Welcome to the backpacking diaries, where I’ll be updating you weekly on where I’ve been, what I’ve been getting up to, and most importantly, how I’m really feeling about this insane decision I’ve made.
As you probably know, I’m currently backpacking through Asia after quitting my job and leaving London for good.
I want to remember every moment of this experience, and document as much of it as I can, just like I’ve documented everything else in my life post-18 on this website.
You can keep up to date with my travels on Instagram, TikTok and YouTube but for now, enjoy week fifteen of the travel diaries!
If you missed the first fourteen weeks of backpacking diaries, you can catch up here.
Top tip: for mobile data around Asia, we used the Airalo eSim which was super handy and easily installed onto our phones as soon as we arrived in Vietnam!
Day 99: Monday 24th June 2024
Location: Vientiane & Vang Vieng, Laos
Dear travel diary,
We were up bright and early this morning to catch our bus to our next destination in Laos, Vang Vieng.
It was bucketing down with rain when we left our hotel at 7.30am to head to the bus station. The bus was due to leave at 8.30am, but left at around 9.15am once all seats (and makeshift seats) had been filled.
It was a very cramped 90 minute journey with suitcases, backpacks, packages (and people) squashed into the minivan, but thankfully it was only 90 minutes.
We were dropped at our hotel and had the sudden thought that our hotel might not actually exist. At the location where our hotel should be was a derelict house with some construction workers in the driveway.
Then our taxi driver pointed around the side of the building to a path, so our hotel must have been around the back.
Thankfully the path opened up to a very large house at the back that looked like a functioning hotel. And once we got inside, the hotel was actually incredibly larger than it looked from the outside.
Our room was incredibly spacious with a large bathroom and huge windows too.
We headed out and took a walk around the local roads to get our bearings (there aren’t any pavements here). It was very much giving rural countryside with not much going on.
Since it was lunchtime, we headed for a quick bite and grabbed a sandwich. The place was full of backpackers and I even spotted quite a few Irish dotted around in their GAA jerseys.
We spent the rest of the afternoon in Naked Espresso coffeeshop to work on our laptops and escape the rain.
For dinner we headed to PullMind Cafe as it’s meant to be a great spot to watch the hot air balloons at sunset. Only, we didn’t see any at all.
It turns out because it’s the wet season, the hot air balloons don’t go up in the evenings because of the rain and unpredictable weather. Which is what we discovered 15 minutes later when the heavens opened and the rain didn’t quit until the next day.
Day 100: Tuesday 25th June 2024
Location: Vang Vieng, Laos
Dear travel diary,
We woke up this morning to continuous rain. It seems today won’t be a day for any outdoor activities which is basically all there is to do in Vang Vieng.
Instead, we had a cosy morning in bed catching up on Love Island and then when there was a break in the rain, made our way to Naked Espresso to sit on our laptops while it continued to rain all day.
Thankfully Naked Espresso is a large space with plug sockets, good food and most importantly, good coffee.
For dinner, we headed to a pizza restaurant called Green Restaurant which had delicious wood-fired pizza, an outdoor balcony with amazing views and was very busy.
It was an early night for us as I had a work call with a company that I’m working on a very exciting project with, so made sure to be back in time!
Day 101: Wednesday 26th June 2024
Location: Vang Vieng, Laos
Dear travel diary,
Yet another day rained off. We haven’t been able to enjoy Vang Vieng fully as most things that it’s known for are outdoor activities like the Blue Lagoons, hot air balloons, tipsy tubing and more.
But with the bad weather, we’ve decided to make the most of the rain-days and work on our laptops instead. So we’ve set up camp each day in the Naked Espresso Cafe.
I had a lovely avocado brunch while working on some blog posts and video content. We didn’t leave until 5.30pm, making the most of the coffee here.
We finally saw some hot air balloons when we left the cafe, although a lot of the hot air balloon companies aren’t flying in the evenings due to the weather, so I’m not sure how safe this company is.
It was quite cool to see them in the sky though as we walked down the main street.
For dinner, we headed to an Irish bar would you believe. And it was probably our favourite meal in Laos.
We both had burgers and chips, but it was served with Irish curry sauce (if you know you know) and was incredible.
If I’m ever back in Vang Vieng, this is where I’ll be heading for dinner (Gary’s Irish Bar).
