Slow Ride, Take It Easy

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  Luang Prabang, Lao Peoples Dem Rep
Friday, March 3, 2006

M: Surprise! We're in Laos. This was never part of the original itinerary. In fact, whenever people said that we could NOT miss Laos, we snickered and said, "Yeah, that's what we've heard." But still never planned on going. At some point, one of our well-traveled in SE Asia friends said that the three must-do's were Luang Prabang, Angkor Wat and floating along the Mekong. So, we decided that we would just go for it. We're here and all.

Our trusty "travel agent" in Chiang Mai, Ahn, helped us decide to do this whole package bus-boat-border crossing deal. With that, we hopped onto a bus that was supposed to be air conditioned, but wasn't entirely (this is a bit of a theme, we're noting). It was insane. The driving was insane. The speed was insane. The people were a bit insane also. At one of the rest stops, this guy said to Jessie, "Hey, weren't you in the market last night?" This was the beginning of a new group of friends for us. (J: Those Canadians are just everywhere.)

That first night ended on the border of Thailand. We met three lovely Canadian women who were also traveling to Luang Prabang via slow boat and staying at the same place as us. In the morning, we walked under the "Welcome to Indo-China" sign, ferried across the Mekong to Laos (here's your passport, stamped, ready to go, boom, you're in Laos, now get into this taxi to take you to the slow boat), and boarded a very long, wooden boat. Two hours later, the boat was completely full, including the three women we met the night before, the guy from the market and 5 guys he was hanging out with, some Kiwis we ended up talking to and more Canadians (South Park was on to something - they really are taking over the world).

Along the Mekong

For some reason, everyone had a different idea of what the slow boat's time frame was going to be like. At first it was extremely pleasant to be slowly cruising down the Mekong. Water buffalo on one side, little kids playing on the opposite beach. The rock formations, little houses and greenery along the banks were really beautiful. But at hour 6, we were antsy to get off the boat. As dusk fell, we stopped for the night. (J: We may have been some of only people who hadn't just resorted to drinking to pass the time, but for us that was a good thing.)

The little town we stopped in was clearly being kept afloat by the slow boats bringing people between Thailand and Luang Prabang. Restaurants and guesthouses with the electricity only sporadically working until about 10 and then not much at all. We had a good time getting to know the five British guys, one Canadian guy and three Canadian women.

The next morning, it was an early start on the boat (luckily, our new friends saved us the "cool" seats - the ones with the most leg room). For some reason, I thought it was going to be 4 hours. (J: And I had for some reason missed that we were on the boat for two days altogether.) This was really wrong. It was closer to 8 hours. The beautiful scenery was still wonderful and being on the water was still refreshing, but it was getting pretty long. The boat is wood and after so much time on wood, your tailbone starts to hurt a bit. Finally, there were a couple of little Laotian kids in tubes gliding down the river and around the next corner was Luang Prabang.

Another Sister Photo

(J: Having new friends to talk to helped to pass the time, although everyone was pretty wiped the second day.)

Getting out of the boat and up to the city, the view was spectacular. The sun was beginning to set and it was an incredible shade of orange, brilliant over the water. We found a wonderful little guest house run by this adorable family (J: no, really, so cute...grandparents and a little bitty who we just wanted to take right home with us) and then set out with the Canadian women to find some place to eat. Dinner the first night was a lengthy affair where everyone was exhausted and hungry and ate too much, but we had spring rolls and two kinds of fish (one in a tomato sauce and one in a curry), sticky rice and steamed rice. It was delicious. We decided to have an early night because being on the water all day was surprisingly tiring.

We got up the next morning, thrilled to be on solid ground and determined to explore Luang Prabang. We headed down the main street (that is what it's called) toward the Royal Palace, stopping on the way to get some beignets and corn fritters. The corn fritters were amazing! We watched as these two women made them right there on the corner of the street and they were hot and crispy and delicious when we got them. YUM!!! The beignets were not as good, but there was another sesame-covered creation that was also delicious. Gotta love those breakfasts. Then we went to the Royal Palace. As a museum it was absolutely fine, but what was particularly cool about it was that there was a room where the walls were glass mosaics.

Arrival in Luang Prabang

I'm not describing this well and we weren't allowed to take pictures, but basically, scenes had been put together out of pieces of colored glass. We couldn't believe how cool and beautiful it was. Especially the elephants. I don't know what has happened to us, but we're now sort of obsessed with elephants. Especially when they are made out of many small pieces of glass. (J: It's true, we do have a slight elephant infatuation.)

