Luang Prabang has been part of the tourist trail for a good many years now and is considered the heart of Laotian culture. It was designated a UNESCO World heritage site in 1995 and its charm is evident in the crumbling French architecture, its many temples and natural beauty. Hence, being the premier destination in Lao, tourists can pay more for the pleasure of eating drinking and sleeping here than in the capital city, Vientiane… but there are still bargains to be had…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our arrival in Luang Prabang was marred somewhat with the negotiations for a tuk tuk to our guesthouse but eventually we set off in another tuk tuk and arrived at Thongbay Guesthouse – a small family run guesthouse made up of nine Lao style bungalows overlooking the Nam Khan River a little way out of Luang Prabang. Our family bungalow was very quiet and peaceful and had a lovely balcony where we would eat our breakfast and watch the families on the opposite bank hoeing and planting out their gardens. From time to time a boat would go past on the river, stopping to check their fishing nets and crab pots.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We enjoyed five lovely nights here, a couple of afternoons using the hotel bikes to ride into town and also utilising the free shuttle bus into town.  The hotel had a great little menu and over the five days we enjoyed cooked a breakfast daily plus a further four dinners and few lunches and five night’s accommodation with it all coming to only $288 – wow –  we were pleasantly surprised as the nightly rate was $40 per night, more than we had been paying recently. The only downfall was our room wasn’t air-conditioned and without the rain to cool things down it was rather hot and muggy.

One morning we took a trip by private minivan through the scenic countryside about 30km out of Luang Prabang – taking about 50 minutes to the Kuang Si waterfall – the biggest waterfall in the area.  The Nam Xi river flows from its source for about 5km before falling 80 metres over the Kuang Si escarpment and flowing into several tiers of pools and waterfalls – it was a spectacular sight.  The force of the water was surprising as was the colour – at last water that wasn’t brown but very clear and quite a pretty turquoise in colour. The Nam Xi then flows through a few villages and a further 4km before draining into the Mekong.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There are a few safe areas for swimming and the water was ice cold given the altitude and shade of the surrounding jungle. We all braved the water, some longer than others, and had a quick bite to eat by one of the pools.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On the way back  we stopped briefly at the Tat Kuang Si Rescue centre where 23 Asiatic black bears have been saved from illegal poaching or trading and from a lifetime of torture from ‘bile’ farming.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After our five nights at Thongbay Guesthouse we then moved to the Phousi Guesthouse in the centre of Luang Prabang for a further four nights just to be closer to things and to be able to easily retreat back to an air-conditioned room during the day. We hired bikes for the duration of our stay in town and although the town itself is quite compact it made it easier getting around in the heat.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We fequented the library in the main street – used as an impromptu drop-in place where locals including Monks could improve their English when foreigners stopped by.  On our first visit, a Korean student, studying in Luang Prabang, approached David and we ended up staying well over an hour while they conversed.  It gave the girls and I plenty of time to go through the shelves and we found a few familiar books – a couple of Geronimo Stilton, some Pokemon  books and also great picture story books. The girls were stoked when I enquired if we could borrow them and return them after a few days.  Phoebe and Immi have been reading quite a few ebooks via the kindle and their ipods but nothing beats turning real pages – especially in children’s books. It is one area I am quite conscious of as they have always been surrounded by books – we have a bookshelf full of kid’s books and go to the library at home often getting easily 20 books out at a time. Hopefully their reading and comprehension doesn’t suffer as a consequence.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Luang Prabang is the former Royal capital and remains the main centre for Buddhist learning in Laos and the number of Monks walking the streets throughout the day, umbrellas in hand, is amazing and really adds to the atmosphere.  The daily Alms Giving Ceremony is one of the most sacred traditions and takes place as the sun rises – around 5.30am.  This was another reason to move into the town –  to get up early one morning to be able to watch some of the 200 Buddhist Monks depart from their various temples to gather their daily meal, a traditions that dates back to the 14^th century.

 

 

It was very peaceful and quite spiritual to watch and certainly does not feel ‘put on’ and one a tradition that the locals still support today by waking early to prepare and wait quietly by the roadside to give their gifts.  We followed this with a walk up the 350 odd steps of Mt Phousi the namesake of our guesthouse that rises 150 metres above the centre of town and is often shrouded in early morning mist. The 360 degree views from the Wat at the top made the effort worth it. That afternoon we all had a sleep – we were not used to being up so early!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As it is not normal to find guesthouses with pools in Lao (only usual at 4 star hotels or up – way beyond our budget) we try to placate the girls with some playtime at a pool wherever possible.  We had read of a ‘public’ swimming pool in Luang Prabang and set about riding to it  2km’s from town and off down a dirt road.  The pool was way more ‘backpacker’ than public, where a 20,000 kip entry per person ($2.50) gave you access to a pool not that much bigger than a regular backyard pool that also had a slide that the girls made good use of. It was a good spot to spend a few hours before riding back to the guesthouse.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A couple of nights we had dinner at the markets at their ‘10,000 kip( $1.25)’ a plate buffets which helped keep the budget in check,  it was pretty yummy food too – not sure exactly what all the dishes were but being vegetarian (meat options were extra) we thought we were pretty safe! The girls fortunately had no hesitation trying everything too – with Immi especially enjoying the noodle ‘birds nests’.  She would then request her favourite sweet – coconut balls made of coconut, sugar and sticky rice powder. Our meals at restaurants have been hovering around the $15 mark, making the market meals especially palatable.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The main streets and wide footpaths (for Asia)  would transform into the night market from 5pm – 11pm everynight.  It has been a rule from the start that the girls must carry all their own belongings including anything they buy (courtesy of birthday money), effectively restricting any ‘can I have…?’ requests.   On the last night, after much consideration, the girls each picked a pair of ‘happy pants’,  their first clothes purchase of the trip.  They have hardly taken them off!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ten days after arriving in enchanting Luang Prabang we were on the move again – to be our longest day by bus yet heading south to Vang Vieng the most dangerous destination for backpackers …