After Luang Prabang, our next stop on the way to Vientiane was a small town called Vang Vieng. Notorious for it's tubing experience and 24-hour parties, we were looking forward to see the wildest town in Laos.
We left Luang Prabang just after seeing the Alms Giving Ceremony in the morning and still had a good 4 hour drive ahead of us.
The road was still spinning among hills, slowly turning into mountains, continuously climbing higher up.
I must admit that although the scenery around was gorgeous, we all hoped for the mountains to end, because the spinning road for almost 2 hours was getting all of us car-sick. That's why, every time we saw an opportunity to stop, we did.
Driving to Vang Vieng, we had no problems with the construction work going on. Probably because it was also the weekend.
We did, however, had to stop a couple of times and give way to the occasional cows :-)
We arrived to Vang Vieng in the early afternoon, to find the town almost deserted. Our first thought was that probably because it was the hottest day so far, everyone was happily tubing on the river.
Finding the guesthouse wasn't a problem, the first one we saw had decent rooms, reasonable prices and a great view of the river and the limestone hills on the other side.
Leaving our backpacks in the room, we went to find where all the action was. So far, we didn't really see anyone on the streets.
It was a bit weird, because when we were looking up the info on Vang Vieng, almost every story we read were about tubing, and wild parties, happening here 24/7. So, we very much expecting to see something like this (these 3 images are taken from Google):
Apparently, as of 2015, the tubing and the partying in Vang Vieng no longer exists. Compared to a crowd of drunk/high students that was constantly drinking in the bars while tubing on the river every single day, just a few years ago, now there is only a handful of bars left and no tubing. I read later that because of all the deaths and injuries happening on the river, at some point, the Lao government said "enough" and pretty much overnight closed almost all the bars and tubing stations. So now most of them went out of business.
Not that we wanted to tube and to get drunk that much, but it was a bit disappointing not to see it at all. Oh well...
Everyone was hungry, so when we saw the signs advertising "the best German food in Laos" we were sold. Once at the restaurant, the owner first refused to sit us explaining that he has stuff to do and no time, but then decided to feed us after all, under the condition that we will not order any German food only Thai. We agreed to eat to Thai :-) The food was really good and here we tried the papaya green salad for the first time - delicious, it became our standard order for the rest of the trip.
The owner looked very local, so we asked him why he was cooking German all together, and it turned out that he lived in Germany for a very long time, since he was a child, and at some point he came to Laos, to Vang Vieng, liked it very much and decided to stay, opening a German food restaurant, which by the way, was also partly a gallery for his art.
Despite being "very busy" he did tell us where we can go for the rest of the day. It turned out that there is a place called Blue Lagoon here as well. We immediately imagined something similar to the one in Luang Prabang and were looking forward to go. Also he explained us the route to visit a couple of local villages.
We liked the place and the food, so we decided to come back again in the evening for some schnitzels.
It was getting hotter by the minute, so naturally we decided to go to the Lagoon first and then do the villages, when it will start to cool off.
When we got there, "The Lagoon" turned out to be a puddle of water with about a 100 people trying to fit in.
There were also some zip-lines starting just a few hundred meters further, fully occupied by a group of Chinese or Japanese tourists.
The third attraction was the cave. We decided to check it out and it turned out to be a huge one. You could potentially take a guide an go further inside, but our shoes where too slippery on the rocks and we decided no to go.
After the lagoon, we drove around the area to see some local villages.
After dark there was still too quite on the streets. Some people here and there, but mostly locals.
It was silly to see all the travel agencies, selling tubing and other activities, nobody around being interested in any of it. Silly and sad...
As there was nothing to do, we decided to look for a bar to hung out. Bars, that were originally meant for a huge crowds that came here, now looked deserted as well.
We tried on of them, but were immediately surrounded by mosquitoes, because most of the bars here are built directly above the river, which, because of the garbage in it, turned into a swamp a long time ago.
We finally gave up and went back to the guest house. The guys bought a couple of beers and we spent the rest of the evening on the balcony chatting and making plans for the rest of the trip.
