As always, I am extremely behind on my blogging. We left Laos 3 weeks ago and our time in New Zealand has gone by way too quickly. Since we were only in New Zealand for 3 weeks, our itinerary ended up being pretty packed. New Zealand really stunned me with its awesome views, so I decided to break this into multiple posts or else it will end up as a turbo load of information.
We arrived at Auckland International Airport on December 12th and spent the first night getting over jetlag, since it is quite a time difference between Laos and New Zealand. Luckily, we slept quite well on the plane, so once we had a well-needed sleep the first night here, we had no problem starting our adventure here out on the right foot. Our 3-day road trip in the Coromandel started from Auckland and on our last night we made our way out to Te Aroha, so we could visit the Hobbiton Movie Set the next day.
Drone picture of the natural formations in Cathedral Cove
What is the Coromandel
The Coromandel is a peninsula that is located about 2 hours from Auckland. It is well known for its hiking trails and good beaches. Some of New Zealand’s coolest natural wonders are found here!
With views like this, it is no wonder why the Coromandel is so popular with tourists and Kiwis
Hello readers! Our travels have been going so insanely fast, and now I find myself a few weeks behind on blogging. However, now that Christmas is over, I can hopefully find some time to catch up. After leaving Luang Prabang, Danne and I travelled to Vang Vieng. I was a bit hesitant to visit Vang Vieng since it used to be a giant drunk party back in the days and I really had no idea what to expect. I was actually ready to hop over visiting Vang Vieng, but Daniel insisted he wanted to see what it was all about. So, here is the grand question of this blog post:
Am I too old to visit Vang Vieng?
The best travel partner a girl could have…who also dragged me to Vang Vieng
What is Vang Vieng Actually Like?
As I said, I was a tad nervous to visit. I was imagining a big party on the river and travellers that I would not identify with. We did some research before arriving. However, the information we found was a bit mixed. Some blogs wrote about how in 2012, the government in Laos shut down most of the bars along the river. The government ripped out all of the dangerous activities along the Nam Song River (which is famous for tubing down) in an effort to clean up the city.
I also read that the Vang Vieng was still very much a party scene and that the government was unsuccessful in cleaning up the city. These blogs stated that the party scene was very much still alive in Vang Vieng. I was expecting young tourists acting inappropriately while abroad.
Look at those scenic views while tubing in Vang Vieng
Right when we arrived, it was pretty obvious what the truth actually was. All of the hostels were quite quiet. It appears that the Lao government have done well with their initiative. Gone are the days of all-day partying and (thankfully) accidental deaths. I can’t imagine how it was in the “glory days”, when there was zip lining along the river and over 20 bars. Now, there is just a handful of bars left along the river, and they are all at the beginning. I expected a somewhat party atmosphere. However, this is not what we got. Vang Vieng felt more like a place to relax or have some sightseeing adventures. I was totally surprised by the calmness of the city. I have to admit that I found Vang Vieng a bit boring.
After our intense and exciting stay in Vietnam, Luang Prabang was the perfect place to relax. I didn’t know a lot about Laos before arriving here. The cuisine hasn’t taken over internationally and with a small population (around 7 million), Laos isn’t the most talked about country in South East Asia. We spent just over 1 week in this country, with the first 4 days in Luang Prabang.
The Kuang Si Waterfall outside of Luang Prabang is truly spectacular
I haven’t met a traveller yet that did not love Luang Prabang. The town is sandwiched between the Mekong and the Nam Khan River, which offers some pretty lovely views. It has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1995, preserving the serene and tranquil mood of the city. There isn’t a whole lot to do in Luang Prabang, but you will find it a very special place. I will warn you though, this is not at all off the beaten track. There are many tourists here, but they all seemed to be the good ones! Luang Prabang is not a place to party, but a place to relax.
I just finished writing about our 2-week itinerary in Northern Vietnam, and let’s just say, it was a lot of a text. We are so busy while travelling, that I find it hard to break up my posts and end up garbling on way too long on a single post. So, I decided to write about the food options in Hanoi in a separate post!
But before you read, make sure you check out what we did during our 2-week stint in Vietnam.
Read the blog post below to find out how we saw views like this while travelling in Vietnam
