Luang Prabang
This is what wikitravel says about Luang Prabang:
"Set at the confluence of two rivers that almost surround the town, and beneath a temple-topped hill, Luang Prabang is a wonderful patchwork of traditional Lao wooden houses and hints of European architecture - reminders of when Laos was part of the French colony of Indochine. Golden-roofed wats (temples), decorated with mosaics and murals of the life of Buddha, sit under the gaze of wrap-around teak balconies and 19th century shuttered windows. All of this is set against a backdrop of verdant greenery and rugged mountains."
After spending 5 days here we agree, although in a lot of places “hints of European architecture” are a lot more than just hints. But first about our ride there...
We started from Huay Xai, and this time we chose a new mode of transportation, the slow boat. Once again it has proven very hard to find straight answers to our questions about the boat, the ride etc. But we’ve done the buses, and decided that we’d try something new. Additionally, everyone who was with us at the Gibbon Experience was taking the slow boat as well.
So at 9:30am we were ready to go. Tuk-tuk picked us up from the guesthouse, and took us to the pier.
2.5 hours later the boat finally moved. Most of the people who got there around 9-9:30am got decent seats in the front. Those who got on last got stuck in the back next to a very, very noisy engine. They had no other choice but finish off the boat’s supply of Laos Beer, and to become noisier than the engine. Some people told us that the boat would have food, so we did not bring much of anything. That was a mistake, because the boat only had beer and snacks. And snacks here are all Lays potato chips. They are everywhere. At first I thought it’s because tourists love them, but locals seem to indulge as well. My prediction is that obesity will come to Asia soon. Luckily we had a couple of yogurts and a loaf of bread. Nevertheless the scenery was beautiful, and we enjoyed it tremendously, much more than we would from a bus window.
The ride lasted for 6-7 hours, at which point we arrived to Pak Beng, a town where we’d spend the night. We were immediately approached by a bunch of people offering guesthouses. Rob and Gilly (the British couple from our tree) knew a couple of guesthouse names that came recommended, so we negotiated a decent rate for the night, and went out for dinner. Rob and I got a taste of home-made whiskey. I was not impressed.
The next day was more fun because it started raining.
About an hour into the ride Rob and I built a gutter to channel the water leaking from the roof away from our seat. (Julie: Both Levka and Rob were extremely proud of their engineering skills, while the rest of the boat was entertained watching the process of construction) I must admit it was not a very good gutter, so it was a good thing that it stopped raining shortly.
We also got some sandwiches to go. That’s one thing Laos knows how to do, must’ve gotten it from the French.
Here are some more pix from the boat:
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| 2011.11.08 Slow boat |
By 5pm we were in Luang Prabang, and started walking searching for cheap and good accommodations. We were only able to find cheap and good-enough for the night. We figured the next morning we’d find something better, and so we did. The rest of the time we spent in Nam Sok 3 guesthouse, where our room cost 60K kip, or $7.5 per night.
The town has a lot of temples, and we went to see a few. It also has a museum housed in the old king’s residence. By now we are not impressed by temples, and the king was not living large, so we needed something else to keep us interested. Luckily the town also has a great night market. The market takes up (and closes) the whole street with 4 rows of vendors selling (unfortunately) very similar things. The most impressive though is a food section. Đ¢here you can have such delicacies as barbequed fish on a stick, chicken on a stick, pork on a stick … well, you get the idea. There are also buffets full of dishes to accompany the “main” course. We ate there a few times, dinner with beer running around $7 for the both of us. When we first inquired what fish it was, the answer we got was “it’s from Mekong, and it’s fresh”. Indeed it was. And it was yummy, as was the chicken.
And while we are on the subject of food: the restaurants here, which are plentiful, are quite expensive compared to the night market fish, and the price of our room. Breakfast would usually cost us about $8-10, and dinner would run up to $12-15 (for the both of us, but Julie barely counts.)
In Luang Prabang we caught up with Yasha and Yulia, the Russians we met in Pai.
They’d spent a few days in town already by the time we arrived, and they did not take a boat to get here. So when we decided to visit a cave full of Buddhas, they asked if we can take a boat there instead of a tuk-tuk. On the way to the cave we saw a floating gas station that ran out of gas, and a beautiful sunset. The cave with Buddhas was also impressive.
Check out the rest of the pictures in the album:
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| 2011.11.10 Luang Prabang |
Before we got to town the Russians had already visited another very prominent local attraction, Kung Si waterfall. So we went there with the Brits. I must admit, I did not expect much, and was very pleasantly surprised. This is easily the most beautiful waterfall to date in Asia.
We hiked to the top of it, as well as visited the bear sanctuary on the way. We agreed with the tuk-tuk driver and the other passengers that we’d be back in 3 hours; and 3 hours later we were just getting done with walking around, and I wanted to go swimming. That’s when we saw the swimming area complete with the Tarzan jump, and we figured we can be 15-20 min late. Rob and I jumped in, and the girls took pictures.
The rest of the waterfall photos are here:
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| 2011.11.13 Kouang Si waterfall |
The rest of the time in Luang Prabang we spent eating, walking around, sleeping a lot and catching up on our blogs. We are now fully caught up on our posts!
We are leaving to Phonsavan tomorrow morning, and we got our Vietnam visas, so on Thursday we will leave for Hanoi.


