“The crowded ‘local’ bus took us on the long journey to Luang Prabang snaking through the mountains on narrow winding roads with ‘comfort’ stops at a couple of villages on the way where we also got something to eat and drink. “This route has had problems with ‘bandits’ which have re-occurred since our trip. We arrived safely around 5pm and for the only time on the whole trip had difficulty getting accommodation. Luang Prabang is rightly called “the jewel in Laos’s crown” and because of this reputation virtually everyone visiting Laos comes here.
We were shown quite a few rooms but they weren’t particularly appealing and yet were twice the amount we had been paying elsewhere in Laos.
Guest house proprietors have already cottoned on to the fact that there is a great demand for their rooms! It was getting dark as we wandered the streets beginning to think we weren’t going to find anywhere as by this time even the more expensive places were full. Eventually we got the last room of a big hotel in their annexe on the edge of town. A tuk-tuk ride deposited us there.
The next morning we walked back into town and with time on our side we found a lovely guesthouse just outside the main town area. It was spotlessly clean and included breakfast which we ate sitting on the balcony watching the neighbourhood children going off to school and the young monks going about their daily tasks.
Our laundry was washed and pressed and returned to us in pristine condition all for a very reasonable sum. Why bother to do the washing yourself when you can put something back into the local economy and have a good job done at the same time.
Our intended 3 nights stretched to 6 as we really enjoyed being there. We are not exactly sure what makes it so nice but it is surrounded by two rivers, has several temples worthy of a visit, the Royal Palace, the night street market and a lovely atmosphere.
Cycles were hired and we pottered around the city and the outskirts. We walked and strolled around stopping frequently to linger over some of the superb pineapple fruit shakes on offer.
One day we went out on a guided day trek. There were only 6 of us in the group and our 2 guides. At one of the Khmu hilltribe villages we visited we were able to visit the local school to hand over pens and exercise books that we had bought locally for the children.
Many of the villagers have been encouraged by the government to relocate to lower altitudes and given incentives to grow alternative crops to poppies. Our trek continued through the jungle to a series of waterfalls where we ate our lunch prepared by our guides and relaxed before returning to Luang Prabang by mini bus. Another day we had massages, a nice way of relaxing.
We stumbled upon an excellent restaurant called ‘The Blue Lagoon’ which had a continental atmosphere as well as serving a variety of both local and international dishes. As we found in most places, the food in the street market was also very tasty. Eventually it was time to move on.
The next stage of our journey was to be a two day boat trip north up the Mekong River to Huay Xai and then over the border back into northern Thailand.