The next morning we left for Vientiane, where we needed to give back the car and arrange a train to Bangkok the day after.
Before returning the car we looked for the guesthouse. It took us 3 attempts to find an acceptable one, somehow the more expensive ones turned out to be dirty and stinky, while the cheapest one was the most clean and had a nice view of the temple.It was also very close to the car rental office.
We returned the car without any problems, although we all got a feeling that the guy, who was inspecting it upon return was a bit surprised that we were returning it undamaged. He really looked at almost every centimeter on that car. :-)Anyway, he took it back and promised to release the deposit.
After getting something to eat we walked to the river where the night market was being set up. The embankment here looks really dated and unkempt. They could have made a really nice place out of it, but I guess nobody cares.
From the river we saw a bar in one of the buildings overlooking the river and decided to toast the end of our week in Laos with some drinks.
Once upstairs, we were just in time to see the sunset.
Like in China, once the started to set, the mass evening exercise started. It always amazes me how many people participate in this community activity.
After drinks we walked along the embankment for a while.
First we found this LENIN - looking guy, but instead of just flowers he also had all kinds of elephants and horses left on the pedestal.
Then we tried a some local thing in a banana leave. Well, we didn't, Oleg did, and it was really disgusting.
Since trying local delicacies proved to be a mistake we decided to stay with the more familiar food, but with local flavors. Apparently Oreos are a really big hit in Laos, they are being added everywhere, so we scored ourselves an Oreo ice-cream at some local variation of McDonald's. We all loved it, especially the guys :-))
Both Lena and I think that the cappuccino the guys got was spiked with something, because the started to laugh and couldn't stop for half an hour. :-)))
The next morning we had a half-day to spend in Vientiane, and at 3 pm we had a pick-up scheduled to take us to the train station on the border with Thailand.
The train tickets we bought the day before, at a travel office, around the corner from the guesthouse. We were doubting which class to get, first or second, but because we had to spend the whole night in it, we went for the first (big mistake as it turned out, but I will tell about it later). For now, we were happy with the fact that we had the tickets and didn't have to think about how to get to Bangkok anymore.
Vientiane itself turned out to be a bit mediocre. The hit that day didn't help enjoying it either.
Even the museum we wanted to go to was closed.
The central square here reminds of the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, or may be of the India Gate in Delhi, but then Buddhist style.
At 3 pm sharp we were at the travel office, waiting to be picked up and dropped off at the boarder train station.
To get from Vientiane to Bangkok, you actually need to take 2 trains, a light one that goes only across the border and another one already in Thailand, a proper overnight sleeper, that goes all the way to Bangkok.
The station on the Laos side is literally in the middle of nowhere, with just one train going back and force a couple of times a day.
The guy from the travel office brought us to the station too early, so we had to wait for almost two hours. We thought it's going to be a boring wait but we were wrong.
About half an hour into waiting a guy from the ticket office approached us saying that our 1st class tickets can no longer be used and that he wants to exchange them to 2nd class.
We: What?? Why??
Guy: No 1st class, only 2nd. Must exchange!
We: what do you mean no 1st class?? No, we will not exchange!
Guy: Yes, exchange!
We: Why there is no 1st class??
Guy: Sjoileabfjhsvdktfgajbmaghlawkjhnbtrjfg...!!
We: What?? We don't understand!
Guy: Yes, exchange!
We first thought that he is trying to get our tickets back because someone needs a 1st class ticket and they don't have any left. So we told him "no" for the tens time and he left.
Then we noticed, that he is trying to pull the same stunt with some elderly local couple, that also had 1st class tickets. We went to them to ask, what was going on. They explained, that apparently the AC wasn't working in the 1st class of the train we were suppose to take, so they are removing the 1st class coaches from the train, and there will be only 2nd class and lower.
At this point we thought that this might actually be true, so when the train station guy came to us again, saying "must exchange", we agreed.
So, we gave him our tickets, he gave us the 2nd class ones and... only 50% of the price difference between them! When we asked where the rest of the money is, he said that they only give this much when the tickets are exchanged and not the full difference, that this was the Thai regulation and he can't do anything about it.
