Laos Part 3: Luang Prabang

My apologies for not writing about Luang Prabang long ago. Laung Prabang was by far my favorite stop in Laos. My friends and I spent four lovely days there, mostly sitting around, drinking Beer Lao, reading, and playing cards. The bus ride to Laos was both magical and sickening. Six hours of twists and turns on roads through a breathtaking mountain range. I wish I had been able to take a decent picture, but there was really no way to take one properly through the rear window. Along the sides of the road I saw many small communities of people living in bamboo shacks, hauling their water in jugs down the road, bathing children in communal fountains. This is definitely the least developed part of the world I have ever been to. We arrived in Luang Prabang late at night and were instantly charmed. The city is located at the confluence of the Nam Kahn River and the Mekong River and is filled with French colonial shop houses, wats, and alleyways dripping with tropical foliage. It's an incredibly romantic and relaxing place. I enjoyed every second of it.



The Highlights:

1. The Food
Once again, we were in love with the food. Our favorite place to eat was Cafe Bon Vat Sene, an atmospheric cafe with the best tartines I have ever had.



The food was just as delicious on the Laotian side, we enjoyed lots of laarb, sticky rice, and Lao BBQ.



If you are ever in Luang Prabang, you simply must try the river weed. It is not as bad as it sounds.



2. Kouang Si Falls
On our second day in town we took a songtheaw up to Kouang Si Falls. We poked around the bear rescue center and then spent most of our trip seeking shelter from massive thunderstorms. In between the raindrops, we managed to check out the falls and swim in their pools.





3. Boat Tour
We took a sunset boat tour. It was lovely.



4. Cooking Class
On our final day, Erin and I learned how to cook Laotian food. This was one of the most enjoyable experiences of the entire trip. I was really impressed with the amount of information our instructor gave us. She sat us down with several baskets of ingredients and went through them one by one, explaining what it was used for, where it was found, and what substitutes you could use if you couldn't find it at home.

Then we cooked. My favorite thing was this delicious eggplant paste snack.



I was impressed by my natural spring rolling talent.



Our final meal was to die for. I'm excited to go home and try out the recipes.


(Ignore the ridiculous hats)

5. Sitting Around, Doing Nothing
Bliss.