Luang Prabang was just what our sea legs needed. Once a french colony, there remains subtle detail throughout in the forms of architecture and food. In a few words, this place is a sleepy, postcard town. The joining of the Mekong and Nam Khan rivers creates a peninsula to one end of the town and we found a great well-kept old french colonial mansion (turned hotel) on the Nam Khan. The hotel has beautiful wood and marble floors and lovely antiques throughout. A walk down the main or bricked side streets reveals some neat buildings with stone detailed (french) balconies and shutters. Most buildings are in need of paint and maintenance, but the contrast of Lao people selling from street carts their sticky rice desserts in banana leaves against this backdrop is quite unique.
I forgot to mention that in Beijing and Hong Kong there were KFCs on every corner, in Thailand 7-11 is taking over and the occasional McDonald's is often seen in each of those places. Fortunately, in Laos there is not a Big Mac or Big Gulp in sight. After three weeks of rice dishes we enjoyed for a change of pace eating baguettes, crepes, coffee and pizza at the great Luang Prabang bakeries.
We did our part and went to the Red Cross for a massage (proceeds benefit rural village peoples in Laos.) Some of you will remember a few years ago while in Ecuador a former travel companion of mine had an unfortunate "Ecuadorian massage." Let's say the Lao massage was distinctly disturbing. The conditions were spartan as expected: thin cushion on a hard floor with fluorescent lighting. Unfortunately every ant and mosquitoe had full access to me for that hour and the little Lao man, while digging his thumbs in my back (and eliciting whinces from me) was whispering in my ear in a Lao accent "I wan to plactice English wit you...ah you maddied (married)?" If you ever go to Luang Prabang I would not recommend the Red Cross massage. (Although, apparently Paul had quite a relaxing experience.)
We enjoyed a leisurely few days strolling thru the town which included visiting a waterfall, watching sunset from the wat at the peak in the center of town, going to the night market, eating baked goods and bumping into friends from the boat, Jerome and Alexandra, from Quebec City. Our only complaint is the town pretty much shuts down at 11pm.
We enjoyed a very scenic, mountainous 6 hour bus ride to our next destination, Viang Vieng. We stayed by the Nam Som river in a bungalow which was in a manicured garden. This bungalow is owned by friendly Lao couple who spoke perfect English (she used to work for Unicef.) This is a more rural town with two main dirt roads that are crammed with guesthouses, restaurants and tour companies. At the intersection of the two main roads you could stand and watch four different episodes of friends playing in different restaurants (apparently this is their idea of how travelers like to pass the time-- however I must admit we did get sucked in a couple of times!) Although touristy, Viang Vieng is a jumping off point for outdoor sports/activities. We opted for a day cave, hike and kayak tour. The caves were a little disappointing but the muddy hike in rain through rice paddies was interesting and the kayak with our fellow Brit and Irish travelers was fun. (We capped it off with a "late" night out with our new friends--- 1 a.m. the latest we have managed to stay up while on the trip thus far. Sad but true, leisure is hard work! ;) Interestingly, we have encountered very few Americans while traveling.
Last stop Vientiane, the capital city of Laos. It seems a sad, depressed town with crumbling buildings and roads in disrepair. Many of the restaurants and guesthouses listed in Paul's few year old Lonely Planet guide are closed or gone. We've decided this is our biggest disappointment thus far. Wouldn't you know our attempt to fly to Hanoi, Vietnam after one day here proved fruitless. Then again, it gave us the chance to discover some great local food by the river and down time for Paul to continue his doctoral study of Vientiane restrooms (I think his consumption of local meats is catching up with him!!) |
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