where several rescued bears, captured when babies to harvest their bile for “medicine,” were living out their lives in peace.

About 

Hi, I'm Stacy. I'm from Portland, Oregon, USA, and am currently living in Busan, South Korea. Check me out on: Tumblr, Twitter, Instagram, Lastfm, and Flickr.