Luang Prabang

Dean in front of one of the typical villas on the peninsula

If ever you could imagine a romantic vision  of an SE Asian town then Luang Prabang would probably be a literal translation of the picture in your head, Everyone told us we would love it here and they were right, but boy did they forget to tell us about the heat (phew its scorchio!!).

Luang Prabang is  located on a peninsula formed by the confluence of two rivers, the Mekong and the Khan. The palm-lined riverbanks, terracotta roofs, golden stupas and saffron-robed monks all mix together to form a picture postcard which we have found no where else to date in Southeast Asia.  We spent the vast majority of yesterday walking round the area with every corner turning up a new delight.

 



 At the top of the peninsula where the two rivers meet the whole place takes on a truly tropical feeling with palm trees edging the river. However local commerce was not far any with the constant strains do you want to hire a boat.......  

Well that certainly wasn't what I was thinking after yesterdays fun, especially after I had read that they were thinking of stopping foreign tourists from using the speed boats as there had been too many deaths from the boats disintegrating when they hit floating debris or a standing wave. I'm glad I read that after the event!! Albeit a  fellow traveller we met bravely informed us that it tended to be the unfortunate Germans that met with this watery fate! Later in the day we took the 328 step 100m tiring climb up Phu Si to watch the sunset with about 60 other people! Dean was more interested in watching the planes land at the local airport than standing with the masses to watch a golden orb disappear behind a mountain, but hey ho it was a nice view from all directions although the temple That Chomsi was a little disappointing



One of the many shots taken as the sun went down......



 We spent the evening having a wonder around the Hmong night market (and I only spent 2 quid!!  followed by a nice meal at a little Indian restaurant located next to our hotel. We then bumped into a couple from Sweden who had travelled from Pai but taken the slow boat. Their boat experiences were not really that different to ours, except they were drawn out over 2 days!! A couple of Beer Laos later and we were starting to get shifty looks from the bar staff so we headed back to our hotel to find we had been locked out. They finally let us in, but when we checked our watches it was only 11.30. It felt like being 16 again on curfew!!

Thanks for looking

Hugs

Sara