Luang Prabang

Here we are sitting in the heat of early December !! Leaving Laos.

I think we visited Laos in the correct order. Vientaine was ok if you are travelling through, Veng Viang was very sad-as reported. Luang Prabang is lovely and well worth the visit. It's the cultural capital of Laos, was the royal capital until quite recently, sits in beautiful scenery at the convergence of the Mekong and Nam Khan , and is surrounded by beautiful hills

Me on top of Mount Phou Si

It's also famous for the huge number of Wats around town and the street and night markets - above.

We pottered around the town watching the world go by on Saturday. I could have sat and watched the boatmen loading and unloading all day. We visited a few of the Wats including That Chomsi (pictured above) which had views all over town.

On Sunday we hired bikes and cycled around the town, although an afternoon rain shower curtailed that.

As its now moving a bit more upmarket there were a number of lovely restaurants and bars to enjoy. No cider in Laos but gorgeous fruit smoothies. Laos food is a little bit bland compared with its neighbours Thailand China and Cambodia but a number of fusion restaurants are around offering a range of cuisines. We went to the Blue Lagoon on Sunday which offered a fusion of Laos/Swiss food -quite Germanic food with meat and cheese. But really nice. But most cuisines are available and hygiene seems to have a higher focus, with lots more clean ice nod water - which helps as its usually me with the stomach issues

Ang about to drink a cocktail by the Mekong

We are off to Chiang Mai to try elephant training, cooking schools and golf - but all of these are available here too if we had the energy. People watching and being tourists won over the day. I'm sure there aren't many more beautiful places to do this in the world.

A lovely place.

 

Posted with Blogsy