September 9th, 2019
First impression of Laos… LOVE IT! It was a little expensive to come here as B and I paid almost $100 for our visas at the border ($50 each). It is supposed to be $35 a person but they add random fees and I think basically charge you whatever they think they can get. We also don’t have passport photos with us and that is something I highly recommend for any foreign travel as we always end up having to pay extra fees for not having 2×2 photos. At the border you go through a series of windows and at each window they ask for another fee. One window said their fee was for crossing the border on a Sunday, and I have no idea what the other “fees” were for on top of the $35 visa. But anyway, once we finally got to Luang Prabang it was all worth it.
We have done a lot of activities on the go in Northern Vietnam and this was the perfect place to just chill out for a bit. Luang Prabang is a protected UNESCO world heritage site for its historical significance as a French Colonial settlement. I will admit that when I think of a town or city being a UNESCO site I picture something like Lima, Peru where the buildings and plazas are just incredible. I think Luang Prabang must have barely squeaked by on whatever the UNESCO criteria is, but that is not to say I didn’t love it. It had a charming, European feel with an Asian twist and was just a really cool place.
There are lots of backpackers here but it did not feel run over with travelers at all. It was actually a nice change from the usual hustle, and felt very relaxed and laid back. No one honks their horn here which is AMAZING, and the first place in Asia we’ve been that doesn’t honk profusely. There are many, many temples, and monks walking around the streets everywhere.
On our first day here we really took it easy. We slept in, and got up only to get the free breakfast our hotel gave us, which was very nice. We took our time starting the day and went back out around lunch time. We found a great local spot called Bamboo Restaurant and got some noodle dishes. They actually had one of the best pad thai’s we have had, and our meal went on my list of favorite meals for two people that’s under $5. From there we walked around the old French Quarter and saw the outside of some of the towns biggest temples.
We walked along the Mekong River and appreciated the towns’ chilled out atmosphere. We saw an advertisement for traditional Laotian story telling. Even though this town is quiet, there seemed to be lots of things to do during the evening. There is a hill in the center you can hike up for great sunrise or sunset views. You also can take a sunset cruise along the Mekong. I saw several bookstores or cafes that advertised free movie night where they show a documentary or an older film for free if you buy drinks or food. I also saw little places that advertised a traditional dance show or live music during the evening and they also have a big night market.
I never like to miss a viewpoint, especially if it involves sunset or sunrise, but I thought we could save that activity for tomorrow. I also think we will take a two day slow boat on the Mekong River to cross into Northern Thailand so we don’t need to take an extra boat on the Mekong. My choice of activity was the traditional story telling and Brendan didn’t seem to have an opinion, so we decided on that and went back to that spot at 6pm. I really enjoyed it. It was two guys, the story teller who spoke pretty good English and then an old man who played a traditional bamboo wind pipe instrument that accompanied the stories. There seemed to be a lot of traditional fairy tale-like stories that explain things about Laos. Even when we went to other points of interest around town like waterfalls, there would be signs explaining the legend behind the falls and it would always be some elaborate mythical tale. These typically are not the kind of stories I’m into, but I thought the story teller was very good and drew my interest.
After more exploring I began to think they probably have all these fantasy type stories because the setting they live in looks like it is from a fairy tale. The mountains, the jungle, the rivers, the waterfalls sometimes don’t look real as they are so beautiful.
Brendan didn’t care much for the story telling but it was nice of him to participate and go with me. After that we went to the night market and it was the most enjoyable night market I have ever been to. The vendors were not pushy and they did not try to hustle us. When we walked by looking, they would smile and nod while saying “sabaidee” very nicely which means hello. If you continued walking by them without stopping, they would just nod and smile and didn’t seem upset you did not buy anything. It was really cool and I liked the vibe in this town a lot.
We found some great street food of fresh avocado and cheese sandwiches. They loaded it with veggies on a soft loaf of French bread. It was so great to have something fresh, and we ended up getting these sandwiches every day we were here.
