Lovely Luang Prabang

Already, a month gone by.. 

already, an entire country explored and checked off of our list..

already, we are in LAOS! 

Our first stop in Laos has been the lovely Luang Prabang.  Surrounded by luscious mountains, set on the Mekong river and only a short distance from China, this northern city is refreshing in every way.  You feel relaxed, restored, rejuvenated ( and the list goes on..)  from the second you step off the plane.  Every traveler you meet agrees, their is no place like lazy Laos,  and Luang Prabang proves that to be true. 

View of the Mekong

Sleepy streets

Royal Palace Museum

A hike to a beautiful vista!

The town is dotted with many gleaming gold temples and radiantly ruby wats where at any time you can find monks coming or going.  Walking though town you are greeted by the smell of fresh fruit and coffee awaiting you in the local market.  Most road activity consists of only bicycles or few motorcycles and an 11 30 curfew make for a quiet lull, which is almost bliss coming from the big city of Hanoi.  

    

The culture and  history surrounding Luang Prabang has been well preserved,  giving travelers a sense of true Lao traditions.  We often woke up in the mornings to the monks playing a skin base drum after prayer.  And, one morning we were lucky to be up early enough to see the local people giving rice and other offerings hundreds of monks as they passed by . 

The two of us spent every single night in Luang Prabang market running around like two kids on Christmas morning. We would get so excited with all the tasty treats ( I think we must have tried EVERY single one, and there was almost never a dud. ) We would point at one and then run and smell another then ask to please try this then try that. 

 Our favorite eat was always the Mekong BBQ fish on a stick with sticky rice on the side.  Now when you see this picture, I know most of you will think: GROSS! 

But we can assure you it is sooo tasty! 

So, They BBQ the whole fish on the stick and season it with lemon grass ( which they put down its tiny thoat, so the taste can soak into the meat ) and bon appetit! 

Of course we tried many many others and of course there were also some we didn't.  Here is a short list of the two: 

Below are some coconut and rice balls that tasted just like rice pudding! ( a nightly snack )

 

The Sandwiches! mmm mmm!! 

       

We went to this lady everyday for her $1 sandwich 

 Oh my! And, the sweets! 

We think these are baby chickens?..

As any of you who have visited Asia know, this can be one of the saddest of sights.  

And on to the activities... 

We hired a tuk tuk and did a day trip to the Tad Sae waterfalls. These b-e-a-utiful waterfalls cascade into multi level limestone formations and these different levels form pools of water that is so unimaginably clear you would think you are staring at a picture.  We swam all afternoon in the falls with both locals and travelers then climbed the different levels to sit in the pools and afterwards enjoyed a fruit shake and some chips at the picnic tables before heading back to town.  

We also did the Mahout with Elephants during our time in Luang Prabang.  This was what we   wanted to do for my  Birthday so we are reserving the details of that event for the Birthday post, so make sure to keep reading! 

Thanks for keeping up with us. We love you all and miss you