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Published: March 1st 2008
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After our crazy one day stint in Vang Vieng, we got up bright and early to catch our mini-bus up to Luang Prabang. 8 people + luggage were crammed into a large mini-van, and off we went. To get from Vang Vieng to Luang Prabang you have to take the infamous Route 13, which is an insanely twisty turny road that zig zags along the edge of a mountain. Laos drivers are known for driving like maniacs, but I think the majority of the people on the bus were trying to hold it together as he zoomed around corners that had no guard rail to keep up from flying off the cliff!
We arrived in Luang Prabang and immediately fell in love. LP was declared a UNESCO world heritage site about 10 years ago, which helps to preserve the buildings and temples of the area. We arrived without a place to stay, so I left Ashley and our bags at a cafe, and started going up and down the blocks, looking for a guesthouse. After looking in at a few places, I found a room that slightly resembled a female prison and had lumpy lumpy pillows, but was relatively clean
and cost 9$ a night-sounds like a bargain to me!
The next day we got up early to explore the city. LP is just darling, for lack of a better word. It's right on the Mekong, and that road is lined with riverside bars and restaurants, and cute little shops and boutiques are all over the place, not to mention the HUGE gold temples that you just stumble upon every couple of blocks. Laos is really famous for its silk production, so a ton of the street vendors and stores sell great silk scaves, and clothing, for ridiculously cheap prices. The first day we did a walking tour of the city, which ended with us climbing Mount Phousi, which is a temple that looks out over the whole city.
Trekking to the Hmong Village
After a few days in LP, we signed up to do a two day trek north of Luang Prabang to a Hmong Village. We started out our trek by going to ride elephants at a local elephant camp. I was a little apprehensive to do this, after seeing elephants at the last camp we went to, but these elephants
seemed to be happy and well-treated, with lots of space to roam. We rode the elephants for about an hour, and I even got to move up and ride on the elephants head! I definitely thought I was going to fall off a million times but managed to hold on. 😊 After riding the elephants, we met up with our guide Kia, and started our hike! It was just Ashley + I, and Kia spoke pretty good english so he told us all about the area and the different tribes that live in the area. There is a mix of Khmu, and Hmong tribes, and there are a number of villages where the two live together. We hiked for about 4 hours in the most gorgeous area, right in the mountains, amongst pineapple and banana fields. We arrived in the Hmong village around 4-5 pm, and it was actually pretty large. Nearly 40-60 families live here, and there were about 40 different straw housing units. Little kids were running around everywhere, and when they saw us they would stop dead in their tracks and stare at us. We would wave and say "Sa-ba-dee! (Hello!)", and they would reply, giggle and
run-away. There was so much life going on in the village. A million babies running around, baby pigs, baby ducks, baby goats, baby dogs-you name it and it had recently arrived in this village! We had our own little straw hut to sleep in, on a bamboo mat, and nearby outhouse with squat toilets....ooph! We wandered around the village for a bit, it was really poor but everyone seems to be eating and healthy. It was a great experience. That night Kia lit a campfire, and a lot of the Hmong kids came up and sat with us at the fire. We learned how to count to 5 in Lao, and them in English! It was truly a unique experience that I'm glad we did. The next day, we left the village, and a bunch of little kids walked with us for a short distance as we left, just giggling and running alongside us. After walking for a few hours, we arrived at a river, where we got to Bamboo raft. By bamboo raft, again, it was more like Bamboo float, but it was a gorgeous day and me and Ash even jumped in the water for a little bit
and paddled alongside the raft while Kia "drove". Got back into LP late afternoon, and caught up on emails-we had been without internet for 2 days-god forbid! That night we went to a British pub that played english movies, and saw Atonement. I was in tears by the end...did this win an academy award? One of the best movies I've seen in forever.
Relaxing the days away in Luang Prabang
The next few days we just spent relaxing and enjoying the city. One of the reasons I wanted to go to Laos was because it is still relatively undiscovered by travelers, many people refer to it as "what Thailand was 10-15 years ago". There is still a lively feel to the city, but you don't see hoards of coach buses shuttling tourists around, and everything just moves and a nice slow pace. It was easy to wile away an afternoon with a book and a beerlao, at any of the riverside cafes.
We took a day trip out to the Kuang Si Waterfalls, a gorgeous set of pools about 36 Km from the city. You start at the bottom of the falls, where
Me w/ mr. elephant
I was pretty sure he was a baby, but he was actually 30 years old! there is a large turquoise pool with a small waterfall, and a rope swing. As you work your way up, you pass by nearly 4-5 pools connected by different parts of the falls, until you get to the massive main waterfall up at the top. After hiking all the way to the top of the waterfall, Ash + I were hot and sweaty enough to chance the water-super cold but it was worth it!
Everything in Laos is sooo cheap. It is very easy to eat lunch for a dollar or two, and they sell traditional silks here for a fraction of the cost you would pay anywhere else. The night markets here are fabulous, and all the vendors sell these great handsewn bags and blankets. We have gotten spoiled here! One of our last nights, we decided to go out for a nice dinner, and after looking at a restaurant menu, decided paying $7.50 for an entree was absolutely ridiculous, and moved somewhere else. So we are going to be sooooo screwed when we get back to the states and are hit with a hard dose of reality! One of the last days in LP, I treated myself
Our trusty guide Kia
Trekking to the hill-tribe village to a spa day. I had a full body oil massage, full body scrub, and a facial-nearly 4 hours of treatment-for 30$!!!
Our last day in LP, we got up early to watch the morning alms procession. Laos is a predominantly Buddhist culture, and LP is one of the main places that the monks come to study. You see men with shaved heads, even boys as young as 7-8, walking around the city in their distinct bright orange robes. The morning alms occurs around 6 am, and all the monks line up, and walk through the city streets, where people hand out food. I am pretty sure that the food that they collect here as donations are the only food that they are allowed to eat throughout the day. It was amazing to see, the line of monks stretched for blocks and blocks, just a sea of orange robes!
After nearly 2 weeks, our adventure in Laos has come to an end. I absolutely LOVED it here. The people are so friendly, and always have a smile on their face, despite the fact that the country is extremely poor. Although it's not on an ocean, the Mekong and
Hmong Village
Cute hill-tribe kids surrounding mountains are an amazing landscape surrounding the cities.
Our last morning, we arrived at the airport for our flight to Chiang Mai 3 hours early, as you are supposed to do on international flights. We should have expected this, but the LP airport has 2 gates, and we made it through security and were checked in in about 5 minutes. And then our flight was delayed 2 hours on top of that! After a long day at the airport, we finally arrived in Chiang Mai, northern Thailand. We will be here for 4 days, and then off I go to Elephant Nature park, to play with elephants. EEE!!
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Jill
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Oh, Alissa, what an extraordinary place - and how lucky we are to read such vivid descriptions of your experiences. You were so clever to include Laos in your itinerary. We had coffee with your mum and dad this morning. We share their excitement over your return! xo, j