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Published: February 6th 2007
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Temple opposite our hotel
It was proximity more than anything else that contributed to our visiting this temple Louang Prabang is an annoying place to visit for a spelling nazi like Sharon, as it seems everyone spells it differently! Luang Prabang, Louang Phabang, Louangphrabang... aargh!
Our bus journey from Vang Vieng to Louang Prabang began in the usual fashion as all the others (we were last to be picked up and hence got crappy seats) and ended in the usual fashion (we arrived two hours later than we were meant to). Timetables and schedules don’t really exist in Laos, and by now when someone says it is a 6-hour journey we automatically assume it will take 7 to 8 hours. We don’t know why people persist in lying, it makes no difference to us how long it takes. We have to get from A to B on the bus regardless of the journey time!
Anyhow, we arrived in Louang Prabang at about 5.30pm on Sharon’s birthday, and decided to find a nice room for the night. Unfortunately, even the nasty rooms in Louang Prabang are expensive ($15 for a small cramped room with a lumpy mattress) and a lot of the nicer accommodation is $60 to $150 (you what?!). Luckily, there had been a cancellation at
Ready for a big night
Although we didn't realise at this stage that the night would be unforgettable for all the wrong reasons! one of the nicer guesthouses and we got a massive room overlooking the Mekong river in a lovely old French Colonial Building with high ceilings, stylish wooden furniture, and a bathroom the size of the rooms we’ve normally been staying in, complete with bathtub!
So it was with great excitement that we had a bath and got ready to go out. We chose to eat at Les 3 Nagas, and chose the 15-course degustation menu and a 7-course Vegetarian menu. This was a definite splurge, but easily justified by the fact that a degustation menu at a fancy restaurant anywhere else in the world would cost twice to 3 times as much (the whole meal came to less than 15 quid).
In retrospect, just the Degustation menu on its own would have been enough for both of us, as by the end we were nearly bursting, and only able to eat a mouthful of the last few dishes, no longer trying to polish each course off. Highlights included sun-dried buffalo (kind of like biltong) and stuffed bamboo shoot, and crispy coconut rice with pork.
Towards the end of the meal Bronson started to get a stomach ache,
Just a few of the dishes that we would attempt to devour
We (well, Sharon in any case) would highly recommend the Lao specialities and by the time we got back to the hotel it became clear that all was not well. We are still not sure if it was the copious amounts of rich and exotic food at dinner, or perhaps some unclean ice at some stage, or (most likely) the salad sandwich that he’d eaten at the truckstop earlier that day. However it came about, the result was that Bronson was not a happy camper.
We checked out at noon to a smaller room in another branch of the same guesthouse and we have never been more thankful to have cable TV as Bronson was so ill he could only move from the bed to the bathroom and back. Some of the TV gems we managed to catch were Critters 4, the Karate Dog, and a really terrible film about a boy who could fly (I later looked it up on imdb.com and learned it was imaginatively called “The Boy Who Could Fly”).
I think the thought of a another day in bed watching awful movies was what prompted Bronson’s recovery, and we spent the next two days walking around Louang Prabang, and found it a charming city with lots
Some of the Lao specialities
Included steams stuffed Lemongrass Stalk, Stuffed Bamboo Shoots, and Spicy Luang Prabang Buffalo Sausages. of character and beautiful temples (although we are getting a bit “templed out” so didn’t make the effort to go see the “must-sees”).
Our last day in Louang Prabang we made the trip out to the Kouang Si Waterfalls which were beautiful and blue and reportedly very cold. (Having swum the Blue Lagoon we didn’t feel the need to go in). Bronson discovered that a long shutter speed made even the most boring cascade of water look amazing (see photos).
There is a night market every night from about 5pm to 9pm, but there are a very limited range of items for sale, so after the first ten metres things start to look very samey. There was a buffet where you could pile a plate high with various noodles and dishes for only 50 cents which we’d recommend.
We definitely didn’t do Louang Prabang justice, as a lot of our time was spent making onward arrangements (and watching crappy movies!) but could definitely understand why tourists flock here. The people were very friendly and the food was the best we’d eating in Laos (but with a price tag to match).
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Grant and Liv
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Luang Prabang Sandwich
Grant must have eaten a similar trucker LP Sandwich in Quito! And yes, thank god for crap cable TV at times like that....lucky the girls´constitutions are stronger than our feeble partners.