Asian Adventures - Luang Prabang, Laos

Luang Prabang is such a gorgeous town in Laos. Laos is an old French colony so the town has a very European feel about it. The buildings are pretty and a lot different from the other places we've been so far in South East Asia.

The guesthouse we stayed in, Villa Ban Phanluang, was run by a family. We were greeted by the owner with a welcome drink for us and a map of the town where he showed us lots of things to do whilst we were there.

The first thing I wanted to do was go for a shower as I felt like I was dripping with sweat after carrying my bag in the heat. We were both starving so freshened up quickly and headed into the centre of town to find somewhere to eat. Every time we go into the centre of town we have to cross a bridge. There's either the Bamboo Bridge which is quickest but charges you for crossing. It only works out at 50p a journey so it's not really that bad but you just feel it's annoying to have to pay every time you use it. Although, I suppose we are helping the local community each time we pay. The other option is The Old Bridge but it's a longer way round into town. Rory was craving a pizza so we found an Italian on the Main Street to go to. We had already seen about 6 people that were on the same slowboat here as us and as the town is so small we thought we'd probably run into lots more!

 

Breakfast was included in our stay. We had a back door in our room that lead out to a terrace where we had our own chairs and table to eat breakfast at. This was a pretty lovely touch to the place.

I had found a walking tour online for around the town that we decided to go on. We went for the long way round to town this time crossing The Old Bridge. This is a rickety old thing where the planks of wood you were walking on were moving when you stepped on them. As Rory doesn't like heights he was hating this and couldn't wait to get off. He decided then we would just keep using The Bamboo Bridge.

On our way to the starting point of the tour we met a peculiar character in the supermarket who commented on Rory's hair saying it was a different look. Bit rich coming from a man who had knee length dreadlocks that looked like they hadn't been washed in years!! We spoke to him for a bit outside the supermarket where we were sipping on waters and he had cracked open a beer at 11 in the morning! He spoke about his life for a while and then brought out his books he had written (which were properly published) and tried to get us to read some. Then eventually he tried to get us to buy one of them which was obviously his plan all along. We made our excuses about why we weren't going to buy his books and told him we were going to continue our walking tour which he seemed confused by considering it was raining! Rory shook his hand when we left so I felt I should. As soon as we were out of sight I had whipped out the hand sanitiser as showering didn't seem top of his list!

After we dived into a Textiles and Culture museum that was on our route and to shelter from the rain. The museum was about the different things tribes in Laos make. There were jewellery, scarfs, blankets and tribe outfits all on display. It was good to get an insight into their way of life.

We then wandered around a couple of temples and along the river front. It's getting to the stage now where we are getting slightly bored of temples. We can still appreciate the beauty of them but as I've heard from other travellers you sometimes need a break from them.

We had noticed a place near our guesthouse where you could make your own jewellery and we wanted to give it a go. It was a jewellery shop called Garden of Eden where you chose what you wanted to make from the products in the shop and then the staff show you how to make them. It was a great deal as you just paid the price the piece of jewellery was in the store and the lesson was free. Annoyingly Rory ended up being so much better than me. By the time I'd completed the first part of one of my earrings he was already on to his second pair. The women showing us thought he was great and kept getting me to watch the way he was doing things which he was absolutely loving!! There was a man, woman and children working there. We weren't sure if they were a family or not. They were all so friendly and even brought us out snacks to eat whilst we were making the jewellery. It was really nice to sit down and speak to local people about their town.

For tea we went to a restaurant just opposite the jewellery shop. It was a Lao restaurant with a BBQ. The restaurant, Dyen Sabai, was outdoors and surrounded by big trees like the restaurant was a treehouse. We were sat on cushions at the table which had a stove underneath it. We chose the fondue where you used the stove on your table to cook your own food. The waiter lights the stove for you and then brings you noodles, veg and your choice of meat and then stock for you to cook your ingredients in. Basically it means it's your fault if you get food poisoning!

It was really tasty and something different for your dining experience. We had also taken part in their Happy Hour and enjoyed a pineapple daiquiri and a gin sling which could now be my favourite cocktail.

In our Lonely Planet book we noticed they had recommended a bar called Hive. If you are familiar with the Edinburgh nightlife you'll know there's a love it or hate it club called Hive. We wanted to go to the Luang Prabang one and compare the two. I had the route up for us and as we got closer to where it was meant to be we couldn't hear any music so were so confused. When we got to the pinpoint there was no Hive just a boarded up house with a 'Land for sale' sign outdoors. We were gutted! Disappointed we went to another bar further along the road for another Happy Hour!

