Preparing for Laos

So I'm going to Laos sometime next year. This isn't a thread about what gear to bring but really more about which places must absolutely not be missed. Photo opportunities are nice, but I won't travel alone so experiences are better than simple viewpoints for me . I know there's at least one person here who lives in Laos but any input is welcome.

armis wrote in post #17708221
So I'm going to Laos sometime next year. This isn't a thread about what gear to bring but really more about which places must absolutely not be missed. Photo opportunities are nice, but I won't travel alone so experiences are better than simple viewpoints for me . I know there's at least one person here who lives in Laos but any input is welcome.

Hey armis,, I've been living in Laos for eight years, my wife 12. Funnily enough we are in the process of packing up to come home for good.

Interesting place to be a photographer. best time is in the wet season from June to October when the cloud cover (most days) gives you this beautifully soft lighting. I call it 'lazy' lighting. Beautiful scenery, especially in the remote mountainous north and people who don't mind having their photo taken.

The north is fabulous. Mountainous but difficult to get into especially in the wet season.

A list of places I love.

1. Luang Prabang. Becoming a bit touristy these days but still wonderful. Great food. Lazy boat rides up the Mekong and a 40 minute tuk-tuk ride to Kwang Sii waterfall.

2. Vang Vieng. I avoided the place like the plague a few years ago. Four or five hours north of Vientiane. Used to be a back packers hang out but the last few years the government has cleaned the place up, closed all the illegal bars and it's a lot more civilised. Lovely river valley with cast mountains.

3. Luang Namtha. On the Chinese border. The most ethnically diverse region in Laos. Colourful ethnic people and small villages dotted on mountain sides. My favourite part of Laos. While you're there head up further to Muang Sing about 10 kays from the Chinese border. Used to be a French outpost. Very ethnically diverse.

4. Tad Lo. Little village in the edge of the Bolaven Plateau in the south in Salavan province. Fantastic waterfall in the wet season. There's accommodation at the guest house or little huts in the jungle at the edge of the waterfall. Take note of the 'Beware of the tigers" signs.

5. Paksong on the Bolaven Plateau. Famous coffee growing region. Highish altitude and a bit cooler. If you can check into the Sinouk Resort do it. A little pricey but well worth it. Mr Sinouk is the father of the Lao coffee growing industry.

6. Four Thousand Islands in the very south. Waterfall territory and a Mecca for white water rafting.

7. Plain of Jars in Xieng Khouang province. A couple of archaeological sites that go back thousands of years. The entire area was absolutely smashed by American bombing during the Second Indochina War. Interesting place.