Thursday 25 – Sunday 28 November: A slow meander to Luang Prabang

The time had come for Matt and I to leave Thailand and make our way to Luang Prabang in Laos. We had an early 6.30am bus booked to take us to the Thai border, where we would then catch the slow boat to Luang Prabang, stopping for the night in Pak Beng.

Up bright and breezy, Matt and I waited for over an hour for our pick up to arrive. We were getting quite worried, so Matt gave the agent a call. It turned out that the pick up had been waiting at the wrong hostel, although I wasn't happy at being made to sit around for so long at such an early time! Still, I was pleased they arrived in the end; attempting to get our money back from the agent wasn't something I was overly keen to do.

Our pick off dropped us at the border, and it was completely mental. The Thai side was reasonably logical – a queue of people waiting to get their passport stamped on exit. You then take a boat to the Laos side of the river, where you have to complete your visa application form. Upon completion, you put your passport and application in a basket with about 30 others, and they take it to an office to complete your application. Half an hour later, they somehow find you based only on your passport. I have no idea how they do it – I for one don't look anything like my passport picture, and yet they still managed to find me immediately.

We were now officially in Laos, and after the usual trek of sitting around for hours and being shuttled from minibus to minibus, we made it to the slow boat. I did have romantic ideas of everyone being sat around on the floor, but instead they had make shift seats which were actually pretty comfortable – we were clearly ripped off when we bought our cushions earlier in the day.

The journey on the slow boat is one I would recommend to anyone. It does take two days, and you spend the night in a tiny little village called Pak Beng. Pak Beng has essentially been designed for its purpose, and it is just loads of guest houses, all trying to win you over so you come and spend your money at their business. Our particular guesthouse was great – we had a little hut with essentially a bed, a fan and a small bathroom. It had a really tasty restaurant on the side too, and all the waiters try to get you to buy drugs from them... Clearly the no drugs law isn't exactly enforced in Laos.

A hint if you do decide to get the slow boat to Luang Prabang - don't listen to anyone who tells you that you won't be able to get a room for the night in Pak Beng. We heard this a lot, and although I was wise enough to figure out that they hardly had 90% of all the slow boat passengers sleeping rough for the night, some people weren't, and they ended up paying double what we paid for a far inferior room.

The boat journey itself is absolutely stunning. Each day takes about seven hours (depending on the season – the wet season is obviously quicker and the hot season is a lot slower), and you slowly make your way down the Mekong River. The river is surrounded by natural rainforest, little beaches and some make shift villages. It was very common to see a group of men in their pants having a wash in the river! Each part of the journey was beautiful, and it was incredibly relaxing.

On the second day we decided to sit on the floor so we could stretch our legs. This was a great plan until some kids (ok, like, 18 year olds) decided to come and invade our space and play cards. I am quite used to people invading my personal space (I think people sense I hate it and for some reason feel inclined to push me as much as possible), but these kids were ridiculous! I pretty much had one on my lap, so I decided that they would have my feet in their faces. This didn't work, so I decided they would have Matt's feet in their faces. This worked a treat and Matt and I soon had our leg room back.

As beautiful as the journey was, it certainly went quickly. Before we knew it we had arrived in Luang Prabang, and we were one of the last boats to do so. Matt and I set off in search of a guesthouse but everywhere was full. We decided to settle upon the first guesthouse we found a vacancy at, and ended up in, essentially, a family's spare bedroom. It stunk of cabbage and was pretty grimy, but hey, it was a roof over our heads for the night. The next day we were inevitably up early and in search of a new guesthouse. Fortunately, the next one we found was a lot nicer, and we quickly found ourselves settling into Laos.

Luang Prabang is a beautiful place, and perhaps most beautiful of all was the waterfall about 30km from the centre of town. We had heard many a tuk tuk driver offering to take us to the waterfall, and on our last day in Luang Prabang we decided to go. It was the best decisions we have made on the whole trip, the waterfall was absolutely stunning. I don't need to go into too much detail as the pictures speak for themselves, but it was paradise. Thailand's beaches certainly have nothing on this waterfall, and ignoring the many, many fat Westerners in their speedos, I could have sat their for hours.

I also found my favourite bar so far in Luang Prabang. Across a make shift (and incredibly safe, as always in South East Asia) bamboo bridge there was a small bar. As it was on the other side of the river to the main strip of restaurants, it was really peaceful in spite of its popularity. Matt and I found ourselves there quite a bit, and enjoyed our first Lao Fondue there.

A Lao Fondue is essentially a big metal dome with a moat around the outside which is placed over the large bucket of embers. You then fill the moat with water, vegetables, eggs, noodles and seasoning, whilst you place fat and meat on the top of the dome to grill. What you end up with is actually a noodle soup you make yourself, but it was delicious, and certainly worth the novelty. Very hot work though in a tropical country!

We enjoyed three nights in Luang Prabang, but decided to move on to Vang Vieng sooner rather than later due to the price. Luang Prabang is one of the most expensive places we have been to so far, although it is definitely worth stopping at. It is incredibly civilised and peaceful, which is certainly not what I am expecting from Vang Vieng...