We headed back to the hotel just in time before the heavens opened once more and a thunder storm continued all night long.
Day 102: Thursday 27th June 2024
Location: Vang Vieng & Luang Prabang, Laos
Dear travel diary,
We’re heading to our final Laos destination today, the town of Luang Prabang.
The taxi collected us at 9.30am to take us to the train station. We’re getting the fast train to Luang Prabang which should take us one hour compared to 6-7 hours on a bus.
The train is by a Chinese company and is almost like a bullet train. However, they don’t let you bring aerosols onboard which we have quite a lot of. And we also saw some things online saying they don’t let you bring liquids on either, which we also have a lot of.
So we had to send all of our liquids and aerosols ahead of us to the hotel in Luang Prabang and had no idea if the box would actually turn up, but thankfully it did!
The train was very quick and comfortable, and I’m so glad we decided to take this rather than a seven hour bus journey.
Once we got to Luang Prabang, we were on a mission to find our hotel – because it didn’t exist on Google Maps.
But thankfully, we found it from their instructions on booking.com and the owner upgraded us to a bigger room with a balcony. Which was very welcome as we were spending four nights here.
We walked around the city to get our bearings and to see what was going on. They have a night market here which is massive – one of the biggest I’ve ever seen. It was reminding us a lot of Hoi An or Galle Fort, as it appeared very French/Colonial.
Day 103: Friday 28th June 2024
Location: Luang Prabang, Laos
Dear travel diary,
We had a criminally early alarm this morning at 5am. Yes, 5am.
We were up to see the monks ritual, which is one of the must-do things here in Luang Prabang. Basically, the monks come out of the temples at 5.30am and walk the streets to receive alms (rice balls) from the locals.
It did seem more of a tourist gimmick, I will say. There were so many seats lining the streets but hardly anyone sitting on them. We were asked many times by locals if we wanted to sit and give rice to the monks for a fee.
It took the taste off of it for me, and didn’t seem worth getting out of bed at 5am for.
Since we were up so early, we made the most of it. So headed to a cafe for some avocado toast breakfast, and then on to a UXO museum to learn more about the unexploded devices that still litter the country today.
After this, we headed to Le Petit Prince cafe to work on our laptops, which turned out to be a really good spot with fast wifi and lots of plug sockets.
Before calling it a night, we explored the night market fully from top to bottom. Something that took a lot longer than we thought. As I said, it’s enormous.
Day 104: Saturday 29th June 2024
Location: Luang Prabang, Laos
Dear travel diary,
We had a very well-deserved lie-in this morning after our early alarm yesterday. Catching up on Love Island in bed, before having a very relaxed start to the day.
We headed to the waterfalls today, a must-do if you’re in Luang Prabang. We grabbed some coffees and a pastry for the drive and headed on our way.
The roads are a bit crazy (and bumpy) en route to the waterfalls, so I was glad we were in a car rather than a tuk tuk.
The waterfalls were beautiful and we even saw some bears at the beginning of the trail that are kept in their natural habitat but in a big enclosure.
After the waterfalls, we stopped off at the Buffalo Ice Cream stand. To try some flavours and to help us cool down. It was definitely my first experience of Buffalo Ice Cream, but it was delicious.
When we got back, we headed to dinner at an Indian restaurant. It was very basic, but it seems Indian food is very popular for us on this trip.
Since it’s a Saturday night, we went wild and had a movie night. Watching Pirates of the Caribbean for the first time.
Day 105: Sunday 30th June 2024
Location: Luang Prabang, Laos
Dear travel diary,
It was a wet and miserable day today, so we took our laptops to the nearby Joba Coffee shop. So I could work on some partnerships and content.
We stayed here until the afternoon and fancied a change of scenery and some sunshine. So walked to the top of the town to another French bakery to hop back on our laptops.
I’ve been working with one pair of shoes since we got to Vang Vieng. So it was also time for me to get a new pair of sliders.
For dinner, we headed to a popular pizza restaurant that was incredibly tasty. We definitely could have split one pizza between the two of us as they were huge. But we made sure to eat something safe ahead of the boat tomorrow.
We’re leaving Laos in the morning to head towards Thailand. But instead of flying or driving in, we’ve decided to take the two-day slow boat.
I have no idea how it will be. But I just hope it’s not too long. And that I’m not sat in direct sun for an entire day at a time.
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