Luang Prabang, Laos

We arrive at Vientiane airport very early, we haven't got flight tickets (we tried to book online but got an email late last night to say that they had not been confirmed). So, we go on standby for the first flight (9.40am) but it is booked out, the next flight (11am) is also booked out, so we book two tickets for the next available flight at 3pm. Lao airlines is disorganised and it takes a couple of hours before we can actually buy tickets (which have gone up $20 since we checked on the internet - we insist for a while, but give up and pay $81 each). We have four hours to wait, so we use this time to plan our time in Luang Prabang and begin to plan for Vietnam and Cambodia. It seems the security guys have a laid-back view of airport security - generally relaxing and giving each other massages! There put up some clear signs instead.



Our 3pm flight, is 2 hours delayed....but eventually we get on our way.

The journey is worth the wait - we fly into Luang Prabang over the mountains and have a wonderful view of the sun setting over the Mekong.





From the airport, we hire a tuk-truck (the official name is still tuk-tuk however, we feel tuk-truck is more appropriate). We are jolted down a dark, bumpy dirt track) Thong Bay Guesthouse, quite late. We are warmly received by our host, T. We are staying in in Lao traditional style bungalow (lodge) build on stilts on the banks of the Nam Khan river. The internal walls are made from weaved bamboo (rattan) and the furnishings are made by local weavers. It's really quite pretty. The downsides to staying here (we discover later) are the lack of hot water and noisy neighbours across the water playing loud music until 1am!

We dander back up to the communal area to have a wonderful feast - Mekong fish, rice, vegetable noodles and fruit shakes. The fruit shakes in Lao are by far the best I have ever had (made with a drop of carnation milk - Gordon you would be in your element!).

Thong Bay bungalow

The best fruit shake in the world!

A much-needed rest on our balcony

Day 1: Luang Prabang

Next morning, we get an awful shock with how cold it is - a vast change from Vientiane. Thong Bay is situated 2 km outside of the old city, with views onto the Nam Khan river. 

View from our "bungalow" balcony (traditional Lao-style lodge on stilts)

The internal walls are made of bamboo in the rattan style of weaving, and furnishings are made by local weavers.

Rattan

We take off on foot early the next morning, wrapped in layers for warmth (fleeces and heavy jackets). We end up taking a 'scenic route' to the city (my map-reading ability is severely dimished during the early hours of the morning and when it's too hot, or cold).

Nam Khan river

Farmers working the land

We find the touristy, back-packery street (Sisavang Vong Road) and stop for some Lao coffee (super strong!) and a banana pancake (the bananas here are really tiny and tasty). Then, we head off to the 'Old City' - it's a very pretty place; river views and pretty floral sidestreets. It seems tourism has really taken off here in the past three years (since the doors opened to tourists). We visit the main temples. By mid-morning, the sun is shining but it is not humid, which makes for much more pleasant sight-seeing weather. The monasteries and temples have a different style than those we saw in Thailand.

We walk to Wat Xiang Thong (1560) in the Old City - the most historic Buddist monastery in Lao. It is well preserved and has some beautiful mosaic on the walls of the sim

Wat Xiang Thong

Next, we visit Wat Visoun (1873)...which is quite pretty (the weather is lovely now - not humid, but sunny and warm).

Wat Visoun

We hear about the flooding in Hanoi and decide it's not a good option (also, all flights are fully booked for a week!). Change of plan - we are flying to Siem Reap, Cambodia on Thursday.

We climb Phon Si (a steep forested hill which dominates the city, crowned by a Buddhist stuppa) and wait, and wait, and wait (along with tons of other tourists).....and eventually the sun sets. I find waiting for sunsets quite amusing, providing a sense of purpose to an evening on holiday.

View from Phon Si

Sunset view from Phon Si

After dark, we browse the Hmong market (open sunset to 9pm) - by far my favourite market that we have visted. Absolutely no hassle, everything clearly laid out, and beautiful crafts, textiles, and silver. Booo to small rucksacks!

