Before getting to what we did and my impressions of Luang Prabang itself, I first want to suggest that everyone experience a 4 hour mini van ride that is shared with 15 other people, ~30 pieces of luggage, and a driver crossing to the other side of the road on blind turns going well over whatever speed limit there may or may not be in a country. It’s a very good way to start valuing your life a lot more…
Once we managed to survive the trip north, I have nothing but good things to say about our time in Luang Prabang. We spent the first day there walking around to see some of the wats scattered throughout the town, and I immediately loved the mix of European colonial architecture, the Loa wats, and the homes of the villagers. You can definitely see why the town itself is a UNESCO world heritage site – it is incredibly aesthetically pleasing. We then ventured to the night market, and feasted (I did at least…) on the various barbecued meats being offered on sticks for ~$1.
One of the major tourist attractions of Luang Prabang are the Kuang Si falls, which are a series of waterfalls about 25 km outside of the center of the city. It seemed like more tour groups and hotels offered buses to them around 11:30am, so we thought it best to just get a tuk tuk ourselves at 7:15am, and have a few hours there without any crowds – this turned out to be one of the best decisions of the trips so far.
This past summer, Hillary and I traveled to Iceland and saw more than our fair share of waterfalls, but the Kuang Si falls still managed to blow me away. The idea that something so breathtaking and majestic could form naturally in the middle of a random forest is beyond my comprehension. Check out the pictures, because my words can’t do them any justice. We spent all morning admiring the falls and climbing to the top, where we were the first tourists up (it was not the easiest climb) and had a nice natural pool area with a swing and a view down to the falls below all to ourselves.
We got back to town and spent the afternoon exploring, before getting dinner in the market again and finding a nice spot for some ice cream and wine to end what was a truly great day.
Our third day was the first cooking class of our trip (4 more to go!). We were given a tour of a local market (I think Hillary appreciated that part more than I did) before learning to prepare 4 or 5 Lao dishes and desserts. I was a bit nervous heading into it, as my cooking experience is limited to eggs, oatmeal, and basically unseasoned meat on a grill, but it turned out to be a lot of fun (and my food didn’t even taste all that bad). I will admit I had to ask Hillary for help once or twice, but overall I was satisfied with my Lao cooking performance.
We had a relaxing afternoon after that, getting some tea at a local shop, having another market dinner, and then back to the wine bar to end the night. Overall, I can’t say enough good things about our experience in Luang Prabang – I was definitely sad to have to fly out the next day, but the trip had to continue. Next stop – Myanmar!