Luang Prabang, Laos

Luang Prabang

I’ve been in Luang Prabang for the past two nights and tonight will be my last before moving to a place call Phonsavan which is close to the Plains of Jar, an area that was involved heavily with the Indochina wars some 40 years ago.

Luang Prabang is one of the biggest towns in Laos but what is strange is that it’s comparable in size to Swanage in Dorset. It’been a good few days as all the people who travelled on the boat from Thailand have also been staying here so there are lots of people to socialise with.

Waterfall near Luang Prabang

The town is set on the Mekong River which when added to the mountains means there are some great views. The town mainly contains small French style cafes and there is bread on sale which is nice as this was not really available in Thailand.

Yesterday I did a walking tour of the Town which involved some Watt seeing and climbing this big hill in the town centre which has a Watt on top. The best part of the climb was the views of the town and countryside at the top.

Street in Luang Prabang during the storm

Today 15 of us, after lengthy negotiations, got in some tuk-tuks which took us to a waterfall some 20k outside town. One of the Waterfall pools had a great rope swing which was entertaining.  On the way home we were caught in a tropical storm. Tuk-tuks are not the best place to be when one starts and we all got soaked, however the rain is warm which I’m still having trouble getting used to.

What else that is interesting is everything shuts at 11:30pm; it’s a bit like England before 24 hour drinking and all night supermarkets. My bus leaves tomorrow morning at 8:30am and is a 9 hour drive to Phonsavan.

Please note Ive added a new album to the right hand side of the screen.