Arrival in Luang Prabang, Laos

Luang Prabang, Laos
08/16/09

Arrived safe and sound in Luang Prabang around 3pm. Stunning green hills with misty clouds surround the town which sits on the bank of the Mekong River.

We are now unquestionably in the old French Indochina. This town is more like Vietnam than Thailand or Bruma. Certain streets look like Saigon or Hoi An in Vietnam. Beautiful in the old French colonial way.

The people are busy and determined. Smiles all about, clothing 100% modern. They even have sponsor t-shirts for the river canoe race which will take place in a few days. Motorbikes everywhere, along with a lot of bicycles. Luang Prabang is the center of the province, and has about 60,000 people, quite a change from Thailand and Bruma. It just doesn't seem as crowded as those places.

It also has an aura of adventure, if you can call never being further than a few steps from a cheap cold beer adventurous. This is backpacker country, and hasn't been overrun by tourists yet.

First stop (drumroll) a pagoda. Then another pagoda. Then to what we have named the 900 step pagoda. About 900 steps up a hill, straight up. Quite a view, but a killer climb. We'll need more practice before the Kilamanjaro climb.

Dinner at a Loas food resturant (which holds cooking classes) which was cheap and good. An early night though, as we're up at 5am to take part in the monk sticky rice donation ceremony.