Laos in a nutshell

By KATI - November 14, 2015

I'm in Vietnam. And I am really happy I got my Visa in advance in Luang Prabang. The picturesc "International Checkpoint" Nam Phao up in the mountains of Laos Bolikhamxay province had enough staff for a consulate but informed on a page in google-translator-english, that it was impossible to get a visa on arrival here. puh. I almost thought, I had supported the viernamese kommunist party with 70 Dollars just for the fun of it.
I have spent the last two weeks in Laos. Apparently the "little brother" of Thailand. "Savadi-ka" changed to "Savaidii" (hello). Bath to Kip (the money) and although I was a millionaire the moment I sucked the first 100 Euros out of an ATM, the money disappeared in a speed even faster than in Thailand. The reason for this was partly the transportation (slowboat - see the post on the Mekong) and partly the group of cool people, that got together on the boat paired with beerlao - the big bottle for 15.000 Kip. The slow boat took us from the boarder to Luang Prabang (a lovely city - see my post on it) with beautiful waterfalls in its surroundings. From there following the tourist flow we arrived to the supposedly laid-back party town Van Vieng. If you managed to avoid the mass of drunkard australian tubing- and mushroming tourists, and focused on the beautiful scenery around the city, you could enjoy the three days there (including my first rock-climbing experience and an awsome cave we almost got lost in.
From Van Vieng it was a one not too pleasant stopover day in Laos capital Vientiane; Although I can imagine, that one could like the city if one had money for the chick boutique hotels, cafees an restautants.
An eight hour busride later we arrived to a different world. Konglore, a little town that only got his spot on the map because of the huge cave right next to it was quiet, friendly, and starlit at night. The really nice room with bathroom and window onto the ricefields cost half the money than in Vientiane. And there was this cave of course that you crossed with a small speedboat and flashlights (check out the pics in the laos album). And evenings full of peace, curry soup and grills cirping. Three nights of peace before plunging into the chaos of Vietnam. A whole new story - a whole new post. Kisses!