Before it got too hot, we climbed up to see a temple at the top of a hill overlooking the two rivers that border Luang Prabang. The view was pretty impressive and definitely the highlight of the climb up. That afternoon, we ran into two people we had been in Fiji with. That was pretty crazy, but we chatted and realized that we are all going to be in Vietnam at the same time, so we might meet up then. The thing about traveling is that there aren't so many people doing it and there aren't so many things that travelers do, so you're bound to run into each other again, right? You just have to hope you run into the people you like.

That night, we went to see the "ballet." (J: And the friends from Fiji just so happened to be sitting right next to us.) Really, it was traditional Laotian dance with live music and singing. It was really cool - the costumes were incredible, the dancing was beautiful and the music was wonderful. (J: I wouldn't have described the dancing as beautiful, but I did think the costumes were really cool and that the dance was really interesting to watch.) It was great.

Biggest Waterfall

I'm so lucky that Jessie is willing to indulge these obsessions of mine. Good traveling companion! After the ballet, we met up with our boat friends and hung out for the evening in this very funky, very Western bar. One thing that has been hard to get used to about traveling is the fact that the people you can most communicate with are the other travelers. Sometimes that is absolutely wonderful and sometimes it is a little strange. To be in a country with a completely different culture, but not to be fully immersed in it is both a blessing and something hard to contend with. But this is a whole other thing.

The next day, we went to the Kuang Si waterfall. I was thinking, ok, we've been to about a million waterfalls already, but sure, I do enjoy a good waterfall. The ride out (about 30 km) was bumpy and dusty. Bits of rural Laos rushed by - schools, water buffalo, terraced farming areas (J: Missy, I can't believe you left out all the cute small friends we saw). Because it was a relatively cool, gray day, the area around the waterfall wasn't too terribly hectic and we enjoyed some relatively secluded viewings of the incredible, multi-layered falls. The color of the water was absolutely breath-taking, especially for a waterfall. It was the same fake blue as the ocean in those pictures of paradise. We climbed (well, scrambled) up to the top of the highest waterfall and spent a bit of time trying to figure out how to cross over (we were looking for a bridge, but, as it turns out, removing shoes and walking was the way to go).

Character-Filled Side Street, Luang Prabang

And then we went swimming in the absolutely freezing cold water. But it was a blast and the small fall we were at created a very cool current, so we had a good time. Plus, we watched the caged Asiatic bears wrestling and saw the caged tiger hanging out, so it was a well-rounded day.

That night, we went to the night market. We LOVE markets. They're such an overwhelming, beautiful, cool way to see the crafts of the region. There's falling in love with a variety of items and then haggling (tricky without the language skills) to an agreed upon price. The market in Luang Prabang was particularly amazing. Every night, the main street would shut down and vendors would spread out there wares on mats creating two lanes. It is an amazing market culture where people are talking to each other the whole time and the little kids are napping or running around. Plus, there are all kinds of delicious foods - grilled sticky rice on a stick, coconut bread/pancake, lettuce rolls filled with rice or eggplant paste. And there are little buffets where $0.50 buys a plate of food - noodles, rice dishes, stir frys. We LOVE market eating. (J: Shop and eat and shop and eat. What more could we ask for, really?!) That last night was really sad, very hard to leave Luang Prabang with its slower pace, better temperature, laid back atmosphere. Hard to leave the grandparents running our outstanding guest house and the delicious market foods. Hard to leave a place where we were so comfortable and having so much fun. (J: I would have to recommend Luang Prabang most highly of all the places we have been, yet. But get there fast because we worry it will soon lose its charm as everyone in the Western world discovers how perfect it really is.) But we gleckel on...

Post your own travel photos for friends and family More Pictures

Coconut Bread/Pancake	Countryside - Laos	Getting on the Slow Boat	Grandfather and Granddaughter at Our Guesthouse
Inside Haw Pha Bang	Is This Paradise?	Just Like Damon Pond!	Laos "Ballet"
More Mekong (Day 2)	Night Market in Luang Prabang	One Tier of Kouang Si	Sunset (Day 1)
View of Luang Prabang and the Mekong	Wall Mosaic	Water Buffalo

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