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Published: January 6th 2008
The sleepy town of Luang Prabang, officially a UNESCO world heritage site, is a unique mixture of Euro-Asian architecture, food, people, and life. We weren't sure what to expect-- having heard great and terrible things from other travelers-- but to our delight we fell in love. The streets feel European, full of french colonial houses and shopfronts, but with an Asian twist of tropical fruits, faces, and art embedded within. And, although we are really cheap backpackers, we casually loitered among the high-end streets of the wealthier travelers to revel in the luxurious ambience, winding through tiny alleyways, and making up tales of possible inhabitants from the 'bygone' days...
One of our favorite treasures of Loas is the abundance of cheap, fresh baguettes offered at almost every street corner, along with the availability of cheese! I cannot honestly say I did well with Loatian food, as most of it consists of water buffalo, meat stews, and larp (raw minced meat salad), but we were pleased to eat most of our meals at the cheap and cozy riverside restaraunts, as well as the nightly vegetarian street buffet ($.50).
I dragged Chris kicking and screaming on a boat ride up the
pak Ou River to see the Pak Ou Caves, where over 3000 damaged or otherwise abandoned Buddha images have been discarded. I must admit its a total tourist trap, as the long boats force you to stop at "Whiskey Village" en route, where they make the local Lao-lao rice wine, but its really just a chance to get you to a shopping area to buy things. The caves are pretty cool, or at least would seem so, if you weren't packed in there with 40 million other tourists flashing photos left and right beside you. But alas, I digress....
We spent most of our time wandering, staring at buildings, peering down alleys, strolling through markets, and of course, eating. Most dinners I ate the cheap vegetarian buffet, where we sat on little plastic stools and scarfed down plates full of mixed vegetables, meeting other backpackers and swapping stories. We also ate along the river most mornings and afternoons, even befriending a Lao woman who now lives in Holland, and whom we could finally quiz about all our Laos curiosities.
One afternoon Chris and I stopped in the Red Cross Herbal Sauna and Massage, to take an hour break
in the mid-day heat. I got a massage by a little tiny old woman whose hands I'm pretty sure could break bones, but it was fantastic and our fee went to fund the blood center.
For Christmas Eve we met up with our Austrian friends from Vang Viang, and our newest Aussie pal, and spent the afternoon at Kung Si Falls, swimming in the crystal clear aqua pools. Except for a few decorations at the entrances to some western restaurants, including an ever-popular Dancing Santa Clause, the "Christmas Season" is almost completely nonexistant here for us. Its a balmy 80 degrees and we are swimming in waterfalls and drinking pineapple shakes! In my attempt to splurge on something chocolate and decadent, we went out to a late night bar (in Laos, almost everything shuts at 6 pm, and there is a mandatory midnight curfew!) and got some chocolate ice cream, which turned out to be something like gelato, and totally disappointing. Where is the pumking pie?? I am terribly sad not to be with my family in Phoenix, trading stockings, sitting by the fire and sipping hot chocolate.... I feel like I'm missing out on so much.
Well,
we did have a nice day and evening, even went out to a cool tea shop where they screen films at night, though we only made it to the late 20 minutes of an Angelina Jolie flick. Its been nice to just wander the shops, watch the sunset from the top of the town's mountain peak, meet other backpackers, etc. From here, we are going to take a longboat back up the Pak Our river, on an 8-hour journey to Nong Kiaw. Our Christmas day will be sailing upstream, through the rugged beautiful scenery in Laos, hopefully I will have more pics to share....
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Cam and Donna Foster
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The adventure continues!
Courtney and Chris-- Your descriptions are beautiful and the pictures really help to put us in the scene. We can almost feel the river--in everything you guys are doing. Glad you're getting to connect with people from so many other countries as you wander. I can remember talking with "Vientiane Radio" controllers in the late 60's as we flew across Laos at 10,000 feet--high enough to avoid any ground fire (we hoped). I was always glued to the window in the daytime, gazing at the beautiful mountains and valleys of Laos. Would you give us some more info on prices for things as you travel: guesthouses, food, transportation--always interesting for comparison... Looking forward to your blog on Hanoi. Love you, Cam and Donna