Laos - the highlights of my trip

Luang prabang is a beautiful city among the river with a few temples and many monks coloring the street with their orange gowns. The first day when I arrived I decided to be alone for a while, because while travelling, you're actually never alone. You'll always meet great people along the way. That's what makes travelling by yourself so good. But now, I really needed some alone time. So I rented a motorbike and went to the waterfalls.  It was a great ride, driving through the lao country side. People ask me if it safe.. don't worry, I never drive fast and I wear a helmet. I always ask beforehand if the roads are good. Besides, people over here drive much safer than in Holland, believe me! It looks like it's one big chaos, but there is a system, and it works. They drive very slow and hunk the horn when they pass. Works for me, although I mostly bike through areas that are quiet, with just a few cars or motorcycles passing by.

The waterfalls in luang prabang are beautifull! I jumped in the waterfall from a tree, got a great action picture too! The fish over there bite your legs, so no chilling or swimming in the water for a long time unfortunately.  As I was alone and with the bike I didn't had to leave with a group to go to the tuktuk driver that's waiting. I could go whenever and wherever I wanted to. That's the best way of travelling. So I sat down by the waterfalls,  read my book, with the sound of the water falling in the background. Being alone felt great.

The next morning I decided to wake up early to see the caves. I had the bike until 12.00 and it would take me an hour to get there.I left at 8.00 to be sure I had enough time. It was a great feeling again, but the whole adventurous feeling didn't last for long.. because I had to take my wallet out every 5 minutes to actually see the cave. And it wasn't so impressive too.. 5000 kip to park the bike, 15000 kip to go with the boat, 20000 kip to see the cave, 2000 kip to go to the toilet, 5000 kip to use a flashlight in the cave..!? I mean, where does it stop? It's still not a lot of money (10.500= €1,-) but it's definitely a sign of tourism having a negative effect on Laos and the people.

Later that day I walked into a library and I saw people teaching English to monks and highschool children. This was the time to really give something back to Laos and the people (instead of my money), so I signed myself up to volunteer the next day. It was great, the children were so grateful and I could practice my teaching skills again. I remembered how much I love teaching, and they appreciated it so much!

I stayed in a very nice hostel where I met some people from Holland and Germany. We chilled at Utopia bar and ate some really good and cheap food on the nightmarket.

After a few days in Luang prabang I went to Vang Vieng. Vang Vieng is al about partying and tubing. Went tubing twice! Floating in the water, playing volleyball at the bars, dancing, float your way to the next bar. Great fun! Except the fact that my camera got wet during tubing... but surprisingly enough a really sweet girl from England just gave me her camera because she wasn't using it anymore... how generous is that! So I don't have a lot of pictures of Vang Vieng but I was very happy I could make pictures after that!

Besides tubing I went on a day trip with a group of girls. We  climbed a cave and jumped from trees in the beautiful blue lagoon. 

In the evening I went on stage and sang in this little pub together with an other guy, whom played and sang very well!

From Vang Vieng off to Pakse with some English friends I met along the way. Pakse seems boring but biking around is great over there. Many beautiful and amazingly huge waterfalls.  I went the first day with some  girls, but we literally saw NOTHING because it was raining so much.. it was alot of fun though.. 4 girls on a road trip together. After all, we had a great laugh.
I was lucky to go there the next day again with two guys, one from England and one from Australia. I had met them before in Vang Vieng. They are travelling around on the motorbike. I am so jealous! I mean, that's total freedom! It was worth going there again, because this waterfall was definitely the most beautiful one I've seen on this trip so far.

Last destination in Laos: 4000 islands. What a great place to chill out in your hammock,  listen to music, enjoy the sunset.. Did you know that there are actual dolphins in the Mekong river!? It's true, you can spot dolphins at 4000 islands! You can see them coming up every few minutes and you hear the sound of them breathing above the water. It's always heartwarming to see animals in the wild. Especially somewhere where you would least expect it.

I could write a lot more about Laos, but these were definitely the highlights of my trip! Laos has everything and even more than I saw coming. Khob Jai Laos, now off to Cambodia!