4) Luang Prabang - world heritage

After a 6h ride I arrived in Luang Prabang at evening. I took the first guesthouse on the road and fall asleep in my bed, even tho it was just 8:30pm :P
After some fine 12h sleep I started to discover the city. Unluckily it did not meet my expectations. Too many tourists and the city seems a little surreal, as everything is about tourists :(
The temples were not as great as I hoped they were. But after being in the city for 2 days I really enjoyed it.
Well, ok... I started my first walk along Nam Khan river, enjoying breakfast at the river front. A small glimpse into Wat Sensoukarahm, Wat Sop, Wat Sirimungkhun and Wat Si Bun Heuang before visiting the more famous and old Wat Xieng Thong. River Nam Kham meets Mekong river and I continue my walk along the Mekong river front. A visit to the Royal Palace Museum and it's Wat Ho Pha Bang before I climbed 328 steps up to Phu Si hill and That Chomsi. I couldn't wait for the sunset as simply too many tourists have been there. So I climbed down and slandered over the handicraft night market to finish my day.
The next day I woke up early to see Tak Bat - which is when every morning at dawn all monks come out to receive their food for the day from the people. I was astonished by the number of tourists, but even more by the number of monks. It were at least 100... maybe up to 200 monks on the street. An sheer endless line of saffron robbed monks walking in front of the temples. I'm not sure though if they were able to outnumber the tourists... I have my doubts on that^^ Afterwards I walked along the streets to visit some more temples and the morning fresh market. At 12am I went to see Tat Kuang Si waterfall. It was an impressive one, indeed. Many small falls and pools lead you to the main waterfall. A climb up the hill allows you views down the waterfall and see the great landscape. After the climb I took a swim in one of the pools, really refreshing :D On the way back we stopped at a Hmong village. Unluckily that was simply too touristy... the villagers did set up stores all way along the village and the kids were trying to sell and beg non-stop. Sad to see what too much tourism can lead to :(
At the evening I take the bus to Luang Nam Tha.

Wat Sensoukarahm

Wat Xient Thong

Buddha within Wat Xieng Thong

Wat Ho Pha Bang

That Chimsi at the top of Phu Si

View down to the Mekong and to the mountains from Phu Si

View over Nam Khan river and Luang Prabang from Phu Si

Monks receiving their daily food as gift

Tak Bat, more than a hundred monks

Wat Ho Siang... that is a special Naga^^

The morning fresh market... yummy :D Do you see the shoes?

Tat Kuang Si waterfall from downstairs

Kuang Si waterfall from upstairs^^

good view from up the waterfall :)

Late afternoon sun gives a great atmosphere to the smaller falls

The pools were great for a refreshing swim :D

3) Pakse - Vientiane - Xien Khuan - Vang Vieng

That was a quite stressy start into relaxed Laos^^
Monday (22.11.) I took a minibus from Ubon Ratchathani to the border village Chong Meng (100 baht, 1,5h). The visa at Laos border was without problems, just that I forgot to get USD in Bangkok and so they charged me 32euro (1300 baht) instead of 30dollar :(
A minibus (80 baht, 1h) brought me from Vang Tao to Pakse in Laos. I bought my ticket for the overnight sleeper bus to Vientiane. The 3h until the bus came, I used to do some sightseeing in Pakse.
There is not too much to see... I saw 3 markets and 1 of 2 bigger temples. Wat Luang was filled with young monks and the sunset behind made it quite a sight :)
The shopping mall looks funny^^ 2 floors of a cooled market :) After walking through the streets I had an indian dinner before taking a Laos foot massage... the right way to start my Laos trip and good relaxing before the bus journey.
The sleeping bus was horror^^ It took us 10h, 150.000kip from Pakse to Vientiane. The sleeping spots were about 1,7m long and 0.7m wide for 2 people. I shared mine with a tall french guy... I was able to sleep maybe 3 out of the 10h. My back and legs were aching afterwards :(
In Vientiane a tuktuk brought us from southern bus terminal to the centre. I enjoyed sunrise from the Mekong-promenade and new built Chao Anouvong park before having a good breakfast at Nam Phu Park.
From the local busstation I took bus number 14 to visit Xien Khuan (5.000kip 1.5h). Xien Khuan houses the Buddha Park which is filled with a huge amount of bizzare sculptures from Buddha, Shiva, Vishnu, Arjuna, and many more Hindu+Buddhist gods.
It is great to simply look for your most favourite sculpture or go through hell, earth and heaven to reach the top of the pumpkin sculpture and enjoy a view over the park.
The same bus brought me back to Vientiane where I booked a bus to Vang Vieng (30.000kip 4h). On the bus to Vang Vieng I met 3 polish who just started their holiday 4 days ago. I explained them that Vang Vieng is famous for it's nature, adventure activities, parties and drugs. A happy pizza knocked me off at the evening :P
After a long sleep and good breakfast (I enjoyed several baguettes in Laos already^^ finally bread again :P) I jumped on a minibus to Luang Prabang (100.000kip, 6h).

Wat Luang, Pakse

Sunrise from the Mekong at Chao Anouvong Park

Pumpkin sculpture in Xien Khuan Buddha Park

Sacrifice^^

You just have to pick your favourite sculpture^^

I liked that one the most :P

stunning park

Good view after going through hell, earth and heaven of the pumpkin.