Hmong market

Pretty colours!

A crowd gathers to watch me haggle for some Lao-Lao!

We have lots of fun with the people who are like to laugh and joke around!

And then, the highlight of my day: dinner!

Aw lam - mainly aubergines, bamboo and mushrooms, heavily spiced

Lao style beef with spices

Sticky brown rice with coconut

It is so, so cold in the evenings - I am wearing every item of clothing and scarf I can find. Back at the lodge it is so cold that we wear our fleeces morning and night (I even sleep in mine!) and are wrapped in woolen blankets. There is no hot water which is a nightmare first thing in the morning! From our balcony, across the river we watch the local farmers (male and female) till their land. At night (until beyond midnight) music pumps around the area which is rather irritating. From about 5am the Cock-a-doodle-do's start crowing and the monks start beating the drums in preparation for their morning collection. The morning collection consists of walking along the main streets at 6am accepting offerings of food and goods from the locals (these monks rely on communnity hand-outs). We would like to go and watch the offering, however, it is so cold that 7am is the earliest we manange to get up (and what a struggle that is!).

Day 2: Luang Prabang

Early morning, we get a boat along the Mekong to the Pak Ou caves and Hmong village (traditional weaving).

Travelling by boat on the Mekong (again!)

The Pak Ou Caves. 

Not terribly exciting - but the most popular day trip from Luang Prabang. Basically, in theses "Buddha" caves - Tham Ting and Tham Phoum, damaged or disfigured buddhas have been kept here. The tradition is that at Lao New Year, boat-loads of town folk make their way upriver to ritually bathe the 1000s of semi-abandoned buddhas.

Pak Ou Caves (eerie!)

Then, we drop-by a Hmong Village nearby (also, very touristy but nice to see the weavers).

Traditional Lao weaving

Back Luang Prabang, we search for a mini-bus to the Kuang Si waterfall (35km outside). Success, next we find a cafe who will make up a pack-lunch (toasted ham and cheese!). We arrive at Kuang Si at 3pm.

Kuang Si waterfall

First, we walk (more like rock-climbing!) up the path on the right-hand side of the waterfall, which is a real struggle (muddy and extremely steep), and we get to the top to realise that there is pretty much nothing to see from this side. We meet some Americans who tell us the view is on the other side!!! Grrr, we make our way back down feeling deflated. Feeling determined, we give the other side a go - not quite as tough as the right-handside but challenging all the same. I make it to the top of the waterfall and look down - beautiful (and wait for it....camera battery dies!!!). I amthe only person on the top, and I allow my imagination to run wild, convincing myself that bears and snakes were getting ready to pounce (not a totally irrational fear in the Laotion jungle!). Sure enough, on the descent I come across 2 snakes but they slither away in the opposite direction!

Not impressed with all this climbing! 

Even after all the climbing the water still looks too cold to swim. Nobody else is swimming either!

Back in the city we wander around the market and have another lovely meal (haven't had a bad one yet!) washed down by Beer Lao. We chat to some girls from the Netherlands who inform us in a serious tone, that there are no eligible batchelors in Lao (good job we ain't looking :-P).

Later, we chat to a guy whom we saw at the waterfall earlier (an eligible English batchelor for that matter!), and he tells us that it IS possible to cross from the right-hand side path to the other side (where the view is). I cannot believe it - we should not have listened to those Americans...Grrrr!

We take our last tuk-tuk (this time a moto-tuk - even more bumpy!) back to the Thong Bay. Tonight the path is lit up by the beautiful full moon. We both feel sad leaving Laos - there are many things and places we would like to have covered and feel we could easily spend a month here.

The highlights? For me, the people and the food. Followed closely by the natural beauty (sunsets, moon, rivers, mountains & waterfalls) and the markets (in particular the Hmong market where it is a pleasure to browse).

Tomorrow, we fly to Siem Reap - very curious about Cambodia!