 

Waking up the next morning to glorious sunshine we made the decision to head to Kuang Si Waterfalls that were just outside the town. We hired a Tuk Tuk to take us there, wait for us and then take us back. We paid 200,000 Kip which is slightly more expensive than getting one from the town centre but our guesthouse was slightly out of town. It's an uncomfortable ride being in a Tuk Tuk for longer than 10 minutes and we had to travel for about 45 minutes to get to the falls.

Before walking up to the waterfall there is a Black Bear Sanctuary for rescued bears. I'm not really a massive animal lover but they were pretty cute and funny to watch them clamber around their pens.

There was a steady walk up the track to several pools and a couple small waterfalls. The waterfalls were amazing! The water was so blue and clear - making an excellent picture! We stopped at the first fall and went in for a swim.

In the water is the fish that are used in the fish spas to bite all your dead skin off, so whilst you were swimming about you were constantly getting bitten by them. We were able to try out our waterproof camera and take a couple videos. After our swim we carried on up the hill and came to this incredible waterfall which was huge!! There was a bridge over the water at the bottom of the fall where you could go and take pictures from. It was definitely worth seeing!!

 You could walk up a very steep hill to get to the top of the main waterfall but we were both wearing flip flops which weren't the best footwear for a steep, muddy climb. We walked back down the hill towards the Tuk Tuk constantly turning around to catch a final glimpse of the very impressive Kuang Si Waterfall.

We had read about a good Mexican called Amigos that we were up for trying out. There's actually also one in Vang Vieng. The food was excellent! We shared nachos to start and then I had chimichangas and Rory got tacos. We sat outside in the garden area and people-watched.

 

Unfortunately though after our meal it began to rain slightly and a guy on his motorbike obviously going too fast swerved his bike and slide ride across the road. We just heard a massive bang and looked up to see the guy on the road with blood up his leg. A group of people rushed beside him and called the ambulance. He sat up straight after the accident happened so he was ok just had scrapes on his legs. The roads over here are so mental it's surprising we haven't seen more accidents! Most of the people on motorbikes don't wear helmets and lots of people are on their phones whilst driving or carrying strange things like mental poles or a big basket of glass bottles whilst trying to steer their bike!

 

Another evening we walked up Mount Phou Si to watch the sunset.  It isn't a far walk and only took half an hour to walk up and down. Although it ended up being slightly cloudy we still got some decent pictures and great views over the town.

Just along from the entrance to the mount is The Food Market. They have stalls where you can make up a plate with the food from their stall for 10,000 Kip which is £1!! Such a cheap tea and a very tasty one too!

 

On our last day in Luang Prabang we spent the afternoon in the bar Utopia. It's the most famous bar here among travellers. It's location is on the riverside with an indoor bar, garden and decking area filled with cushions for you to relax on.

We spent a couple of hours there just chilling in the sun sipping on some beers. It was nice to have a more relaxing time in Luang Prabang as our time in Thailand was really full on with lots of trips and sightseeing.

I had read about a Lao Tapas style restaurant Tamarid we wanted to try out for tea. We chose two platters to share between us. One was like a roll your own spring roll but instead of pastry we had big leaves. There were sauces, vegetables and noodles for you to use in your wrap. The second platter was a selection of meats and veg stir fries. Both were delicious! It was good to try something completely different to home.

 We went to a couple bars after. One was a bit of a fail as we spied a sign saying 'champagne' so thought we would grab a glass as a treat but it turned out you could only get it by the bottle which was slightly out of our price range! We opted for a cheaper glass of wine instead. The other bar was Ikon Klub. That was so cool. It was decorated with rock and roll memorabilia on the walls, there was even a pair of Doc Martins on the wall! The owner came over and introduced herself to us and showed us the menu. It was predominantly cocktails they served which was fine by me! It was a tiny bar where everyone seemed to know each other. Since the owner introduces herself to everyone when they come in she remembers everyone if the come back. This was definitely the coolest place we had been!

Luang Prabang was beautiful and we had a great time exploring it! This turned out to be our favourite place in Laos.

Recommendations -

Villa Ban Phanluang - https://www.lonelyplanet.com/laos/luang-prabang/hotels/villa-ban-phanluang/a/lod/f7a7dee7-46fc-4ccc-991a-133949f54b2c/356927

Garden of Eden - https://m.facebook.com/Garden-of-Eden-421589721249541/

Dyen Sabai - https://m.facebook.com/Dyensabai/

Amigos - https://m.facebook.com/amigosluangprabang/?rf=1044109625656696

Utopia - https://m.facebook.com/UtopiaInLaos/

Tamarind - http://www.tamarindlaos.com

Icon Klub - http://www.iconklub.com