Pottering around town

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The plan for the first day in Luang Prabang was to do a bit of exploring and make arrangements for the next legs of our tour. We had breakfast at a nearby café and then wandered along the river front looking for alternatives lodgings. Since we were not willing to pay massive amounts more we decided the place we were in was good enough after all so we returned there to get a better room.

We walked up to the main road so we could get some idea of where to find things in daylight and to book some flights to Siam Rep. I tried an ATM but found it didn’t like my card, which made me think all my efforts to ensure the idiot bank didn’t automatically cancel it were in vain. Fortunately I still had plenty of dollars to exchange and Sammy’s card worked.

After this we wandered down the Mekong side of the peninsula towards a Wat mentioned in the guide book, and then went down to the river bank itself. We found the UNESCO inscription for the town and then headed back down the Nam Khan river side, the hot sun making me feel a bit queasy after weeks of cold weather at home. We returned to the town centre, had a drink/lunch, visited the museum (the former Royal Palace) and then rested in the hostel until closer to sunset, at which point we climbed up the hill in the middle of the town (Phu Si) to catch the famous view. Unfortunately the setting sun was partially obscured by clouds and there were at least a hundred people crammed on to tiny viewing areas around the edge of the temple so it wasn’t quite as inspiring as it could have been, but it was still worth the walk.
We did some internetting before dinner and then booked a kayaking tour for the morning.

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