Luang Prabang

Our first few hours in Luang Prabang were spent searching for a guesthouse/hostel but we mustve went to 50 where they were all full and/or overpriced. This goes to show how popular Luang Prabang is (at least according to Lonely Planet). We managed to find what can only be described as a hut for 5 dollars, overlooking the Mekong.

Luang Prababg is supposed to be a 'cultural gem' in Laos with bookshops outnumbering bars. That may well be the case but we found it to be like any other built up 'city' that weve come across with not much more to offer, which is why we spent only 2 days there.

One of if not the best place to go around LP is the waterfall where they had (rightly or wrongly) bears and tigers caged in the ares. They also have some pretty nice lagoons to swim in.

View from the top of the waterfall
Vue du haut de la chute d'eau

Lagoon in the middle of the jungle on the way to the waterfall
Lagon au milieu de la jungle

We also did the city tour where we came across the royal palace museum and temples in and around Luang Prabang.

Royal Palace
Palais royal

On our way to Chiang Mai, we went via Vientiane again where we stayed for the day and got the night bus to CM.

That Luang Temple - Vientiane