Laos was one of the countries that I didn’t plan to explore initially but I ended up coming here! Most people I met on the road convinced me to visit Laos since I’m into hiking. Well… so I returned to Southeast Asia, although I planned to travel to north India after spending some time in Sri Lanka. I flew into Bangkok and then took a flight from Bangkok Don Mueang Airport to Luang Prabang and decided to travel from North Laos to South and catch my train back to Bangkok in Vientiane. I only had 6days to explore the whole country since I had volunteer work to teach yoga scheduled in Bangkok so I had to head back on time.
Luang Prabang
I fell in love with the city the very first moment I arrived in Luang Prabang. Luang Prabang was very rustic, and non-touristy and was surrounded by mountains and trees, which I liked. Laos seemed similar to Cambodia but the language I heard people speak was similar to Thai and Chinese.
Kuang Si Waterfall
The only place I explored while I was in Luang Prabang was walking around Kuang Si Falls. It was a bit far from downtown but free shuttle was running during the week I was there, which made my travels way easier than I thought.
The waterfall was amazing. I climbed up to the viewpoint (the very top of the waterfall) and did some trekking! I didn’t feel like getting a dip in the water (and no one was swimming) so I walked around the viewpoint and enjoyed the jungle in Laos. I was surrounded by flowers and plants that I’d never seen before and taking photos while walking through the jungle was very fun!
Hours: 8 am- 5 pm
Entrance Fee: 60K Kip
Nong Khiaw
Most of the hikes in Luang Prabang were located in a village called, Nong Khiaw, which was 4 hours away from downtown Luang Prabang by mini van. The vans only run in the mornings so I decided to take the very first one departing so that I can go on some hikes in the afternoon. I highly recommend booking tickets through the hostel/hotel you are staying at so they can arrange pickup and drop you off at the bus station (mini van station) because it’s far from the downtown area.
My van had 12 people, and we were pretty squished. It still worked out okay. The roads were bumpy and not all the roads were paved and well-maintained. The view was great although I spent most of the time napping. The van made one toilet stop along the way.
I arrived in Nong Khiaw around 1:45pm and I headed to my hostel to drop off my bags. Thank god, my hostel was in a walking distance from the bus station. I started hiking as soon as I was ready; thankfully the hostel was not far from some of the places that I want to hike. The weather was great, the sky was clear and I was so prepared to hike! I didn’t book any tours or camping trips since I wanted to hike on my own :)
*entrance fee is required for all hiking trails around Nong Khiaw!
Som Nang Viewpoint
I didn’t know what to expect but I just paid the entrance fee and climbed up to the viewpoint. This wasn’t a hike; it was climbing steps mostly to have a view over the bridge and the mountains. It was really pretty and it wasn’t crowded at all. I was there around 3:30 pm and literally, it was just me and two other people enjoying the view!
Duration: 20-30min of climbing up. Round trip < 1hour (not considering the time spent at the top)
Difficulty: Easy
Entrance Fee: 40K Kip
Phadeng Peak
This hike was amazing!! Highly recommend hitting this trail, and catching the sunset here. The trail was not crowded at all and I felt very safe hiking by myself. I saw some people heading up and also coming down while I was hiking. Make sure to bring enough water with you as hiking around 4 pm was still hot. The highlight of the trail was a Lao flag
Duration: 1-2hours hiking up, 30min-1hour hiking down
Difficulty: Moderate- Difficult
Entrance fee: 50K Kip
Luang Prabang was my favorite city out of all the places I visited during my Laos trip. I wish I had more time to explore Nong Khiaw to check out other trails. I wanted to catch the sunrise but unfortunately, I wasn't able to because it was hazy in the morning. I really enjoyed catching the sunset to end my day and I felt fortunate to have traveled to Nong Khiaw even though the town was far from the downtown area. I recommend spending most of your time in Luang Prabang when traveling Laos since the outdoors in Luang Prabang seemed to be the best out of all places in Laos.
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