Over spending in Luang Prabang

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Our bus from Luang Nam Tha to Luang Prabang was similar to our first journey in Laos from Huay Xai to Luang Nam Tha. It was long, slow and uncomfortable but incredibly scenic. The bus was cramped and the sun was hot, relief came from the breeze blowing through the open windows of the delapidated vehicle. We followed a windy road down through the mountains and the views were magnificant. An endless sea of green forest stretched over the valleys and the mountains. As we reached lower land the cloud forested mountains were replaced by a landscape of imposing cliffs and as we approached Luang Prabang the sun set behind them huge, menacing sillouhettes ahead of us.

We pulle dinto Luang Prabang at a bout 7pm, we jumped into a sangtheaw which dropped us on the main tourist drag and we began our hunt for a guesthouse. It soon became clear that we were going to have problems. Most places were full and those that weren't were charging outrageous prices. Many were charging $40 - $45 which is way beyond our backpacker budget, especially as, due to the dodgy economic climate, our pound has devalued hugely against the dollar and the Lao kip. Post tsunami depression in thailnad resulted in many more travellers making their way here and as a result prices have risen sharply. it is now something of an intrepid package destination for a more well healed, older generation of travellers and locals are pushing for as much as they can get, particularly in the old quarter, the main tourist spot which exudes and air of sophistication.

We had no choice to but search for a bed further a field and so we spent and hour and a half walking form guesthouse to guesthouse with our heavy bags. One man offered to put a bed in the reception area for us but we declined and shortly after we found a room for a slightly more reasonable price but still too much for us. We were a fair walk from the action. This was not a great first impression of Luang Prabang.

However, Luang Prabang is a lovely but expensive place and after a good nights slepp we went to explore. It sits on the confluence of the Mekong and Nam Khan rivers, it is both enchanting and diverse with a facinating history with many temples. It was colonised by the French and the old city streets are peppered with shuttered French mansions, many of which are now guesthouses with colourful blossoming trees in their gardens. It has excellent French Restuarants and pattiserries serving fresh baked baguettes and cakes. It is also possible to purchase that long lost friend from home...cheese. There are many other great eateries serving fare from around the world and many over look the river, perfect for dinner with a view at sunset. There is possibly no better city in South East Asia to crack opena good bottle of French wine and world unfold, unfortuantely we couldn't afford one.

We spent the day wandering the picturesque streets and in the afternoon climbed up to the summit of Phu Si, a hill in the centre of the old quater, to look at a temple and watch the sunset. As with everything in Laos there was an admission charge but it was worth it. From the top we had superb 360 degree views of the city and hilly landscape beyond. On the way up women were sellimg little birds in very small wicker cages, the idea is that you release them at the temple and it brings you luck. The city looked beautiful from up there. There were no skyscrapers, high rises or industrial buildings scarring the the skyline and from here we could really appreciate its magical setting. We spent time looking round the temple and secretly photographing the monks in their bright orange robes and then found a good spot for the sunset as by this time many other tourists had joined us. The sunset was one of the best we've seen. The suns dying light coloured the Mekong river red and orange before dissapearing behind the mountains.

That evening we went to the night market. The main tourist street is closed of to traffic every night and hundreds of stalls stretch out along it with vendors selling their wares from sheets layed out on the ground. There were some wonderful things on sale and it was much more reasonablly priced than the expensive boutique shops. We bought a canvas painted with orange monks and two bottles of Lao Lao which is a very strong and horrid home brewed spirit. It was possible to buy it with scorpions in but we went for the plain version. the streets of the Old Quarter at night were beautiful, the restaurants spilled on to the pavements and the dimly lit lanes gave a real old world ambience.

After we'd had enough of browsing the market we made the trek back to our guesthouse in the less beautiful part of town. the young man who worked there asked me if he could have a go on my guitar. I abliged and we had a little jam and he practised his English on me. I put an end to our little gathering when he started to ask how he could get a picture of me for his phone. I made my excuse and went to bed. I seem to be attracting teen age boys on this trip!

We decided to Leave Luang Prabang for Nong Khiew the next day to try and get our pending back on track. We would have loved to have spent longer and indulge ourselves but unfortunately it would have probably resulted in us running out of money and having to go home early.

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