Mike is the winner of the Globetrotter Club £1,000 legacy available
to members under 30 years of age for the best independent travel plan.
Our £1000 travel prize is available to anyone in the world, as long as
they are a member, have a great plan for independent travel and are under the
age of 30. So, visit our
legacy page and get those plans in!!

Mike is using his travel award to visit Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos.
Here’s Part 2 of his travels:

I am now in Luang Prabang in Laos and have been for the last few days. I
believe Tha-ton was the last place I e-mailed so I’ll try and update you
on the progress. I took the boat down to Chiang Rai where I visited the Hill
Tribe museum and pottered about. Chiang Rai is a very prosperous city with
large shops and a very large number of four by fours.

I left the next morning to make it up to Chiang Sean further north on the
Mekong which allowed me hire a motor bike to head up to the Golden Triangle and
to the boarder crossing with Burma. The motorbike allowed a great deal of
freedom and the chance to take back roads and see farms and local
industries.

From Chiang Sean I set off early for the slow boat into Laos leaving from
Chaing Kong. The trip took two days. We spent the night in a little village
called Pakbeng roughly half way along the route. The scenery was amazing, mile
after mile of hills covered in vegetation the whole way down. A snake came
aboard for a while and water was being bailed for the whole of the second day
but we made it into Luang Prabang without sinking!

I've found an incredible difference between Thailand and what I have so
far seen in Laos. There are many obvious changes like they drive on the
opposite side to Thailand (though in both countries no one seems to stick to
anyone side for very long!). The money also is almost comical. The exchange
rate is about 10,800 kip to one US dollar so when I changed a 100 dollar
travellers cheque I was an instant kip millionaire! This alone is not the crazy
thing – the largest current kip note is 5,000 or around 50 cents so my
100 dollars brought me literally a rucksack full of cash I guess it must be
easier to weigh it then to count it out. The kip also goes down in
denominations down to a 1 kip note! The greatest difference that I have found
is the people. In Laos they are so friendly – in my experience I have never
come across such genuine friendliness – everyone smiles and wants to chat,
everyone always waves as you go past and the children especially want to see
you and play.

There has been none of the hassle which you can get – especially in Bangkok
– everyone just seems happier and contented and it is definitely noticeable.
Luang Prabang is exactly as I hoped it would be. The town is beautiful and very
small and you can easily walk across it. The atmosphere is very relaxed and
slow moving you can sense the French influence all around and I’m going
to be sad to leave. Around the city there is lots to do including many
incredible waterfalls where you can walk right onto them and swim at the
bottom. I went to the Royal Theatre last night in the grounds of the old Royal
Palace – for a traditional Lao night – so culture is being thrown at me from
all angles.