Laos - Luang Prabang

Laos (the "S" is silent like Illinois) is the only landlocked contry in SE Asia. Our first stop was Luang Prabang. Another UNESCO World Heritage Site! Talk about being pleasantly surprised! We had read it was one of the coolest small towns in SE Asia and after being here five minutes, had to agree. First, it's one of the cleanest, most walkable towns we have been to in over three months! And I mean, you can actually walk down sidewalks. There are nice small shops, French cafes, hotels and hostels. We weren't constantly bombarded with, "Sir-madame".

How did we get here? We flew Lao Airlines from Hanoi to Luang Prabang. It was a turbo prop plane and the flight was about one hour. We had arranged for a transfer with our hotel and were greeted with a, "Robert Crow" sign when we stepped out of the airport. 

Where did we stay? Sunrise Garden House. King size bed. Separate living room and TWO full bathrooms! Plus a huge balcony overlooking the pool. The breakfast buffet was 'ok' but it's so nice to be in warm weather again and enjoying a pool!

Bathroom #1

Shower #2

What did we do? Pre-day 1 we got a SIM card at the airport. 40GB for 30 days for $8.

Day 1 - 4 February: Hit an ATM and get some Kip. 2.5M! = about $148 USD. Next a mini mart for 'essentials': beer, water, etc. A haircut. I really needed a haircut! We walked into Master Cut and I was greeted with the international 'finger hand signal' for haircut. I nod yes and was escorted to a chair in front of a shampoo sink. Sweet! OMG!! Ten plus minutes of a head and neck massage and I think there was a shampoo in there. Wow! Then I got seated for a haircut and a young gentleman who spoke pretty good English took it from there. Cost: 89,000. A lttle over $5!!!

We spent the rest of the day checking out the town, lounging by the pool and getting lunch at Break for a Bread and dinner at the night market. One of the food vendors was making something with a mortar and pestel with all kinds of fresh ingredients around. How could you not go wrong with that!?! Me: "One please". "Spicy?" Me: "Yes" (thinking ok... we're not in Thailand). I think it was papaya salad. It was good but it was 💥🔥.

Iced Chocolate 

Rosella

BBQ Chicken Bread

Chicken Satay 

Papaya Salad 🥗 

Day 2: Another chill day. Checked out the town, lounged by the pool and took a sunset cruise on the Mekong River with Sa Sa Sunset Cruise. For $10/person and a Lao mojito included, you couldn't beat it! We were given banana leaves to write our wishes and burdens then tied them up with string. The wishes were released into the river with fish and the burdens were released at the opposite end of the boat. 

Day Market

Maiphong Bamboo Bridge
Built in November every year and removed in June (prior to the river rising)
Bamboo can be reused for 3 years

Our wishes and our burdens

Feeding the fish our wishes

Wishes and fishes being released into
 the Mekong

Our Burdens

Burdens dropped and sunk

Day 3: Rented a motorcycle from Anousay Motorbike Rental. They had good reviews. They keep your passport as collateral which is something I did NOT like but it worked out. We had a Honda 125cc. Wayyyyy too small for us but I had a blast shifting one down-four up through the countryside. We drove to Kuang Si Waterfall which was so beautiful! We hiked up to the top of the fall and down the other side. We ended the evening at the night market for dinner and beers.

Electric Golf Cart from parking lot to the park

Walkway to Waterfall

Top of waterfall

Sharon being silly

Lunch - Chicken Feet

We explored the Butterfly Park

The beginnings of a Common Striped Crow Butterfly

A little motorbike video!

Green Curry

Kimbap

Day 4: Yup... another chill day. Why is getting money from an ATM such a challenge sometimes!?! It isn't just here. It's been everywhere! I tried five ATMs and finally got money out of the sixth. Rant over. Pool, night market.   

Kip

Iced Mocha from Joli's

Joli's - Hawaiian Pizza 

Sunset at the night market

Chicken Noodle Soup

TomYum

Day 5: We tried getting train tickets to our next destination, Vang Vieng. China recently built the Laos-China Railway connecting China to Luang Prabang, Vang Vieng and Vientiane. It's fast and ultra-modern. Well... the train is. The ticket purchasing is circa I-don't-know. Unbeknownst to us, tickets for good seats sell out quickly. You can't buy online. They recently opened a ticket office in town vs a 30 ride to the railway station. That line was out the door and moved at the speed of molasses. We started the ticket buying process through our hotel days ago and somewhere along the line the ball got dropped. We wanted business or first class on the noon train and ended up with 6pm/2nd class seats. Ugh. Not so concerned about the seats but the time... It was just easier to pay the up-charge for someone to travel to the railway station, stand in line and purchase tickets for us.

On to the fun part of the day... Rented a motorbike. This was a Honda Xoomer! 110cc and automatic so not as much fun for me but a lot more comfy for the two of us.  We rode to Nahm Dong Park. The place was so empy we thought it was closed. No tourists! We bought the tree top/zip lining package. Not sure what I was thinking!?! We got harnessed and helmeted up and started our tree top walk -- over four terrifying bridges and a 'bunny hill' practice zip line. Next we walked several cable bridges (again... terrifying) to the first zip line launch pad. Wow! Click click snap snap hold here, sit down, ok go. Wait what!?! When was this last inspecteddddddddddd!?! I'm flying. So high above tree tops and the valley below. So cool and way fun! We went down several (7 I think) zip lines and some were really long!

Fuel stop!

Our welcome drink before terrifying us

We had a 15 minute walk back to 'base camp' then relaxed and did a little more hiking around the park.

After returning the bike, showering and napping (me), we decided on a nice restaraunt for dinner Bouang Asian Eatery vs the night market. It was good! We made a quick stop at the night market for dessert.

Bouang Mule
Vodka, lime, fresh mango 🥭, coconut milk, & brown sugar

Asian Tacos - Chicken with lime mayo sauce🌮 
Homemade wheat tortillas slightly aromatic
with turmeric 

Gnocchi Green Curry 
with Parmesan & Cashew nuts

Black and White Cake
The piece missing was very yummy 😋!

Day 6: We set an alarm for o'dark thirty or 0500 to be exact for Sai Bat which involves people placing food and personal care items into the alms bowls of passing monks. It is supposed to be a silent and sacred ceremony. Sadly, vans full of Chinese toursists arrived and crowded around the monks, snapping flash photos, making it seem more like trick-or-treating.  Afterwards we climbed up Phousi Mountain with over 300 steps to watch the sunrise 🌅.  That was our spiriual event. Next, we walked through the morning market. Then it was time for our first Lao massage 💆‍♂️ 💆‍♀️. Afterward, we stopped for a snack at Bouang Asian Eatery before heading back for nap time.  Followed by another night market dinner.

Waiting for the tourists to show up

Sunrise

Morning market

Lao Massage

Ginger & Lime Iced Tea 

Iced Mocha

Jeo Platter

2 Traditional Dips
Grilled Tomatoes & Smoked Eggplant
Served with Sticky Rice

Night Market when we arrived

Night Market when we left

Me strolling in with my Spicy Papaya Salad

River Weed 🤮 

Spicy Papaya Salad

Dim Sum

Ramen Noodle Soup with Luang Prabang Keo-soy Sauce

Random pictures:

Flavored sodas

Summary: First, how can you not like a town with the name Luang Prabang?!? We both agreed we could easily spend a month or more here. Overall, visiting Luang Prabang was a great way to immerse ourselves into Laotian culture and experience the serene beauty of this special place.

"Traveling leaves you speechless, then turns you into a storyteller."