I left the last post jumping through a ring of fire! Rest assured by the time I’d made my way to my next destination, Luang Prabang, things had settled down a little bit 😛

Before that though, I got to enjoy changing minibuses 3 times in 4 hours en route, the last of which followed us all the way there anyway! Very weird journey…

One of the lovely things about backpacking is that no matter where you go, and however you get there, there will always be someone coming the other way to share tips and stories with! For the millennials reading this, imagine TripAdvisor but without the internet :O

Over the past week in Vang Vieng, I’d heard two places come up again and again… Sunrise Hostel and ‘Utopia’, so I decided to seek them out when I arrived! Continuing the backpacking default of ‘avoid lugging your rucksack around if there’s an option to’, I jumped off the minibus and made my way eagerly through the town to my new hostel. It was really dark, so here’s a nicer pic I took the next morning 🙂

Gorgeous setting, awesome chill out area and a pool! What more could you want? Definitely in my hostel hall of fame! Met a really cool crowd there and spent most of my time just relaxing, chatting and playing music. I will definitely be heading back that way one day for more of the same.

So after striking lucky with the hostel, I thought I’d roll the dice again and check out Utopia, which turned out to be an incredible bar & restaurant just a few minutes walk away. Could it be fate?

Utopia really is a paradise! A little pricey by Laos standards but I challenge anyone to spend a few hours there and try to have a care in the world!

If you rock up to Luang Prabang, a visit here is a must! The food and drinks are really great, and come on, that view! Okay so maybe swimming in a river that looks like you’ve mixed all the paints together isn’t the most appealing idea, but looking at it from the comfort of a big beanbag with a nice refreshing drink in hand… just the ticket!

The remainder of the week was tonnes of fun! There’s some beautiful temples across the city, my favourite of these sitting atop Phousi Hill! The temple itself isn’t so impressive, but if you don’t mind a few (hundred) steps to reach it, this is one of the best places in town to catch the dazzling Laos sunset.

After this, I spent an amazing day riding around the Laos countryside with my new pals from Manchester, Tom and Sherri. We shared a dorm at Nana Backpacker’s in Vang Vieng, and they are two of the loveliest people you could meet! It was back to familiar territory for me, renting a scooter to boldly go where no man (okay, so probably quite a lot of people) had gone before. Destination: Kuang Si Falls! We’d heard really good things about it from some of the hostel crowd and decided to see for ourselves.

As you can see… B-E-A-utiful!

We went for a quick dip, and clearly weren’t wanted by the marine residents that were nipping at mine and Tom’s legs so much we looked like a badly prepared synchronised swimming team as we frantically hopped about trying to avoid them!

As we made our way back to the town, I persuaded Tom & Sherri to stop for a quick photoshoot on the banks of the Mekong!

Can you believe they were just going to drive past a view like that?! Crazy people! 😛

This was my last night in the place I’d called home for the last week, and what better place to spend it than where I spent my first morning! Back to paradise…

I really REALLY miss this place, and I’m determined to make my way back there one day to explore even more of it! Did I mention they have a secret bowling alley?! (Shhhhhh :P)

Join me on the next post for the final episode of my Laos adventure where I make way to Thailand not by bird, not by plane… but by a 2 day slow boat!

See you soon folks!