Wednesday, 7 November 2018

Adventures in Asia: Luang Prabang, Laos

Since Monday evening I have been in Luang Prabang, where the slow boat trip ended.  I am here until Friday, when I will fly back to China.


The Nagi cruise included transportation from the port, and the van dropped me at my hotel.


Once checked in, cash was my priority.  I had basically no kip left, and $17 USD, so I was a little desperate.  Luang Prabang has many ATMs, so finding one was no issue.  However, I tried six before one worked!  Anyway, with a 1,000,000 kip, I felt in good shape, so I bought a couple postcards and had some dinner.


My hotel is on the Mekong, but does not have the view that my hotel in Chiang Khong did.  Still, its restaurant is on a patio right atop the river, and I could watch the ferries and other boats go by as I ate breakfast yesterday.


After breakfast I visited the post office to mail my postcards.


Then I wandered down Luang Prabang's main tourist street, Sisavangvong.


I found a lovely little cafe with a patio along the street and plunked myself down to do some writing and watch the world go by.


Look at the fruit salad I was served!


Sometime after 13:00 I went for another walk, this time from my hotel east along the Mekong.


Eventually the Mekong meets Luang Prabang's "second" river, the Nam Khan, which means "lazy water."  At a restaurant here I ate lunch.


This was sour fish soup, which is apparently a Luang Prabang specialty. It proved to be a lot of food for one person!


After lunch, I decided to check out Wat Xiengthong, Luang Prabang's oldest temple.


The temple was great, but I was touring it during the hottest part of the day, so I was wearing out fast.  I had take a rest in my hotel room for the rest of the afternoon to cool down!

At sunset I went back out to meet up with some of my Nagi friends on Mount Phousi, a large hill in the middle of the city that is popular at sunset.  I was surprised just how popular it is--the viewing area on top, which is around a small wat, was absolutely packed!


Mount Phousi did provide some great views, but between the crowd and mosquitoes, I found it hard to relax up there!

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