Luang Prabang-Welcomed to Laos

I was very sad to leave Thailand as I have grown to love it and the people I met there quite a bit. On the flight in though all my worries and sadness was gone. The landscape here is amazing! I looked out my window and saw mountain covered with jungle all around. It made me feel right at home with the mountains. The first stop was a very French influenced city of Luang Prabang. It was a small city with not too much to do but I still spent quite a few days there and met some great people through my new travel mate Matthias.

The first day there I sat by the Mekong River watching sunset over the mountains and it was quite beautiful, just like home. I spent a lot of time walking around the city exploring and taking in the sites. I loved all the brick and the French influence on the buildings. Here I was able to get my Vietnam visa which was very convenient. I also met a girl that went to school at UNC and I was able to talk about Colorado, she even knows a few people I know! It was fun and once again comforting being in a new place. After 2 days my travel mates arrived and we began to explore outside the city more. I went to an amazing place with the most beautiful waterfalls I have ever seen.



Its called Kuang Si waterfall.  It had so many tiers and we were able to swim and dive in four of them. Once we finally got to the waterfall it was gigantic and so much fun to swim at. There was also an Asian black bear conservation park there as well which was pretty cool and fun to see the bears playing around. Besides this and a temple on the hill of the city (which gave a nice view) there was not too much to do in the city but with great company and new friends (6 countries represented; Japan, Sweden, Hungary, Canada, USA and Germany!) it was still a great time. These people became one's that I grew close to and spent quite some time with a couple of them. The next stop is a city called Vang Vieng. It was a 5 hour bus ride getting here on very shitty roads but the views along the way were breathtaking! I’ll let you know more about it soon.

View at top of the falls

Chiang Rai- Goodbye Thailand

Well Chiang Rai did not go as planned but that tends to happen while traveling. Originally I had planned on doing a lot of hiking in the area yet unfortunately was not able to get any in at all. I stayed with a young college student outside of the city for a few nights that I met through couchsurfers. She was a little further out of the city than expected and it took about 30-45 mins to get into the city. I explored the city the first day and went to this interesting museum which went into detail about the hill tribes of Thailand. That was pretty interesting though it was a small museum.  I only stayed with her for one more night after this due to her being so far. I ended up going to a really nice hostel in town which ended up being a great decision as it was the nicest hostel I had in Thailand and I met one of my current travel mates which I have been with for over a week now and will probably be traveling with for quite some time. I visited a lot of temples in Chiang Rai and had a personal tour guide from another girl that I met on couchsurfers. It was nice to have things explained to me which I had been seeing all month long. There were some amazing temples there my favorite one having a blue theme and it was like an ocean inside. The colors included red, blue, purple, and green. This is very different than all other temples. Another amazing one is called the White Temple. It’s huge! It is a very famous temple with lots of tourists around at all time. Besides that I did not do too much in Chiang Rai and relaxed a lot for my final days in Thailand. 

Finally getting on a plane

I left on the 14th when my visa ran out.   Unfortunately I can be an idiot at times and missed my flight on the 13th thinking it was the next day. Luckily its Asia and things are a lot cheaper out here. I actually paid less for buying the tickets the same day as the flight than I did when I originally booked online! That is unheard of back home, it would’ve cost me at least three times more! Also everything really does happen for a reason because if not then I wouldn’t have met my travel mate. It’s funny how things work out but it was costly unfortunately.  

Pai

Wow, I don’t even know where to begin with this amazing city. On my return to Chiang Mai I met a few people (Kiwi and Luke) at the hostel who were also going to Pai the next day. Little did I know that this was the start to a whole new mindset and part of my journey. I took a van up to the little town. It was a 3.5 hour drive on a very curvy road (about 706 turns I believe) which can make many people sick. Luckily I was not one of those people and no one threw up in my van. Upon arrival I went and rented a motor bike which was a great call even though it is a little town. You have so much more freedom! I drove up to the hostel (Pai Circus School) which was a very interesting place. So many interesting people there. It was a diverse group with people from all over Europe, the most Americans I’ve ran into, lots of Canadians and even a few from South America.

There was always something to do in both the town and at the hostel. They had a pool, yoga, fire shows, quiz nights, beer pong and many other activities. It was an open hostel with lots of room to relax. I don’t believe I’ve ever been more relaxed in my life than in Pai. This was one of the reasons it was so hard to leave. But anyways back to the group of people. I ran into Kiwi and Luke and actually met their friend Gioia (Joy) before I even knew she was with the other two. It’s great how things work out like that. This was the first time I was with a group of people for more than a few days. Before this I had started to miss home a little bit because of this. Everything changed once I met them and an amazing Australian girl named Hannah. I explored the town and area around with the three of them the first few days and after they left I was with Hannah almost all the time. She was the main reason I stayed for as long as I did. The other reasons were because the town was great, I met so many friendly people, there was a great inexpensive café which I went to everyday, and fantastic street food. The night life was pretty fun as well though it meant spending more money (it was worth it!).

Giant Buddha

In my explorations I went to a great waterfall, a giant cave called Lod cave, drove around and enjoyed all the views, visited a giant Buddha on the hill, and learned the town almost by heart. There were street dogs everywhere and I became friends with quite a few of them! It definitely fulfilled my missing of our dogs back home for a while. Those dogs were so kind and will be missed. Hopefully the remember me the next time I am there.

My camp in a mango tree!

I stayed at three different places while in Pai. The second was a small hostel in town which was very convenient as it was so close to everything thing. The third place was Valhalla Campground. This was a very chill and relaxed place and I camped in a Mango tree for four days! Finally got some use out of my hammock!

Well to finish this off since I could go on for a while about Pai as it is a great place and by far my favorite place in Thailand, thus far. It was so hard to leave but I finally managed to get myself out of there. I really understand why so many people get stuck there. I cannot wait to go back later in life and enjoy the small town life once again. I was very disconnected from technology for the first time since I got a cell phone nine years ago. That will be missed. 

Do you see the gecko?