Day 14: Luang Prabang, Laos

Our only stop in Laos was Luang Prabang, a UNESCO World Heritage site, the pre-Communist capital of the Kingdom of Laos, and present-day city of about 100,000 people nestled in between the  Mekong and Nam Khan Rivers in the north-central region of the country.


After the chaos of Hanoi, Luang Prabang felt refreshingly sleepy and peaceful.  But there was still plenty to do; the city has rightfully earned a place on the tourist circuit because of its numerous Buddhist temples and monasteries, and the daily dawn procession of monks through the streets collecting alms.


I was a bit nervous about our flight from Hanoi on Lao Airlines, which in the 1990s had some problems with safety but in more recent years has improved its airplanes and airports.  Our plane was a turboprop but the flight was smooth and they even served dinner.

In Luang Prabang we stayed at the beautiful Belle Rive Boutique Hotel, situated right on the bank of the Mekong in the historical city center, and made up of several separate houses, one of which was the historical residence of the former city Mayor, built in the 1920s.  This was one of our favorite hotels of the trip, a gracious and relaxing place whose staff couldn't be more helpful or accommodating.

 Hotel restaurant on the riverbank across the street...

 Entrance to our room and window--we were told to rope off the steps to our door with a little velvet rope because all the tourists taking pictures would wake us up in the morning!

We had some interesting information awaiting us in the room about Laotian laws governing tourists and hotels.  The city is subject to a midnight curfew.  And number 5 on the below list instructs:  "Do not use any drugs, scrambling or bring both men and women which is not your own husband or wife into the room for making love."  Aye, aye, Capt'n!

We had dinner around the corner at L'Elephant Restaurant, a beautiful French cafe in an airy colonial-style house.  After lots of rice and noodles, we were so happy to have meat and potatoes!

The next morning was clear and sunny, and we had a great breakfast overlooking the river...

J started the morning with a jog along the riverbank; I can only imagine what the locals thought of the tall skinny foreigner in running shorts dodging tuk-tuks.  We spent the rest of the first day wandering the streets of the old town, enjoying some shopping and scenic views of life on the Mekong.  Just across the river from the city center are fields of crops being grown in the fertile soil of the river floodplain.

One local dish is rice cakes dried in the sun and later fried before eating.  We saw tons of the cakes being dried in trays on the side of the road.

The buildings along the river are beautiful and historic, and the streets bustle with a mix of tourists and locals going about their business.

Luang Prabang is full of beautiful Buddhist temples.  We stopped in at one for the monks' 4pm drumming, which every day sends a haunting beat over the city. 

Some of the local girls jumping rope inside the temple area...

Luang Prabang offers beautiful panoramas over the river and mountains...

We watched some men fishing in the river with throw-nets just before sunset:

Next, we quickly scrambled up hundreds of steps to the top of Mount Phousi just in time for sunset.

Views over the rest of the city...

We came down the hill to the beautiful night market...

Dinner that evening was at Tamarind restaurant, which is known for its wonderful local specialties.  A staple of Laotian food is "sticky rice," a variety that (as the name suggests) is eaten in small clumps with various toppings and sauces.  Given that we have two Thai and one Vietnamese restaurants in our small neighborhood in DC, we enjoyed trying out Laotian food (and later Indonesian food in Bali) because it was completely new to us!

Dinner!  Most of it was delish (especially the barbeque buffalo, which is the dark strips of meat to the right of the sausage).  I also had an interesting drink made out of jujube fruit!  

Finally, we finished the day with a moving film about a daughter's efforts to determine how her father was killed under the Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia.  The movie was showing in the market as part of the Luang Prabang Film Festival.