Luang Prabang was my next stop. The journey there in the middle of the night was awful. The bus was particularly full and uncomfortable, travelling along a road that seemed to be entirely made of bumpy corners and frighteningly steep hills. No amount of Valium could provide me with sleep. Arriving in the early hours I was rewarded with a beautiful town and thankful I had endured the night to get there. Luang Prabang was stunning and so delightfully peaceful. Built on the banks of the Mekong, river life provided amazing people watching. The town was so green and flowers were in full bloom everywhere I looked. The café terraces clinging to the river banks were sleepy and atmospheric. Many of them had tables hidden around mature gardens and some had huge libraries of travel inspired reading materials.
The mekong River, Luang Prabang
On my first full day in town (and the majority of days that followed) I was up at 5am to see the monks collecting their alms. It was such a pretty sight. They looked so colourful and calm. I had some breakfast then managed to get myself lost (don’t know how that happened as this town is positively tiny). I asked a passing monk if he could help me. He was very sorry. He didn’t know of my guesthouse but he asked one of his monk friends on my behalf. The second monk pulled an i-phone out of his robes and googled the information for me! Monks have i-phones! This was quite the revelation for me.
Whilst in Luang Prabang I also visited the beautiful Kuang Si waterfalls, like the falls in Thailand but with less aggressive fish and hardly any people. I had it all to myself for hours and felt like I was in heaven. It’s a national park run by “save the bears” and so has an enclosure by the entrance where they keep bears that have been rescued from poachers etc. They were so cute, it was encouraging to see their cage was massive and filled with interesting toys etc.
Kuang Si Falls, Luang Prabang, Laos.
A few days in the picturesque Luang Prabang were spent simply wandering, admiring the views and befriending the locals.
Laos has been amazing. I’m sad that I couldn’t have travelled there further but Scotland was beckoning. As I seem to be in the habit of saying… I hope one day I’ll visit again.
A pretty flower, Luang prabang.
About fiona
My name is Fiona and I'm 28 years old. On the 21st October 2009 my sister and I quit our jobs, left our little town in Scotland and set off for an eight month adventure that would take us through India, Nepal, Thailand, Cambodia and Laos. My Family had hoped the trip would rid me of the urge to travel and expected me to settle down on my return. I had other ideas. In my mind the trip had been a great learning experience, a practice run. In February 2012 I’ll be excitedly returning to India where I’ll spend my first month as a solo traveler.
May our paths be destined to cross...
Brilliant blog and stunning pics!
Thank you!