Laos

Travelling Green

escapefromcustodyLeave a comment
AirAsia planes lined up at Bangkok International Airport

It has been a little over four months since I returned home, and the world is almost a completely different place now than when I was travelling.

The freedom to hop on a plane and be almost anywhere in the world in less than a day was something I took full advantage of over the last year, racking up over 26,000 miles flown and nearly 44,000 miles total travelled.

Now, like many people around the world, I am stuck at home unless it is for “essential travel”.

I am incredibly lucky that I was able to have my adventure, that I had the opportunity to visit some of the most the incredible places in the world, and meet some of the most amazing people.

When I was travelling I was very much aware of the privilege I had to be able to see and experience these awesome locations. I was also aware of the environmental impact my privilege was causing.

Air pollution over Bangkok at sunset

It was particularly apparent in Bangkok when I visited the roof top bar of one of the tallest buildings. The view, whilst spectacular, was appalling in terms of the smog and air pollution visible sitting over the city.

I made a promise to myself that when I returned to stable employment I would contribute back the world. Having just received my first paycheck I am now in a position to keep that promise.

Calculating my environmental impact was not an exact science.

Although I had kept a record of miles travelled in general there is a big difference between the CO2 output of a bus compared to a tuktuk!

I therefore decided to assume worst case during my calculations.

In total my flights output approximately 9,525 kgs of CO2, based on data from Atmosfair.

All other modes of travel came to about 4,056 kgs of CO2, based on data from Carbonfootprint.com.

During this my worst case assumptions included all train travel being diesel, all boat travel being by ferry, and anything not a car I drove (including taxis and tuktuks) being treated as a coach.

Converting this all to tonnes it came to a little over 13 tonnes of CO2.

Sticking to worst case I rounded this to 15 tonnes to be offset, just to ensure it was all covered.

Using a service recommended by Tom Scott on his Carbon Offsetting page I went with Gold Standard. Whilst many offset companies and charities use tree planting the programs on Gold Standard use different approaches to offset CO2.

In an effort to support some of the places I actually visited I spread my contributions across five programs:

You can see proof of my offsetting here.

An Asian elephant walking through a tropical forest

Slow boat to Thailand from Laos – Luang Prabang to Chiang Mai, or Chiang Rai, on the Mekong River

escapefromcustody

There are many articles giving advice on how to travel from Thailand to Laos by slow boat but very few cover going the other way so I decided to write this short piece to help those who, like me, chose to do things backwards!

Mekong River from a slow boat

If the idea of paying over £100 for a flight, or sitting in a small sleeper bus designed for Asian-sized people for 16+ hours, doesn’t appeal then there is a cheaper, more comfortable and hopefully more enjoyable way to travel between Luang Prabang and northern Thailand, particularly Chiang Mai or Chiang Rai.

Every day a small fleet of boats travel along the Mekong River shuttling tourists and locals between towns and countries, and it is easier than you think to hop on board and relax as you float along the river passing between mountains and jungles whilst seeing a small part of local Laos life.

The trip involves two days on a slow boat, with an overnight stop on land on Day 1, before arriving at the Thai/Laos border in the evening of Day 2..

Once you’ve crossed the border you can either carry on by private transport (more on this later) or spend the night and catch a bus in the morning to your final stop.

The boats cost 110,000KIP each day and you can either book ahead with your hostel or tour company for a little extra, typical costs between 275-300,000 KIP (around £25 or $33 at time of writing) including hostel tuktuk pickup and transfer to the pier on the first day, or make your own way to the slow boat pier which is 5km out the city and get your ticket on the day.

In high season, or for those who like an easier life, I’d advise to book with someone before hand. It only adds 50-70,000 KIP (about £5) to the price and you get the guarantee of someone picking you and your luggage up from the hostel, taking you to the right place, tickets for the boats on both days and instructions on which boat to get on.

A private tuktuk will set you back around this anyway but you can save a few KIP if you’re on an extreme budget!

I am told that the pier used to be in the city centre but it was moved away to allow tuktuk drivers to make more money, I don’t know how true that is but it wouldn’t surprise me!

I stayed at the Chitlatda Central Bila House in Luang Prabang and they offered the slow boat ticket, including transfer, for 275,000 which was the cheapest price I saw.

