It may live very much in the shadow of its more famous neighbours but Laos is a country that should not be ignored or just added on to South-East Asian itinerary in the name of ticking off another country. Whilst it may not have the big famous sights offered in Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia, it still has its own charm and interesting places away from the tourist crowds of those places. 15 years ago I met up with my friends Richard and Mizuki in Laos and we travelled to three of the country’s most famous destinations…

Vientiane – Having been met at the capital city’s airport (once I’d coughed up $35 for an instant Laos visa), my friends whisked me off to our $6 per night guesthouse accommodation followed by a couple of Beerlaos to celebrate my birthday. Patuxai slightly resembles the Arc de Triomphe in Paris and that was the starting point for the following days walking tour of the riverside city.

A few wats (temples) and far more “that is a wat/what” lines preceded Talat Sao market where a guy even offered to sell me viagra but I wasn’t up for buying that!! All of them were fairly pleasant but nothing too special. Still, it was just nice to be able to walk around such a peaceful city with almost no hassle whatsoever.

It didn’t take so long to walk around the laidback place and so we filled the rest of the day drinking the unbelievably cheap and very tasty Beer Lao by the Mekong River.

Just as we were waiting in reception the following morning I was quite surprised to bump into a girl I knew from Tokyo. As we were following the same route we inevitably saw each other a couple more times in our next destination.

Vang Vieng – This town is a big stop on the backpacker trail in Laos for reasons which some love and some hate! The latter is mainly due to the TV bars which continuously shows ‘Friends’ all day and we inevitably ended up consuming a fair few episodes over a couple of nights.

Kayaking, trekking and caving were on the agenda for our first day. Getting in and out of the caves was quite good fun, and the third and final cave was so dark that we had to carry a lit candle as we floated out of it. In the afternoon kayak session I was with Richard (as Mizuki wanted to ride with the guide) and we were the only ones who capisized. Not once but twice!

The main highlight for most people in Vang Vieng is tubing which we did the following day. It cost just $7 for a tyre and a tuk-tuk to the starting point. This basically just involves sitting in a tyre and floating down the river amidst some wonderful limestone cliff scenery. There are a load of bars and rope-swings along the way to stop at……or rather be stopped at by the local kids pulling you in!

The first stop was the big one after just a couple of minutes floating and it included a mighty rope-swing where you swing back and forth before eventually letting go and taking the plunge into the dirty waters. It was fantastic fun and I did it three times before moving on as we had plans for the rest of the afternoon.

We hired some quite good mountain bikes for just $2 which enabled us to get out into the surrounding countryside to witness the (even) slower pace of life; locals sitting around doing nothing, kids playing and having fun, free-roaming cows and chickens, bumpy roads with puddles galore from the daily rainfall, locals saying “Sabaidee” (Hello) to us and  wooden roadside homes all sporting gigantic satellite dishes but without basics like running water or a front door. It may not sound too exotic but it was an interesting insight into local life.

Unfortunately I lost my cap and then my pedal suddenly just snapped off which was blo*dy painful on my toe and indeed quite literally bloody! It wasn’t the best end to what was such a fun place but a few beers and some local food softened the pain later that evening.

Luang Prabang – An ever-winding and ascending road through beautiful mountains, valleys and local villages for a seven hour minibus ride took us from Vang Vieng to the world heritage city in the north of Laos. Luang Prabang is located between two rivers; the famous Mekong and another which had flooded a lot of the road due to the heavy rainfall on this trip.

Wasting no time on our arrival, we immediately walked around the town taking in the night market, some street bars and a big temple situated with some fine views overlooking the surrounding area.

My final full day involved a 90 minute elephant riding experience. I was looking forward to the elephant bathing but having these huge animals spraying you with their trunks never quite happened although Mizuki’s elephant made a big enough splash to slightly compensate for that! Riding an elephant into water was still an experience in itself and good fun all the same.

Tat Sae waterfall was the final port of call and it didn’t stop pi*sing it down while we were there but these were really beautifully layered falls and powerful too as I tried to make my way under them. A lovely boardwalk to the side of the falls and through the jungle  rounded off the day trip.

On my last day we all got up to see the morning alms giving ceremony but despite being on the streets by 6:00 am we only caught the end of the monks forming a procession through the town which they do every morning with the locals offering food and paying them respect.

The trip finished on a high as I finally met up with my former colleague Bridget just as I was about to go to the airport. We knew each other were in Laos but these were different times in a pre-smartphone era when e-mail was the more common and less effective way of communicating and trying to meet up.

Click here to read ‘TF Flashback: Time To Revisit Thailand To Travel Around Phuket, Bangkok & Ayutthaya (2008)’

Click here to read ‘TF Flashback: The Northern Delights of Vietnam – Hanoi, Sapa & Halong Bay (2013)’

Click here to read ‘Cambodia 2015 Pt II: Main Temples Of Angkor’

Click here to read ‘Alphabet Dating In Japan With My Wife Who Was Still Completely Unaware Of The Task At Hand! (S02E03 K-O)’