Wat Xiang Thong Luang Prabang

True to form our journey started off with a hiccup...there was no room on the bus to get to the border town Chiang Kong so we had to stay in Chiang Mai another day. Why change a habit of a fortnight? Fortunately, we managed to book a bus and get across the border the next day. We were in Laos by the afternoon- after lots of questioning from Thai …

We've found our favourite city so far (well, maybe on-par with Singapore but in a completely different way). Luang Prabang is amazing. It used to be a French colony up until the 1950s so the city is full of crumbling French villas. Its also a UNESCO world heritage site which means the villas are not going anywhere. The city is between two rivers, …

I will always remember the journey from Vang Vieng to Luang Prabang. Not least for the stunning scenery through the mountains but also for being dripped on constantly by the air-con unit and the screaming, vomiting child in the seat next to me. 10 hours of pure living of the dream....

On arrival at the bus station it's the standard affair …

We got up at 6 am to head to the boat dock for the 7 am departure. In Buddhist countries mornings are actually particularly busy times since its the time of day when the monks walk the streets and people give alms. Typically a family will give rice or other food to the monks which is the only meal the monks will have for the day. They are not …

The title alludes to what all the locals and travellers say, I wish someone would teach them the word "similar!"

Luang Prabang is beautiful. I wish I came here sooner and missed out Vientiane and Pakse. the whole of the old town is a UNESCO heritage site, and you can see why. It's full of tourists and locals trying to sell to them. There …

... ) dotted about which contain ornate red and golden temples and long boats for the river. The most spectacular monastery is Wat Xiang Thong (Golden City Monastery) and although this is one of the only monasteries in town which has an entrance fee (10,000 ...

... down. There are so many Wats here that we lost count of how many we visited but the most awe inspiring was Wat Xiang Thong the "Golden City Monastery" as it remains virtually unchanged or unrestored as it wasn't destroyed by the "Chinese Marauders". ...

... L can't stop taking photos, amazing temple! Next to "Wat Sop" where we chat with a friendly novice monk then to "Wat Xiang Thong" built in 1560, supposedly the most historic and enchanting temple in Lao, but we don't really rate it!? Watch some girls ...

... in Lao Lao Garden (rank)!! With very sore heads we headed out to do some exploring and went round the temples Wat That and Wat Xiang Thong, very nice and very interesting, the latter Wat being the most historic Buddhist monastery in the entire country. ...

... in the day and receive the food he needs. Following the alms giving, we delivered our Baci ceremony offering to Wat Xiang Thong, a (previously) royal temple in town.  It is currently being refurbished with new gold leaf being added to the ...

... happy to spend the following day wandering the leafy streets and visiting a few of the more important temples. The most impressive was the Wat Xiang Thong at the tip of the peninsula where the Nam Ou and the Mekong meet. This Wat, built in 1560 is very ...

... shoulders.  Had to go back to guesthouse.  Everyone sweating so much in the ridiculous heat.  Finally got to temple (Wat Xiang Thong) and it was actually worth all the effort.  Also cycling around the city we got to see a lot more ...

... scenes created out of mosaics of Japanese glass.  The left-over glass was used to decorate one of the buildings in the Wat Xiang Thong compound that we visited on our first morning.  The photo shows a similar mosaic, but doesn't come close to ...

... back with a new 'lucky lucky' beaded bracelet for me. We also visited Wat Pa Phai and Wat Sean and our favorate Wat Xiang Thong--"the Golden City Monestary" built in 1860. The walls were stenciled with red and gold motifs telling stories. Russel and I ...

... country side. We wanted to see a couple of temples here, there are quite a few... But the first one we stopped at was Wat Xiang Thong. We've seen a few temples now along our journey, but they still seem to impress us each time, and they are often quite ...