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Published: February 1st 2008
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Luang Prabang
Well we made it to the capital of the north, the big LP! We even found ourselves a really decent hostel with possibly the best showers in Asia for only $5 per night - bargain. That night we went out to hae a nice meal after 2 days on the boat and found a curry house which served me the best Chicken Tikka Masala ever with nan breads for about $4.
The great hostel was to prove useful as Ria had caught herself a cold and was pretty much confined to bed for a coulple of days. No worries though. Our friend Pierre came to the rescue with a full medical kit and gave her some stuff to sort her out.
On my own I spent the first full day exploring the town. It is
very French, all of the buildings scream collonial frenchness at you as you walk by, with nothing over 2 stories high and loads of little alleyways and balconies you really could be in a small rural French town. To say nothing of all of the street vendors selling you any sort of baguette you could want.
I went into a
few of the temples and all over the main parts of town but the place isn't very large so I soon found myself wondering what was on the other side of the river. I found a bridge and almost fell through the wooden floor as I crossed it. When I made it to the other side it was like I had stepped into a totally different place. The housing had changed to wooden huts and the roads were dirt and rocky tracks rather than the paved smoothness of town. I wandered about and exchanged greetings with the hundreds of kids that were inevitably running around, and got barked at by numerous dogs. There were some very run down Wats to have a look about at but I soon decided to go back to the centre of town. People on this side of the river made you feel like you were intruding a little and that perhaps all tourists should stay in the touristy bit 😞
No matter though. I met up with Pierre that evening and we went off and had a traditional steam bath/sauna thing. These things are amazing and easily the best things in Laos (so far
anyway). 30p gets you unlimited time and use of the steam room which is basically a wooden hut with a barrel of water and herbs on top of a fire beneath you. The steam is vented in through the floorboards and it is pitch black and the herbal smell is almost overpowering. Every 5 mins or so you step out and cool off and sip the free herbal teas whilst lounging on teak benches. It's something I can imagine finding it's way to England eventually alongside the saunas in some posh gyms. Totally invigorating and relaxing.
We went off afterwards and ate at a roadside vegetarian stand. 15p gets you a plate that you load up with as much of the various veggies and rice and noodles that you want then you take it over to a lady with a wok who cooks it all up for you. Add your own seasonings and enjoy. Along with a beer for 20p 😊
We went off in search of what was supposed to be the coolest bar in town afterwards and had two for one cocktails at 50p each and the required free shots of Lao Rice Whiskey. Cool end
to the day. Unfortunately Pierre was to leave the next day on his way south but he has promised us a free stay at his villa in the mountains so we'll definitely be keeping in touch with him 😉
The rest of our time in LP was spent sorting out the money situation (we decided to get out about $250 and made ourselves millionaires) (where do they put all of their cash if they don't use banks???), and I had a massage at the Red Cross which was awesome but on the verge of painful.
Fully relaxed and starting to enjoy the Laos lifestyle (they are really friendly which helps) we decided to trip onwards to Mong Ngoi a little town upriver from Nong Khiaw. We bumped into Amber (who we met on our way to Bangkok about a month ago) and it turned out she was going the same way so we decided to all go together.
Overall I enjoyed LP. It was a very modern and expensive city with very posh restaurants and hotels but we managed to get around that 😊
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