Luang Prabang

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Well, after a long two days on the slow boat we decided to spend a few nights in quaint sleepy Luang Prabang. Our first full day there was spent wondering around and taking in the sights until about mid-day when we then found a bar, we sat and chilled the beans for no other reason apart from that fact that it was too ridiculously hot to move. At about 6pm it had cooled down a little (only about 2 degrees, but it was noticeable I tell you!) so we took a stroll around the lovely Hmong night market, buying a few souvenirs (we could have brought so much more but had to stop ourselves).

Day two and we decided to take a trip out to the local waterfalls at Kouang Si, you could swim in the natural pools by the waterfalls, which was so refreshing; there was also a rope swing which Ste of course had to give a go and he fell into the water. (He adds that this was on purpose and that he looked really cool. I looked cool.) There was also a bear sanctuary for rescued Asiatic bears. We spent ages just looking at them playing. They are gorgeous animals, we even watched them nap. That evening we went for dinner in Lao Lao Garden where we ate a lovely meal that we cooked ourselves. You basically get raw meat (we went for chicken & water buffalo), veg, noodles, sauces and spices and you cook them over your own hotplate however you like it. It was a very unique novelty and we really enjoyed it.

Our last day we rented bikes and cycled around the whole city, went a bit further than we thought too, got lost a couple of times, mainly because the city isn't nearly as big as you imagine it to be, at one point I think we were on our way south to Vientiane. We did visit the local museum which was the former home of the Lao Royal Family, and also a Temple Wat Xien Thing. It is the oldest in Luang Prabang and very ornate and very impressive.

The day we left Luang Prabang for Vang Vieng we were up at 5am. Each morning at sunrise the monks from each Wat (temple) in town walk around the whole city receiving alms from the local people. The people sit on the pavements giving food, mainly rice to each monk who walks by, and this is their food for the day. There are little groups of local residents every 50 metres or so, so the monks do receive enough food to last them the day. It was an amazing event to watch, and we felt very humbled that we were witnessing something that very few people get to see.

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Photos

Bear Sanctuary
having a snooze....

Lao Lao Garden
Our Lao Barbeque

Inside Wat Xien Thong
How tiny are the door ways?

Comments

[Rob Hearne]

Hi
guys, it looks like you're havin a great time out there. i liked that last place. what with the river and buckets and swings and mud. wow. ha ha. also u can really tell the difference between ste's entries and gemma's entries. *no pun intended on the word 'entry'