The Calm of Laos

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Luang Prabang is small. Seriously small. You can more or else walk from one end to the other in 30 minutes - that is in EVERY direction. Don't get me wrong there are mountain areas that take longer and things like that. But flat land - 30 mins.

One of my favorite experiences was not captured on camera as I had a technology malfunction. I left my camera battery charginger and forgot to take it with me and phoneven not charged. But no worries a nice European couple said they'd send me photos (fingers crossed they don't forget)! The waterfalls were beautiful! Even with all the tourists around it was still tranquil. Depending on which waterfall you did there was a trek up which made you exicted to get to the area you could take a dip. Until you took that dip and realized how cold it was! I guess it evens out since the day was so hot. There is something relaxing about just hanging out under waterfalls. Can't tell you why that is but it is.

The other thing that makes it a great place is the people. Everyone is nice. Even the people selling their 2 usd products. Night market is same everywhere you go I think. Local products mass produced, many at a lesser quality, and being sold by negotiation prices. The big difference is the less forceful nature. In Thailand I felt a pressure from the sellers that made me less inclined to buy anything. In Luang Prabang people who say "pretty scarf, try it on" but in a very mellow voice and in passing. The other thing that pushed me to buy more (seriously I have a problem I know it), was that the people all had young children with them. Babies & toddlers. That they were feeding and putting to sleep, while they made a buck. Seriously a buck was what they working for. Most items there cost a max of 5 bucks. Then negotiations start and you'll probably pay 2 bucks. Which again when you think about means a family of 4 and means a tall Starbuck coffee to me. Perspective. So yeah I bought multiple scarves that I don't need and free other things that when I get home I won't know what to do with. But I'm okay with that. I'll just cut back on some unnecessary Starbucks 😊

One final thing I'll tell you about is the airport (where I am today, on my way to Singapore). It is small. So small that they only checkin one flight at a time. Seriously. You sitting in a waiting area, they say now checking this flight now and you go. And yeah we walked outside to board the flight - not jet bridge. Small town living.

Until Singapore.

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Comments

[pcakes777]

The airport...
...sounds like when you were leaving Raleigh! Also seems like forever ago!