It was a long travel day to Luang Prabang. We got picked up at our hotel in a pickup truck and taken to the bus station. There, we waited for a while and got a couple of false starts on the wrong buses, as the guides were figuring out where to put everyone. Eventually, we got on our way and started heading up into the mountains outside of town. What followed was about four hours over dusty mountain passes and through tiny, remote hamlets and villages. All the while, winding curves were taken too fast, potholes were hit too hard, and comically loud Lao music was blasting from the radio. Our butts were numb by the end. At least we had real seats — the woman in front of us arrived last, and they had her sit on a backless stool in the aisle the whole time! Finally, we arrived at the town of Nateuy, where we hopped on the China-Laos railway for the last leg into Luang Prabang.

Rose and I were starving when we got to town, so the first stop was a hand-pulled noodle joint in the night market. Yum! It looks like there’s a lot more Chinese influence in Laos, and this restaurant shows it!

We got a room and relaxed a bit, recovering from the long journey, before going out to the night market again for dessert and to walk around and look at all the stalls.

The next day, I was feeling a little sluggish, so we took a couple more leisurely walks around town, stopped at some cafés, and did some planning for the next leg of our trip. After doing some research, we decided to stop in China on the way from Laos to Vietnam. They allow 10-day, visa-free trips into China if you’re traveling between two other countries. It is tantalizingly close, and flights are cheap and short, so we’re going for it.

There are a lot of logistics to figure out when traveling to China. They have all their own apps for booking hotels and transportation, paying for everything, communicating with locals, and navigation. And unlike Thailand, it is not English-friendly, so planning things out in advance is key. We spent a good chunk of the day working on that, interspersed with some wandering around Luang Prabang for food and massages.

Yesterday, we got up early to volunteer for a couple of hours, playing games with local school kids to help them learn English and other subjects. There didn’t end up being any kids there, but we talked with the director for a while and bought a few books to donate to the kids.

Afterwards, we hiked up Phousi Hill in the middle of town, a forested little knoll topped with a cool temple complex. The views of the Mekong and the town were awesome!

Once we got down, we decided to rent another scooter to get to the popular waterfall outside of town. The drive through the mountains was gorgeous, and it was nice to get a little exercise hiking up and around the falls. There was also a small exhibit for Asiatic black bears and a couple of refreshing swimming holes where we met a family from Australia. Rose even drove the scooter some of the way back to try it out!

When we got back to town, we drove around outside of the old historic area some to check it out and stopped at another night market where we tried ice cream rolls, which are little scrolls of flavored cream frozen and shaped on an anti-griddle. Pretty neat! It was nice to see other parts of town away from the hotel. Laos has a lot less tourist infrastructure than Thailand, and these small towns can feel sort of overrun by backpackers, especially in the commercial areas, so it was fun to check out a quieter part of town.

Today, on the way out of town, we grabbed another batch of hand-pulled noodles, this time with cumin beef, onions, and bell peppers. Imagine the tastiest lo mein you’ve ever had. It was a great way to cap things off in town! Now we head an hour south on the train to Vang Vieng, a small town surrounded by gorgeous mountains and lagoons for swimming in. Here’s hoping for a smoother travel day than last time!