Laos - Part 1

In March of this year I did something that a few years ago I didn't think I was capable of. I had booked flights to and from Laos.... and nothing else. I landed with no accommodation booked, just a guide book and a carry-on sized bag.

Around 2012 I was having panic attacks just getting the train to work so this was a massive achievement. I spent 3 weeks there, purely by chance I did spend a few days traveling with friends from Tokyo, but for the most part I was exploring by myself.

Laos is an incredible place and I'd love to go back again. It was heartbreaking to see how the country is still so deeply effected by the Vietnam war. I had no idea how bad things had been there before visiting so that was a real eye-opener. Still, there is some absolutely stunning countryside and I'd like to go back, although not when the sky is filled with smoke from the slash and burn agriculture.

I started in the capital, Vientiane. From there I headed up to Vang Vieng and then on to Luang Prabang. There are a lot of photos, I originally intended to split this into blogs covering a day or so at a time but that's not going to happen now. If you want more in-depth about each day I spent there go check my 365 project archives but here I'll just split it into three blogs. So, here's part 1.....