Despite our efforts to convince him that it was ridiculous, and that we are entitled to the full refund of the difference, because it wasn't our idea to exchange tickets in the first place, he kept refusing and saying that it's policy.
To us it felt like a scam, so we said that in this case, we want our 1st class tickets back. He started to give us some other tickets instead...
Anyway, with the whole drama going on, the time flue by really fast and it turned out that we need to board the train now. We no longer had the time to achieve anything else than what we already had - 2nd class tickets and only half of the refund.
We decided to board, and just cut our losses, because it was definitely not worth missing the train all together...
Leaving Laos proved to be as complicated as getting in! :-))))
Anyway, we boarded this light train, and about 10 minutes we were crossing the boarder, which in this case was a river.
In total, the ride from Laos side to the Thai side took only 15 minutes.
Already in Thailand we went through the boarder and passport control again, got our stamps, and still had about 1.5 hours before the train to Bangkok.
Because we still had time, Oleg decided to check at the Thai ticket office whether the whole "1st class being removed" story was true and also to ask why the Thai regulation only refunds 50% of the difference in ticket prices.
The Thai ticket guy listened to our complaint and then said that he is going to get in touch with train station people in Laos to find out what was going on. He didn't seem surprised, and we thought that this was not his first time hearing this story.
While Lena and I were getting some food the guys were waiting at the ticket office to hear what the Thai ticket guy will find out.
Eventually, he said that the Lao office will is willing to refund us half of the remaining unpaid 50% if we will leave them alone. :-)
We agreed, because it was better than nothing, and we had no time left to argue more about it. All together, we got 75% of the price difference back.
Getting into Laos as well as getting out of the country proved to be adventures and quite pricey...
Any way, it was time to board the train to Bangkok. The train's second class was not at all what we expected. It had seats along the side for the whole length of the train, no compartments like on the trains in other countries. The low berth is wider than usual train berth and converts into a very comfy wide bed.
The upper berth is exactly as wide as in other trains, so whoever is sleeping there has, unfortunately, much less space. Naturally, the guys had to take the upper berth :-))
The personnel on the train made up the beds and we fell a sleep very quickly. For me it was one of the most comfortable train rides I had so far.
We arrived to Bangkok train station the next morning. We haven't been here before, so it was interesting to see.
We were planning to leave our luggage here and go into the city empty-handed. We would then come back here to pick up the bags and take the train to the airport.
However, when we found the luggage storage, a guy working there decided to charge us 5 times more than the official rate written in the price list. We started to complain, but he wouldn't listen. So we we decided to take the backpacks with us. It was cheaper to take them with and then just to take the taxi directly to the airport, without coming back to the train station again.
Outside, explaining to the taxi driver where we wanted to go wasn't easy, the policeman was helping out and others were listening in ;-)
Bangkok was very hot and humid, so we didn't really feel like walking around. Instead, we chose a bar and spent half a day in it eating, drinking and writing the blog.
When it was time, we took the taxi to the airport and boarded our flight to Yangon, Myanmar.
Conclusions:
Laos is a very beautiful country in terms of nature. There are tons of interesting hikes that one can do, so if there is enough time, hiking is definitely recommended.
Food here is much better than expected and cheap too, plenty of fresh options and we didn't get sick.
Accommodations are all right and can easily be arranged without booking anything in advance.
Entering and exiting the country is quite tricky and especially leaving by train can be unpleasant because of the scams. Our advice - by 2nd class tickets and lower berth, you will have the best option this way.
Luang Prabang: waterfalls are nice, the caves probably as well, 2 full days here is enough to see everything
Vang Vieng: if you don't have enough time, skip it. Otherwise, 1 full day here is enough.
Vientiane: 1 full day is enough.
Driving in Laos is easy, but car rentals are expensive. If you decide to rent a car, chose a pick-up truck, the roads are bad enough to kill a sedan. Cars can be rented both in Luang Prabang and Vientiane, and a picking up at Boten (China/Laos border) is possible.
Next: 8 days in Myanmar(Burma)