Note you’ll see it advertised as slow boat to Huay Xai, this is the Laos border town which the boats will take you to. You then need to arrange your own onward transfer to your Thai destination but this is covered later in the article.

Continue reading →

Waterfalls, Elephants and a French Bakery; My week in Luang Prabang, Laos

escapefromcustodyLeave a comment
Elephants walking in Mandalao Elephant Sancturary with mountain in the background

The only landlocked country in South East Asia, Laos was previously a French colony and gained independence in 1953 (after briefly attaining independence during World War 2 before the French came back and colonised it again). Despite being relatively lesser known in the West than the bordering countries it has the fourth highest GDP in the area after Thailand.

Map of South East Asia with Laos highlighted

Arriving in Luang Prabang the contrast between Cambodia and Laos, or at least this city, was striking. Gone were the gutters of streets filled with rubbish and lines of touts looking to sell you everything from a tuktuk ride to the chance to get high.

In their place were beautiful pavements with bins on every street and smiling locals by their stalls and shops, without any of the pressure selling that had been experienced up till now.

Another change you can’t avoid is the surrounding vista. Cambodia’s unbelievably flat countryside full of farm fields were no more and instead you could see the mountains and jungles that fill Laos. Every where you look is a spectacular view.

Temple at the Royal Palace, Luang Prabang, Laos

The old French colonial influence shines through in both the architecture and the businesses on offer, not the least the number of bakeries available to hungry tourists. Le Banneton was recommended on a blog and soon became my regular stop at the start of the day for a wake up coffee and sugary treat, skipping the free breakfast offered at my hostel in favour of the delicious pastries and baguettes from a (semi) authentic French bakery.

The first morning I sat here and stole their WiFi as I planned my time in Laos. This research led me to my first point of call, a small hill located in the middle of the town, Mount Phousi.

Only 100 metres high a few hundred steps take you up the hill, passing through various monuments and sacred points for the monks who live on their. The midday sun did little to help make the climb any easier though!

At the top you are treated to a fantastic view across the town and along the Mekong River and it is particularly popular at sunset, as evidenced when an entire army of tourists arrived behind me with an hour to go.

View from Mount Phousi

It costs 20,000 Laos Kip to get to the very top (about £1.75 at time of writing) and deciding that, with nothing else planned for the day and trying to be a frugal backpacker, I didn’t want to pay that twice I remained at the top for a few hours until sunset. I met various travellers here and swapped stories and tips before ensuring I had the best spot for the coming sunset.

The next day I joined a friend I had made in Cambodia and we set off to Kuang Si Falls. Around 30km outside Luang Prabang the falls are probably the number one attraction for visitors to the town.

Before you get to the falls themselves you pass a rescue centre for Asian sun and moon bears who were trapped with intention of, or actually rescued from, bear bile farms and other forms of abuse. The bears seemed to be well cared for with lots of things to play with, including the company of each other, and it is definitely better than the alternative they did have.

Bear in rescue centre at Kuang Si Falls

Past the bear sanctuary you reach the first set of falls and a small swimming area. But continue up the hill a little more and you find more fresh water pools with gorgeous rock formations and a setting out of a Herbal Essences advert.

I had read that it is worth reaching the top of the hill on a few blogs so set off on a, sometimes, risky climb next to the main drop. This included a section where the steps themselves are underneath the continual stream of water pouring off the top.

In all honesty the climb was not worth it and I should have stayed on the bottom. A view that became more true when I repeatedly slipped and stumbled climbing back down after!

Back on safer ground I found my friend in one of the pools and was excited to dive in and join them. It was at this point I learnt that this wonderful turquoise clear water was ice cold!

Kuang Si Falls

After the initial shock of the freezing water began to wear off I felt the second surprise as a school of fish began nibbling at the exposed parts of my body.

Having deliberately avoided the various massage shops across SE Asia offering fish massage services it became clear I would be getting the treatment for free here anyway!

Swimming at Kuang Si Falls

As I relaxed in the cool water, and provided a buffet lunch to the local wildlife, I enjoyed the experience of swimming in a natural river running through a tropical jungle as birds and butterflies flew above me and fish shoaled around me.

This was not to be the best animal experience in Laos though, as tomorrow I would be meeting a much bigger creature.

Continue reading →