Last night it got cold. Really cold!
I woke up in the night shivering & had to dig out a long sleeve shirt, track suit pants & socks from my pack. The early morning noises woke us up again, but we refused to get up till 8am.
The fog this morning was very thick & very low.
By 9.31am we had packed our bags, checked out of our riverside bungalow & were loaded into a boat waiting to go back to Nong Khiew. The boat left a few minutes after this & with considerably less luggage than our previous trip. Nearly every passenger on this boat was a traveller.
We said goodbye to the beautiful Muang Ngoy & snuggled further down into our jumpers as the boat increased speed & the cold air whipped our skin.
Thankfully there was no additional stops on our journey back & we pulled up at the Nong Khiaw boat dock just after 10.30am.
The fog this morning was very thick & very low.
By 9.31am we had packed our bags, checked out of our riverside bungalow & were loaded into a boat waiting to go back to Nong Khiew. The boat left a few minutes after this & with considerably less luggage than our previous trip. Nearly every passenger on this boat was a traveller.
We said goodbye to the beautiful Muang Ngoy & snuggled further down into our jumpers as the boat increased speed & the cold air whipped our skin.
Thankfully there was no additional stops on our journey back & we pulled up at the Nong Khiaw boat dock just after 10.30am.
Next on the agenda was breakfast!
We went to the same place we had breakfast with Anzi, 2 days ago. The prices are good, service is good, they have a big menu & they let us drink our own coffee here.
I must admit, the coffee in Laos has been gross so far! We've purchased a pack of instant coffee to use instead.
After breakfast, we get a took took ute to the bus station & buy a ticket to luang Prabang Northern station. We've also booked our next 3 nights of accommodation for Luang Prabang in advance. Unfortunately from this point on the accommodation will cost more as we head towards the capital. Goodbye 50,000 kip private, double, river side bungalows! Hello 100,000 kip rooms in hostels!
It's classified as a city & a gem in Laos. We're excited to arrive!
We have arrived to the northern bus station, which is about 3 kilometres from the centre of town & 3.6 kilometres from our accommodation.
Everything I have read said that the took took drivers at this station will try & rip you off.
I was approached by a took took driver who asked for 20,000 kip per person to take us to the centre of town. I told him that was a rip off, it was only 3km's away & started trying to negotiate. He walked away.
Another driver stepped forward & offered 17,000 kip & was willing to negotiate.
I then get a call from Tom who was on the other side of the bus, helping to unload the bags.
The first guy who approached me with the rip off offer, has walked to the other side of the bus, approaches Tom & offered the same price. I'm a bit grumpy when Tom immediately agrees to this price & doesn't negotiate.
We normally pay this price to go 10km's, which is more than double this distance.
To make it worse, as I go to get in, the took took driver gives me a filthy 'ha ha' look, which made my blood boil!
We are dropped into the centre of town & walk the 3 street's distance to our guesthouse. Check in is easy. The room is light, breezey & clean.
First on the agenda is a quick exploration of Luang Prabang & to find food!
We walk along the river in the late afternoon sunlight first, before turning towards the main street in town. They have a nightly market on every night here & even though it's a Tuesday & early, it's very busy.
It seems to be a lot of hand made items that are better quality than some of the stuff we would see in Thailand. There's lots of woven material, clothes, wood carved trinkets, lanterns & food!
There is so much street food & so many people! The crowds are impressive for a Tuesday night!
We end up choosing a place away from the market, down by the river to eat dinner, before heading home.
Luang Prabang has a really nice feel to it & I think we're going to really enjoy our time here.
- Alli
We went to the same place we had breakfast with Anzi, 2 days ago. The prices are good, service is good, they have a big menu & they let us drink our own coffee here.
I must admit, the coffee in Laos has been gross so far! We've purchased a pack of instant coffee to use instead.
After breakfast, we get a took took ute to the bus station & buy a ticket to luang Prabang Northern station. We've also booked our next 3 nights of accommodation for Luang Prabang in advance. Unfortunately from this point on the accommodation will cost more as we head towards the capital. Goodbye 50,000 kip private, double, river side bungalows! Hello 100,000 kip rooms in hostels!
It's classified as a city & a gem in Laos. We're excited to arrive!
We have arrived to the northern bus station, which is about 3 kilometres from the centre of town & 3.6 kilometres from our accommodation.
Everything I have read said that the took took drivers at this station will try & rip you off.
I was approached by a took took driver who asked for 20,000 kip per person to take us to the centre of town. I told him that was a rip off, it was only 3km's away & started trying to negotiate. He walked away.
Another driver stepped forward & offered 17,000 kip & was willing to negotiate.
I then get a call from Tom who was on the other side of the bus, helping to unload the bags.
The first guy who approached me with the rip off offer, has walked to the other side of the bus, approaches Tom & offered the same price. I'm a bit grumpy when Tom immediately agrees to this price & doesn't negotiate.
We normally pay this price to go 10km's, which is more than double this distance.
To make it worse, as I go to get in, the took took driver gives me a filthy 'ha ha' look, which made my blood boil!
We are dropped into the centre of town & walk the 3 street's distance to our guesthouse. Check in is easy. The room is light, breezey & clean.
First on the agenda is a quick exploration of Luang Prabang & to find food!
We walk along the river in the late afternoon sunlight first, before turning towards the main street in town. They have a nightly market on every night here & even though it's a Tuesday & early, it's very busy.
It seems to be a lot of hand made items that are better quality than some of the stuff we would see in Thailand. There's lots of woven material, clothes, wood carved trinkets, lanterns & food!
There is so much street food & so many people! The crowds are impressive for a Tuesday night!
We end up choosing a place away from the market, down by the river to eat dinner, before heading home.
Luang Prabang has a really nice feel to it & I think we're going to really enjoy our time here.
- Alli
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