Day10: Luang Prabang

Half-way through my walking tour, I stopped for some refreshments at one of the suggested restaurants in The Lonely Planet : Tamarind. If you're ever in Luang Prabang and in the neighborhood, you should definitely check it out!

While the food was fantastic, what made the experience truly special was the detailed explanation of the ingredients the server provided and directions on how the food should be eaten. I was blown away by my server's patience and thoroughness. I can't tell you how often I've sat down to a foreign meal and thought, "Now what do I do?"

Pictured is the BeerLao snack plate. Sadly, I don't remember what all this stuff is. However, I can tell you that most of it was pretty crunchy and that all of it was absolutely delicious!

Day 10: Luang Prabang

While in the Wat Xieng Thong complex, I wandered into one one of the temples that was packed full of artifacts. In this photo, I captured an assortment of buddha statues. But there were lots of things: altars, carriages, urns, other stuff.....

What struck me is that I wanted to present the appropriate level of reverence but I wasn't sure how. This level of uncomfortableness or tension can sometimes lead to learning or so I hope. In any case, I love the opportunity of being out of my element and being faced by something I don't quite understand. It's a chance to grow.

Day 10: Luang Prabang

After a short trek along the river, I arrived at Wat Xieng Thong (a Buddhist temple). In a town teeming with temples, Wat Xieng Thong is the oldest, most spectacular and most revered. Established in 1560, Wat Xieng Thong was one of only two temples in the Luang Prabang spared from a city-wide sacking in 1887. In other words, the temple complex is old, impressive and absolutely beautiful!

Day 10: Luang Prabang

After leaving the market, I headed over to the river. The river in this case is, once again, the mighty Mekong. However, there are two rivers that meet in Luang Prabang: the Mekong and the Khan. As you walk through town, you invariable catch a peak of one or the other. It kind of gives you the sense of being on an island.

Day 10: Luang Prabang

The next stop on my walking tour was the morning market. The market was jam packed with various fruits, vegetables and meat products. The "meat products" got a little interesting. From left to right, I believe we have a hoof, a tail, another hoof, some ears and a snout.

I don't mean to be sensationalist with these types of photos (i.e. the ducks from Shanghai). I just find them interesting. For example, what do you do with an ear? Make a soup? If so, is it good? In any case, we have bologna. Ever checked what's in that stuff?!?

Day 10: Luang Prabang

On my first full morning, I took the walking tour outlined by The Lonely Planet. One of the first major stops was the Royal Palace Museum. Unlike the national museum in Vientiane, the palace museum was extremely well-kept and absolutely beautiful. One of my favorite things in the palace museum was a series of drawings that told a mythological saga involving a wayward prince, a white elephant, kidnapping, crazy spirits, and lots of drama. You'll be happy to know that the story ended somewhat happily.

Day 9: Luang Prabang

Once in Luang Prabang, I wandered around a bit looking for the hotel. I eventually found the Ammata Guesthouse which was absolutely beautiful - simple yet elegant. Laos grows a lot of teak and the guesthouse was rife with it - absolutely gorgeous floors and woodwork. My room was on the second floor and opened onto a shared balcony.

While Vientiane was laid-back and Vang Vien was party central, Luang Prabang was a charmer. The center of town was quite compact thus easily walkable and full of small shops, boutique hotels, restaurants, cafes and, at night, an open-air market. I was lovin' it!

Day 9: Vang Vien to Luang Prabang

My time in Vang Vien was fantastic but it was time to move on. The bus ride to Luang Prabang took around six hours and every minute of it was amazing. Once again, I was blown away by the beauty of Laos. Dramatic mountain after dramatic mountain met us at every twist and turn of the road. Unfortunately, I only had one opportunity for a photo. We made a pit stop along the side of the road. Interestingly, everyone just went into the bushes and did their thing. Huh.....that was a first....

OHIO connection #2: I sat amongst a group of British ladies on the bus. While chit-chatting with my seat mate, I mentioned that I was from Ohio. The British girl in front of us turned and said, "My parents are from Ohio." "Really?!? Where?" "Kent" "I grew up about 20 miles from Kent...." Her last name was Moore and, while I did know some Moores growing up, I don't believe they were related. It's a small world after all....

Day 8: Vang Vien

Given that I was a little lost on the way back from my bike trip/caving excursion, I was concerned whether or not I'd be able to make it for what I had planned for the second half of my day: inner-tubing. Even though I was off my planned course, I eventually made it back to the main road and then found my way to town.

