Cherishing solo trips, Ninh Cong Hoang (24 years old, Hai Duong) decided to choose the country of a million elephants as the first place to travel alone. The 10X boy is excited because he will spend a whole week immersing himself in the rhythm of life with the local people.
Depart excitedly
Cong Hoang took a bus from Nuoc Ngam bus station through Cau Treo international border gate, Ha Tinh province to Vientiane Capital, Laos. After 24 hours on the sleeper bus, the male tourist longed to set foot in Laos to quickly explore the landscapes he had seen so much on travel vlogs .
In Vientiane, Cong Hoang only visited the Buddha statue garden because most of his schedule was spent in the ancient capital of Luang Prabang . With more than 200 Hindu and Buddhist statues with many different shapes and meanings, Wat Xieng Khuan Buddha statue garden is located about 24km from the capital.
He shared: "When I arrived at this tourist destination, I was still as impressed as when I watched videos on social networks. I felt both excited and a little scared because there were statues with strange shapes like giant skulls, snakes...."
A special feature of the Buddha statue garden is the Pumpkin Tower, also known as Am Phu Cave, with 3 floors symbolizing heaven, earth and hell. Visitors can go inside to explore. When you get to the top floor, you will admire the sky and the whole garden; Because the bottom floor is considered a symbol of hell, it displays statues with quite horrifying lines.
In the afternoon of the same day, the Vietnamese male tourist took a high-speed train to Luang Prabang with the intention of visiting famous places such as Kuang Si waterfall, Phousi hilltop, Wat Xieng Thong pagoda - one of the largest ancient pagodas. Largest in Laos...
The "incident" cannot be forgotten
On the second day in Laos, Cong Hoang rented a motorbike at the homestay to start exploring the first place in Luang Prabang. In the hot weather, the young man did not hesitate to drive to the famous 3-tier Kuang Si waterfall.
“Kuang Si Waterfall has clear, emerald green water. The natural waterfall layers overlap each other, looking quite like terraced fields and creating beautiful lakes. I tried dipping my feet in and saw the cool water," said a Vietnamese male tourist.
In the summer, the weather in Laos often maintains a temperature of about 30 degrees Celsius, quite hot. Therefore, many tourists to Laos will choose to go to the waterfall to cool off, because they cannot go to the beach.
After leaving Kuang Si waterfall, Cong Hoang rode his motorbike to the place to buy bus tickets for the return day and then planned to go to the top of Phousi hill to watch the sunset. Riding his motorbike at a speed of about 40km/h in the rain on the way from the waterfall to the city center, he fell off his bike.
He said: "This section of road along the Mekong River, outside the city center, is quite bad and degraded. Because it was raining, the road was slippery and visibility was limited. I hit a big pothole in the middle of the road and fell off the bike. The mud, rainwater and blood made me confused, not knowing what to do next because after standing up, I felt pain all over my body, especially in my legs and arms.
The area the male tourist passes through is sparsely populated, and there is very little traffic. Luckily, a Lao couple helped him take him to the hospital and take his motorbike back to his homestay.
After being examined at the hospital, the male tourist had his wound stitched and bandaged. However, the medical staff in Luang Prabang could not converse in English or have a Vietnamese interpreter. Cong Hoang just tried to understand and follow what he was told.
Returning to the homestay, the male tourist's first feeling was confusion because it was his first time going abroad alone, so he was very confused and did not know anyone. He regretted that he had spent so much time traveling without discovering much that his legs and arms were bandaged.
At this time, Cong Hoang had no Lao money left in his pocket because he had previously paid all the hospital bills. It was difficult to find a place to accept card payments or USD, so the Vietnamese guy had to ask the homestay owner to take him to the money exchange place. After exchanging a sum of Kip money, he continued to have "empty pockets" because he paid off all the money to repair his motorbike and bought food the next day.
Cong Hoang didn't want to bother the homeowner so he limped to the money exchange again so he could pay the rest of the homestay rental and transportation costs. Besides, the male tourist had to change his plans and find an early flight back to Vietnam.
Initially, Cong Hoang expected to spend about 5 - 6 million VND in a week, but the additional costs amounted to 12 - 13 million VND. Although he was quite regretful that the trip was not as complete as planned, the young man was very happy to meet the kind Lao people. Having an "never to forget" experience, he promised himself that he would return to the country of a million elephants again in the future.
