Luang Prabang : The Arrival + Visiting the Tad Sae Waterfalls

We had a mid-morning flight to Luang Prabang, so after breakfast, I had the hotel call a taxi for me to drive us to the airport. We arrived at Luang Prabang around 10AM and there were a number of flights arriving that we were at the baggage carousel for about 30 minutes. I guess Luang Prabang is the more popular destination compared to Vientiane. Good thing we didn’t have to go through immigration anymore since we were coming from Vientiane (the immigration line was seriously crazy long). Our driver was waiting for us outside to take us to our hostel, which was the Khammany Inn, located about half an hour from the Luang Prabang International Airport.

My first impression of Luang Prabang was, just like Vientiane, scorching hot during that time. The feel of Luang Prabang is somewhat different than Vientiane though. It didn’t feel like a city to me, more of a vacation getaway in the province. It has been mentioned by many bloggers and people online that Luang Prabang is definitely a must-visit place in Laos, even recommending to skip Vientiane and go to Luang Prabang instead. Luang Prabang is the former capital of Laos and is now a UNESCO World Heritage city and with all the stuff I’ve been hearing, I was very excited to explore this place.

We arrived at the Khammany Inn around 11AM and I was glad they let us check in earlier than the usual 2PM check-in time, which gave us some time to freshen ourselves up and go to our destination that day. We decided to visit the popular Tad Sae Waterfalls. We had the hostel contact a tuktuk driver to bring us to Tad Sae and after some haggling and begging for a discount, we were on our way. It took us about 45 minutes to arrive at Ban Aen, a peaceful Lao village that’s just about a kilometer away from the center of Luang Prabang. Our driver dropped us at the car park and instructed us to walk ahead and so we did. We then reached the river where there were a number of boats available to take us to Tad Sae. The boat ride to Tade Sae was just quick, about seven minutes and once we got there, we paid the entrance and went ahead to explore the place.

I was seriously not prepared as to how BEAUTIFUL that place was! The waterfalls were so beautiful I felt like I was inside a postcard. My biggest regret that time was that I did not bring any extra clothes with me and I really, really wanted to swim there. My intention was just to take some snapshots of the place and silly me wore some pants and a pair of rubber shoes. Sorry, I was lacking some sleep and it definitely affected my train of thought that time. Thinking about it is still pissing me off. My brother ended up swimming there instead.

Unlike the usual waterfalls, Tad Sae Waterfalls features a wide, multi-level cascade pools of waterfalls and there is no single long-drop centerpiece (like the ones we are used to). The place is divided between the swimming area and the elephant ride area. We didn’t get the chance to see and visit the elephant area since we were enjoying the beauty of the waterfalls and my brother was having a great time swimming there. The place is perfect for a weekend getaway but we were there for just a quick stop, probably about a couple of hours only since we had to drive back all the way to Luang Prabang after that. I was surprised to see that there were not a lot of tourists visiting the place. I think I only saw two of them there aside from us. Most of the people visiting are actually locals or coming from the other provinces. We had a great time enjoying the waterfalls that our boat driver had to come and get us to inform us that we needed to go since the area is going to be closing already (that was around 5PM). We took the same boat ride back to the Ban Aen village and walked back to our tuktuk driver who was waiting for us to drive us back to the hostel.

After freshening up (it was already around 7PM), we decided to walk around the place to familiarize ourselve with the area. We ended up at the popular Luang Prabang Night Market located on Sisavangvong Road. The food stalls that welcomes you as you enter the night market is one of my favorite parts there. I had a great time chomping and munching on the food choices available while walking around the market area, trying to shop for some souvenirs. What I really liked about Laos is the fact that their hawkers and vendors there are very pleasant to deal with and definitely not as pushy as those in Bangkok, Hong Kong and even in Cambodia. And this is seriously the cheapest of them all. I told myself that I shouldn’t buy so many stuff since we still have another day there but I ended up buying a lot of stuff anyway. I just couldn’t resist the cool t-shirt designs and those fisherman pants and all the cute knick-knacks they have there. The fact that they’re so cheap added fuel to the fire. The market closes around 10PM, so we walked back to the hostel to get some rest before exploring the city again the next day.

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The Peaceful Calm of Vientiane

Our flight to Vientiane was scheduled late in the afternoon, around 6PM and we arrived in Wattay International Airport at around 8PM already. Laos is probably one of the most underrated countries in Asia and also one of the most peaceful. Immigration was a breeze and their airport was small but very nice. We took a taxi to bring us to our hotel, which was the Seng Lao Hotel, located in the city center. Seng Lao was formerly a popular movie theatre in the 70s before it was converted into a 16-bedrooms, 4 stories walk-up hotel in 2007. As always, location is one of the most important reasons when I choose a hotel to stay every time I travel. After checking in, we decided to have dinner, and since it was almost 10PM already when we arrived, some of the restaurants are already closed, so we ended up eating in one of the bars a few blocks from the hotel. One thing that I was not prepared for during that time was that despite the fact that there are a number of Western foreigners in the area, a lot of the people there cannot speak any English. I was really surprised considering we didn’t have any issue at all when we were in Cambodia. So unlike being in China, where a lot of the people also do not speak any English, I didn’t have anything with me to interpret or relay what I am actually trying to tell the waitress in the bar. Sheesh. So I ended eating some vegetable meal and a Coke.

