Luang Prabang

Local market

So Luang Prabang was our first stop in Laos and what a lovely place to stay for a few days. We ended up staying at the guest house that lured us in on the night the boat arrived with promises of a cheap room and free coffee, bananas and wifi (we’re easily pleased) and by this time we also had Ivan (from Argentina) in tow who we’re met on the boat.

First stop was the night market (same, same but slightly different from Thailand and a bit cheaper) where we also found the famous vegetarian street buffet. Here you can fill a bowl with food, have it re-heated in the wok in front of you, add a fresh spring roll if you wish, and then eat it at the side of the market at a low table – all for the princely sum of 80p!

Becky on a bike

The next day we hired some old but functioning bicycles (again for 80p per day) and headed off to the local market (Phousi Market) for a nosey around. This local market (we were the only tourists there that day) sells all sorts of things from food to clothes, shoes and mobile phones. We bought a giant, fresh coconut each which the lady tipped into a plastic bag each (with a straw) and added some fresh coconut flesh to each one – supper yummy but super filling because the coconuts were the biggest I’d ever seen. Between us we also bought some textiles, cooking utensils, some natural cotton thread and some stationery.

We also cycled to Wat Xieng Thong temple, which is one of the most important in Laos. When we visited many monks were working to replace the gold leaf that decorates the exterior of the main temple.

Monk applying gold leaf to the temple

After a coffee and cake stop (the coffee in Loas in amazing) we headed up to Wat Chom Si, which is another important temple that sits upon a hill (Phou Si) in the centre of town so you get an amazing view from the top, especially as the sun starts to set. We also saw something that was supposed to be Buddha’s footprint (it was a big gold blob), more golden Buddha’s and a creepy temple inside a small cave.

Throughout our stay we had lots of yummy local food (mainly noodle soup), lots of Laos iced coffee, lots of fresh fruit shakes (with varying amounts of sugar), I had a peanut butter and nutella shake one night and we also consumed our fair share of the famous Beer Lao (the national beer, which is good and cheap).

On top of the world in Luang Prabang

We also checked out the typical travellers bar called Utopia (which has a lovely riverside setting and chilled atmosphere) and also ended up going to the famous bowling alley, which is the only place to go if you want to drink after 11pm. Basically, everyone piles into overcrowded tuk tuks outside Utopia and then you are driven to an american style bowling alley a few kilometres out of town. This place is completely surreal because it’s only full of travellers and it looks like any bowling alley in the world. Of course the main attraction is that bowling is cheap and you can buy drinks until late. As it was nearly Beck’s birthday (and going bowling on her birthday is a bit of a tradition) it seemed only fair that Becky beat all of us at bowling, including a cocky American guy who was trying to give Maria bowling tips. Go Becky! Getting back from bowling was easy because the tuk tuk drivers wait outside for you and we shared one back with a bunch of British teenagers (the least fun part of the evening).

Supposedly Buddha's footprint...

Scary temple in a cave

Our other main trip was to the beautiful Kuang Si waterfalls about 30km out of town. We hired a tuk tuk to take us there and back and the journey took us through some amazing landscape and winding roads. The waterfalls were in a beautiful forest setting where you could swim in several pools. Someone had even set up a rope swing that I think Becky might regret not jumping from for the rest of her life!

Also in the grounds of the forest was a small bear sanctuary where they cared for bears that had been rescued from people who kept them as pets of mistreated them. As it was the middle of the day, the bears were quite sleepy and mainly lounging around.

Anoushca jumping into the waterfall pool

After a lovely few days in Luang Prabang we booked what we thought was an A/C bus to Vang Vieng that turned out to be the local bus… more about that in the next post. As the bus left early, we were up early enough to see the monks walking the streets to collect their alms from the locals. This was a real treat because we saw the monks away from the touristy part of town (it’s a tourist attraction to get up early to see the monks each morning).