Luang Prabang

My hostel in Luang Prabang

1.07.10 - woke up early to find my shoes at the bottom of the hotel stairs missing (you take your shoes off before going inside just about everywhere) so I am now without my black reefs, that's now 4 things lost or left behind! But don't worry, I've made up for it in things I've bought :) early flight after late night = nap as soon as I arrived to my guesthouse. Shower is freezing cold but I guess that's what you get on a budget. Walked around and took in the sights of the pretty town. I can see why it was deemed world heritage status. Small town with mopeds, tuktuks, and bikes buzzing around. Every corner with cute cafes, massage places, food stands, and stands selling local goods. Open air day market and bustling huge night market everynight. Monks walking around everywhere and temples tucked away seemingly on everyblock. On a peninsula between the Mekkong River and Nam Khan River - main part of town really only about 0.1 miles by 0.4 miles so very walkable. had some fried veggie noodles on a quiet patio outside with palm trees and twinkly lights everywhere before calling it a night.


More Mekkong River



Wat Xieng Thong


Inside one of the temples at wat xieng thong


Ho Kham - Royal Museum


more night market action


in front of the big falls



jumping off the smaller falls into pools



swimming in pools of Kuang Si waterfall

1.08.10 - Lao coffee and nutella-banana crepe for breakfast ($2) - great start to the day! took a slow boat down the Mekkong River to a small village along the way, Ban Xang Hai also called "whiskey village" because they produce a lot of the lao rice whiskey (Lao-Lao) which is actually pretty good, then finally made our eay to the Pak Ou Caves which essentially are two big caves in limestone cliffs which were discovered a while ago to have been a place of worship to people in Lao in thr 1600s. Nothing incredibly impressive but (much like all of the other temples I've visited so far) filled and filled with buddha statues in all shapes and sizes. Then hour long boat ride back to town and then hopped on a tuk-tuk to take me to the Kuang Si waterfalls. There was a bear rescue center along the way (very random but the bears were cute) and then further into the forest were the lower portions of the waterfall - with smaller falls and areas you could swim in. The water was a very pretty light blue color and was fun jumping from higher spot down into the cool water below. Followed the multi-tiered cascading waterfalls into light blue pools below. Finally made it to the top and the main part of the waterfall was huge and really pretty. The trip was topped off with a 50 cent fried banana and $1 fresh pineapple smoothie. After another freezing cold shower I Visited the night market again and enjoyed a traditional Lao dinner with happy hour drinks and free wifi. Tried some of the other bars which were pretty cool and where I met more backpackers but I headed back in for an early night.


temple in Ban Xang Hai


Some of the Buddhas inside the caves



Pak Ou Caves



riding along the Mekkong River

1.09.10 - walked around town enjoyed huge breakfast and Lao coffee for 4$ with free wifi on my iPhone. Visited temples and sights of Luang Prabang - including the royal palace museum/ho kham (where king sisavangvong and the riyal family used to reside) and wat xieng thong. Walked around town one last time before heading to the airport in a tuk-tuk.

night market

Attempted to check in for my flight to Vietnam, only to find out I was misinformed about the whole Vietnam visa situation. I spoke with two different people and saw on a few sights that for all of the countries I am visiting in Asia (including Vietnam) I could get a visa in arrival (as I did for Laos and Thailad). Apparently this isn't the case for Vietnam so they tell me I have to go back into town to get one, and my flights leaving in 2.5 hours and the office could be closed anyways because it's Saturday. I explain the situation to them an after asking three times "are u sure I can't get one here?" the woman finally responds "ok" (not exactly sure why she was holding out on me but just happy this may work out, currently waiting right now to see if it works!)