We Left our Hearts in Luang Prabang!

Sabaidee!

We arrived in Luang Prabang, yet another charming Unesco World Heritage Site set in central Laos. The city, with a population of 26,000, has been internationally awarded for it's ecotourism, Indochinese architecture and cultural and religious preservation. While searching for a hotel, we walked side by side local monks dressed in bright orange robes, passed numerous temples, and absorbed the beauty. Surrounded by the Mekong and Nam Khan rivers, the peninsula is scattered with crumbling French villas and mesmerising golden-emerald wats (Buddhist temples).

We awoke early to a rainy morning and enjoyed a delicious crepe and local Lao coffee. Freshly caffeinated, we set out to explore! We visited numerous temples, each housing giant statues of Buddha, Ganesha, and hundreds of gods and goddesses from the Ramayana scriptures. Some of the temples date back to the 1500's and currently house novice monks as young as seven years old. Supported by Unesco, monks are taught skills to maintain Luang Prabang's temples, including woodcarving, gardening, painting and Buddha casting. Families of farming villages send their sons to Buddhist temples in order to receive free schooling. Monks are allowed to freely enter and leave monk hood at their choosing and are fully funded by alms.

After visiting a used bookstore to exchange for new reads, we went next door to Hive Bar to enjoy a fashion and hip hop show. The fashion illustrated traditional local tribe garb of over twenty ethnic groups with a modern twist. Although the college student models were innocently charming, Tyra Banks may not have been impressed. The following act included middle and high school aged break dancers with attitude, spunk and admirable strength.

The following morning we reunited with our sixsome and ventured to the Tat Kuang Si falls via a Tuk-Tuk (an open aired, covered seat add on to a truck). Due to the rainy season the falls were not their usual menthol green, instead they were a muddy brown. However they were impressively volumes and menacing. We climbed to the top and wading in the murky waters, daringly peered over the edge. Despite numerous leech and mosquito bombardments, this was the most impressive natural site we had seen thus far on our travels. We returned to our hotel, took a well deserved shower and ate a delicious meal at the local night market.

The next morning we awoke to sunshine and rented cruiser style bicycles with baskets on the front. Gabi proceeded to ring her bell at whomever and whatever she passed. Helmets were not provided...We ventured along the peninsula stopping at the U.S. Embassy funded library, multiple wats, the Unesco administrative offices, a French cafe, and a day market. After five weeks of travel, we decided to indulge in a one hour Lao style full body massage for 5 USD. At this point we were convinced that Laos had swooned us.

In a Nirvana state, we enjoyed a good night's sleep and awoke rejuvenated for our long trip to Phonsavan!