Once I'd had lunch, I headed to off for tubing. I signed up, paid my fee and jumped into the back of tiny little pick-up truck with about six others.

OHIO connection #1: As the pick-up headed up the river, I heard someone say, "So, what's the time difference to Ohio?" Huh!?! I turned to the guy he was talking to and asked, "Are you from Ohio?" "Yes." "Where?" "Columbus." "Which part?" "Westerville." Turns out Caleb went to Westerville South, had recently graduated from University of Toledo and was traveling for about six months. Not only was he from Ohio but his dad works at Nationwide. I thought I had Caleb's last name correct but no... If anyone recognizes him, let me know.

I hooked up with Caleb and his Swedish travel partners Maria and Jasper for the trip down the river. And, what a trip it was! Once we hit the river, it was like springbreak in Florida. There were bars built all along the river. Each bar had it's own D.J. with the bass a boomin'. BUT, the real draw were the huge swings - each about twenty feet high. You'd swing out - WAY out - and then let go plunging into the river. It was a HUGE rush! I LOVED it!

The tubing trip couldn't have been more fun. Once back, Caleb, Jasper, Maria and I headed to one of the Friends "happy" restaurants for dinner. While we didn't end up ordering anything "happy," we did watch about five episodes of Friends. What a GREAT show! Somehow, I'd forgotten...

I didn't take my camera on the tubing trip (lots of water....) but did get a picture of Caleb, Jasper and Maria at dinner.

Day 8: Vang Vien

While the rain eventually let up, the spectacular views did not. Again, I had to remind myself to enjoy the ride rather than stopping every few yards to take photos. My favorite picture from the rest of the bike trip is the kids on the bikes among the cows. Because, who couldn't love kids on bikes with cows!?!

As I made my way back to town, I got a little off track. It was one of those moments when I thought, I am half-way round the world, don't know quite where I'm at and don't speak the language.....AND I'm by myself. I could have always turned around and gone back the way I came but it's much more interesting to head into the unknown..... Of course, as you know, I made it back alive.

Day 8: Vang Vien

Once out of the cave, the rain began to fall pretty steadily. Luckily, it was warm and the rain kind of added to the atmosphere of adventure. However, as the rain continued to come down, the dirt road turned to mud and I started to get covered in it. Still, you know, it's like off-roading, right? This is fun, right?

THAT's when I came upon THE most adorable kids. I assume they were siblings on the way home from some sort of errand. Although, it's difficult to see, the girl on the right-hand side had a basket on her back full of what looked to be herbs. The huge shirt the little boy was wearing made him that much more cute though I'm sure he was just trying to stay dry. As usual, there was not a parent anywhere in sight.

Day 8: Vang Vien

The path in the first picture led to Tam Khanh Kham Cave and what could have been my death. Seriously! After paying admission, all I had left was a 50,000 kip note (about $7) and hiring a guide cost 10,000. Unfortunately, the prepubescent boys at the entrance did not have change so they sent me to the cave on my own and apparently to my death. Seriously! This was not a cave with a wide opening and soaring ceiling but it was more of a spelunking-style of cave. I started to enter using the extremely weak flashlight I had bought but the only thing I could make out was a spider about the size of my hand on the wall above my head. Time to turn back! I headed back and persuaded one of the reluctant young men to accompany me. Thank God I did! At one point, we crawled through a hole which was barely a foot and a half in diameter. At another, there was a ten-foot stretch of cave that was barely two feet high from floor to ceiling. The reward? To say that I did it and survived AND I got a picture of the "big Buddha statue" inside! Also, one of my roommates is an avid caver and I was hoping he'd at least give me props for giving it a try. Nah! He barely batted an eye when I told him. Oh well.......it was A LOT of fun and quite an adventure!

Day 8: Vang Vien

I continued my ride down the pitted road through the open fields and the views were absolutely gorgeous. At first, I was stopping every few hundred yards or so to take photos. I finally convinced myself that I'd taken enough pictures and that I should just settle in and enjoy the ride uninterrupted.

Laos is clearly a very fertile country. But, crops come as a result of a lot of backbreaking work. I don't recall seeing a single piece of machinery being used in the fields. It seemed that everything was being done by hand.

The Laos farmers practice what's called slash and burn farming. In the second photo, you can see a group clearing the brush and trees using machetes and then they'll burn the debris in order to clear the land. Quite a painstaking, labor-intensive process AND, unfortunately, it's not very "green."