After dinner we decided to walk around the area to familiarize ourselves with the place before exploring it the next day. Vientiane is such a quiet city, that it takes you into a different kind of environment. It’s like a silent metropolitan, an exact opposite of all the overcrowded tourist destinations I have been to before. We went back to our hotel to get some sleep and to explore the place the next day.

We were there for just 2 nights in Vietiane so we have to make the most out of it. It was recommended by other bloggers to make it a short trip since the place is so small and you can go around it in just one day. Our first stop the day after was to visit the Xieng Khuan Buddha Park. Since it is located about an hour and a half away from Vientiane, we decided to look around for a driver to bring us there. Good thing I had with me my handy Lonely Planet guidebook and I realized that on the last pages of the book, there’s a summary of some of Lao words that would come in handy during traveling. I knew I had to exchange some money so I just pointed on the book the word “money” to one of the girls selling some soup and she just pointed to the direction of the bank with an ATM. After withdrawing from the ATM, I tried to talk to some tuktuk drivers to see if they can bring us to the Xieng Khuan Buddha Park. Unfortunately, about three of them cannot speak any English. I tried to just point the line on the guidebook “Do you speak English?” in Lao characters and they called one of the drivers on the other side of the street. Thank God that guy knew how to speak English. So we negotiated the price and after some haggling, we were on our way to Xieng Khuan.

Vientiane is hot. Like seriously hot. And the ride to Xieng Khuan was just as tolerable. The roads were a little bumpy but it was okay. Had a great time taking pictures, as always. We arrived in Xieng Khuan after about an hour and a half. The Xieng Khuan Buddha Park is a sculpture park in a meadow by the Mekong River. Although it’s not a temple, the park contains numerous religious images and contains over 200 Hindu and Buddhist statues. One notable sculpture resembles a giant pumpkin. It has three stories representing three levels – Hell, Earth and Heaven. Visitors can enter through an opening which is a mouth of a 3-metre-tall demon head and climb staircases from hell to heaven. Each story contains sculptures depicting the level. At the top, there is a vantage point where the entire park is visible. Another sculpture, an enormous 120-metre-long reclining Buddha, is also a park attraction. Despite the crazy heat, it was definitely one of my favorite places to visit and a great place for a number of photo-ops. We were there for about an hour and decided to return to our driver to drive us back to our hotel in Vientiane.

Since it was soooooooooo hot by the time we arrived in Vientiane (around 1PM), we decided to cool off and rest inside our hotel room. We decided to go out and explore the city around 3:30PM, when the heat of the sun’s not that strong anymore. I was able to buy a bunch of souvenir t-shirts along the way. Really good quality shirts being sold at around P50 (think Penshoppe quality at that price!). Our destination that time was the Patuxai, one of Vientiane’s most popular attractions. We walked all the way from our hotel to the Patuxai, for about twenty minutes. It was not hard finding the place since I have a map with me and the city’s pretty small.

Reminiscent of the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, the Patuxai is Vientiane’s most prominent monument. But unlike its Parisian namesake the Patuxai boasts four, rather than two, archways. The Patuxai is dedicated to those who fought in the struggle for independence from France. It may not be as huge as the Arc de Triomphe, but Patuxai on its own, is very beautiful. From a distance, it looks much like its French source of inspiration. Up close, however, the Lao design is revealed. The bas-relief on the sides and the temple-like ornamentation along the top and cornices are typically Lao. A stairway leads through two levels stuffed with souvenir T-shirts, like thousands of them, and I was there a long time haggling and trying to find the best designs and color to match my style preference. After that, I went ahead to the top of the building to catch the amazing views of the city and take a whole lot of pictures.

As Vientiane’s most popular park, the work in recent years has transformed the surrounding field to be very attractive to both locals and tourists alike and has become a good place to hang out and to soak up the atmosphere of modern Laos, with the Chinese-donated fountain complementing the entire area and making it an absolute postcard moment for everyone who visited the place.

Straight down the highway from Patuxai was our next stop, which was the Pha That Luang. Considered to be the most important national monument in Laos, Pha That Luang is a symbol of both the Buddhist religion and Lao sovereignty. The monument itself looks almost like a gilded missile cluster from a distance. Surrounding it is a high-walled cloister with tiny windows and even more aggressive-looking than the thick walls are the pointed stupas themselves, which are built in three levels. The area around Pha That Luang is now gated, to keep traffic out. Previously visitors could drive around the whole complex. We were there for some time since we waited for the sun to set and for the stupas and the temples around it to light up. The weather cooled down already and we had a good time exploring the place. It was so serene and quiet, no noisy tourists around, just some kids playing, monks walking around and a number of locals just hanging around the area.

On our way back we passed by a night market and we decided to try some of street food that they were selling. My brother bought some fruits while I ended up munching on a pizza pie, which for me, was probably one of the most delicious pizza pies I have ever eaten in my life. Seriously. We also had dinner in one of the local restaurants along the way. Everything just seems to be so cheap in Laos that I was loving every moment of it. We passed by the Patuxai again, and just like the Pha That Luang, the place looks so good at night. I had blast snapping away pictures of every possible angle I can get out of that monument.

We arrived back into our hotel around 10PM, packed our stuff and decided to get some sleep since we have to leave the next day for Luang Prabang. Vientiane may be considered as a boring place but that whole day we spent walking around the area is definitely one the highlights of this trip to Laos and I loved every moment of it. Too bad we had to leave the next day but I would love to visit this place again for some stress-free vacay the next time around.

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