The route between these two towns is windy, turny, twisty and turvey. The bus curls up one mountain after another so it takes forever. Not good for anyone with motion sickness, as we experienced in our VIP. A woman in the front spent most of the 7 hours with head out the window.
But it is beautiful. Layers of mountains surround the road, and the scenery is magnificent.
Luang prabang is set along the beautiful Mekong River. As you approach the main road Xiang Thong into this World Heritage town, the architecture becomes a wonderful hybrid of traditional Lao bamboo and wooden houses coupled with French Colonial Architecture. An earthly smell lingers in the air from the thick, lush, green vegetation around the town. Every now and again, above the green of the trees the golden roof of a wat protrudes. The most noticeable is that of the Phousi Wat which sits on top of the Phousi hill in the center of the town.
This town is magical. I immediately felt a strong sense of peace as we arrived.
It took me a while to find budget accommodation as most of the hotels here cater for holidaymakers who have a bit more to splurge. And if I wasn't on a budget, believe me I would have splurged!! The guest houses are grand. Most have lush gardens attached where you can relax and soak up the surroundings.
After walking the town for about an hour with my pack on back I managed to find a room for $8 at the Heritage Guest House. I was not too impressed as the bathroom was a bit grotty but the room was clean. I dropped my bags, and decided to go for a walk. After 7 hours in the VIP with the person sitting next to me LEANING on me the ENTIRE way I needed to WALK!
In the town I bumped into a Swedish girl, Aline, who was looking for a room. It was weird. We got chatting and I immediately felt a connection with her, so I offered to share my room with her! It was such a good decision as we spent the next 5 days together and got on so well.
That evening we had dinner along the Mekong River. I had the traditional Lao Pork Laap - a dish of minced pork (or beef or fish), mint leaves, lemon grass, garlic, onion, chili and other fresh herbs. This is served with large lettuce leaves in which you wrap the Laap to make a roll. It is delicious. Aline had also been in India, so we got to share stories and experiences.
On the second day in LP we started the Lonely Planet walk which guide you through the town and into some of the most beautiful wats. One of the Wats we entered had loads of old Buddha statues piled up, these were really fascinating as a lot of them were really old and unique. It's incredible how calm one feels when you enter a Buddhist temple. I guess when you have a large Buddha in front of you, you cannot help it!
After climbing the Phousi mountain in the midday heat, we abandoned the walk and went back to the town for one of our everyday massages. Wow. Not the best massage I've had (Thailand is the real land of massage), BUT still so good to have 2 hours of mooching! It was fab.
After our massage we had some dinner on the side of the road, and went to Luang Prabang's night spot called the Hive Bar. It is fab. Very Chi Chi. It reminded me of a funky bar somewhere in South Africa, like Melville. We got talking to a group of guys who had taken for the happy hour special. I had my first cocktail in three months! A mojito - it went down a treat. The people we spent that evening with were great. I met a guy from London, Lee who is a freelance designer and exhibits at the Portabello Rd gallery. He had come to Asia for some inspiration. We also met some young Dutch guys Pimm and Martin, who had finished studying and were about to embark on exciting careers - Pimm moving to China, and Martin working at his family business. We didn't only talk about work though, we spoke about our travel experiences and our thoughts on life, priorities, and just how lucky we all are.
These are the wonderful things Aline and I did together for the rest of my time in LP:
We hired bicycles and cycled for about 9KMs in the midday sun UPHILL to a waterfall. When we arrived, exhausted (me almost in tears) we realised it was DRY!!! So we spent the rest of the afternoon at the cafe learning more about each other's lives when not travelling! After a long, leisurely and well deserved lunch we walked up the mountain through the lush vegetation and found a bamboo hut where we slept for a couple of hours. The ride back to town was glorious - all down hill.....we needed that.- We visited the Pak Ou Caves or "Buddha Caves". These are two caves inside an overwhelming lime formation along the river. These caves were used for the worship of the river spirit until Buddhism spread into Laos along the southern route from India.
Gradually over 60 decades, more than 4,000 Buddhas – mostly the standing Buddha of the Luang Prabang style – have been placed inside the Caves. - We watched the Alms ceremony at 6am one morning. This tradition has been going on for many years and it is incredible to watch. Hundreds of monks dressed in their bright orange garments carrying a basket each line up and walk along the side of the road. The monks collect rice from kneeling villagers (and tourists) which they put into their baskets. This is their food for the day.
- Falls kuang si - this was probably the best day in LP - a visit to the magnificent waterfalls. These are tucked away in a wild forest. As you approach the waterfall you pass 3 crystal clear, blue ponds in which you can swim. It is incredible how clear they are. We climbed to the top of the falls, which was fun and spent the rest of the afternoon swimming, and reading.
- On the day it rained we drank hot ginger tea in L'etranger - a gorgeous bookshop/ cafe.
- On most nights we walked through the evening market which sells the most beautiful typical Lao arts and crafts. We were both stunned at how cheap everything is sp managed to load up on some great gifts! The market also leads onto the food market. Wow. This is incredible. Here you can get the most fascinating combinations of food....and the most weird. We tried something new everyday....it was great.
Luang PRabang was definitely a highlight. It's a great place to visit, albeit very touristy. Visiting here felt like a holiday from a holiday!
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