Hello Laos

ABOUT LAOS
Laos is a country in Southeast Asia, often visited with a combination of other countries such as Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia. My trip to Laos is a combination of Laos and Cambodia with a tour operator called Contiki. A special thank you to our amazing tour manager Lee for being so awesome handling a big group so smoothly!

Language spoken in Lao is Laotian but English is understood widely as well, and the currency is KIP (but USD is accepted everywhere, they will give you back the change in local currency). Religion here is Buddhism.

Visa:
Most visas are on arrival, but double check your needs as per your passport! For Kuwaiti nationals, Visa is on arrival that’s confirmed as per my visit in December 2017.

الفيزا في لاو عند الوصول بالنسبه لدول الخليج معظمها (يرجى التآكد من مستلزمات الفيزا على حسب الجواز)

You’ll need:
A) USD 31 (30 visa fees and 1 dollar service fees)
B) A personal picture – doesn’t matter the background color

Our route in Laos was to 3 cities, Luang Prabang, Vang Vieng and Vientiane. I do recommend the first two, the last I haven’t seen much of so I wouldn’t recommend it for more than a night.

Arrived to Laos through Bangkok, to our first stop which was in Luang Pranbang!

Luang Prabang:
Luang Prabang is a World Heritage Site, that lies in a valley at the confluence of the Mekong and Nam Khan rivers.

Our hotel was not my favorite, so instead this is what I recommend you checkout for accommodation:

Sofitel Luang Prabang
Azerai Luang Prabang
Kiridara Hotel
Satri House Secret Retreat

Things you could do while in Luang Prabang:

– Checkout the night street local shops and cafes and massages! (I got a reflexology massage and it was awesome!)
– Checkout the Xiang Thong temple
– Get a bike tour around Luang Prabang
– Cross the Bambio Bridge (Bamboo Bridge) – in the morning its for 5000 KIP (Around 3 USD) or at night for free! I went there after dinner at Dyen Sabai which is connected to the other side of the river also by the bridge.
– Kuang Is Waterfalls (MUST!!! Beautiful), wear your bathing suit, there are spots where you could swim
– OCK Pop Top silk factory

You could check the pictures of the hotels on @hello965hotels instagram account or also the hashtag could be found on instagram #hello965luangprabang

Some restaurants that we tried and liked:

* Utopia for dinner
* Novelty Cafe (Loved the coffee, the quinoa salad and the white chocolate cheesecake)
* Saffron Cafe (Coffee & a small Breakfast)
* Dyen Sabai (The restaurant on the river after crossing the bridge – could also be reached by Toc Toc)
* Bouang Restaurant

That aside, you could check all the guesthouses and villas available!

2nd stop: Vang Vieng
Vand vieng is a small town north of Vientiane, on the Nam Song River in Laos; it is surrounded by limestone mountains and caves which are stunning!

To reach Vang Vieng we took a 6 hours bus with stops in between. The ride wasn’t that bad, just make sure the bus itself is comfortable cause the road is very windy (zig-zagy).

Recommended Hotel: Riverside Boutique Hotel

Places I’ve tried and recommend in Vang Vieng are:

* Luka Pizza
* Earth Cafe

Vang Vieng has plenty of activities, we’ve experienced Kayaking in the river which I really liked, walked into a cave and went to the blue lagoon!

3rd stop: Vientiane (1 nights in Vientiane, last night in Laos!)
In Vientiane, all along Mekong River there are local night markets also lotsa Plenty of restaurants are here in the capital. For me, I stayed here only for one night and had dinner at a sushi restaurant called Fuji Sushi which I really liked.

There are plenty of good places, I would recommend checking with the hotel for recommendations. The hotel we stayed at is called: DAOSavanah2

After spending a night here (Which I thought was enough, we boarded our 1 hour flight to Cambodia)!

If you have any questions or comments please feel free to leave me a comment below!!! xoxo

PS. Get a mosquito repellent with you!

PS. There is a Kuwait Embassy in Laos, in the capital Vientiane. ([email protected])

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!! ♡ THANK YOU 2017 for being spectacular!!!!!