Luang Prabang

Leaving Vangvieng, I took the night bus to Luang Prabang. The man who sold me the ticket informed me that I would arrive in Luang Prabang around 5 or 6 AM. Though early, this would be perfectly fine with me as I could go somewhere for breakfast not long after arriving and would not have to spend money on accommodation. Instead, we arrived at probably the worst possible time: 2:30 AM. I, along with a Dutch couple and an English guy, walked the streets of the city trying to find a hostel with an awake staff member. After a handful of failed attempts at finding sleep, we happened upon a guest house with the owner sleeping in the lobby. We awoke him and he pronounced that he only had one bed available. The Dutch couple, being two, paid for the bed. Lucky for myself and the English guy, the owner said we could stay for free in the hallway. He laid down some blankets and we were both happy to be sleeping indoors, rather than wandering the streets in search of somewhere else.

    Luang Prabang is the ancient capital of Laos and is surrounded by small mountains. A World Heritage site, the city sits on the Mekong river, has many cafes, and a large Buddhist monk population in its local wats. Keeping in line with the other places I have visited in Laos, the temperature, coupled with the scorching sun, reach alarmingly high levels in the afternoon everyday, causing most people to hunker down under shade for a large portion of the day.

    My first day in Luang Prabang, I took it easy in the blazing heat by just wandering around the city center, getting accustomed to the area, eating lunch on the Mekong, and reading my book. During the evening, I headed over to an NGO called Big Brother Mouse to help with English practice. Referred to me by a fellow traveler in Vangvieng, Big Brother Mouse is an organization set on improving literacy in Laos. It publishes books and distributes them to rural villages so children, who otherwise do not have access to books, get an opportunity to read. In addition, twice a day they hold English speaking get-togethers for tourists and local Lao people wanting to improve their English. Over my three days in Luang Prabang, I attended three sessions, talking with local university students and one novice monk. It is an awesome organization and the sessions are great to meet and talk with people from different cultures.

    During my next few days I visited the famed Kuang Si waterfall, a beautiful multi leveled waterfall 30k outside the city, visited the difference wats, and cultural sights of the city. I also had an awesome surprise when I was walking from Big Brother Mouse to my hostel on my second day in Luang Prabang. Walking past the center of downtown, I look over to the tables outside the food stalls, and I see my great friend Yoha! I met Yo in Pai in early January and he was the reason I came back to Pai after visiting Sarnelli House. We were both overjoyed to unexpectedly run into each other 1.5 months later. We hung out together for 2 days before we again went our separate ways.

    After spending a couple lazy days in Luang Prabang, I again went north to Luang Namtha, a small town near the China border, famous for trekking in its nearby national park.