Luang Prabang

We've just completed our couple of days exploring Luang Prabang, and today took a ten-hour bus ride south to Ventiane (capital city of Laos).

Luang Prabang is historic, beautiful, and peaceful; it's easy to see why it's so popular with travelers.  The old part of the city is a wonderful combination of French colonial and Laotian.  Like the centers of some other popular tourist destinations (Guanajuato, Patzcuaro, Ashland) it's chock full of charming lanes, enticing restaurants, and boutiques.  As a former national capital and religious center, there is plenty of history and culture as well.  The historic old city center sits on a peninsula where the Nam Khan River flows into the Mekong. 

The first day there we walked and explored.  There are several beautiful and historic wats here, including Xieng Thong, Wisunarat, Ho Pha Bang,  Suwannaphumaham, and Phu Si.  Took a stroll across a seasonal (dry season only) bamboo footbridge over the Nam Khan river to the village of Ban Xang Khong, which is home to numerous paper-making and fabric artists.  We finished up the afternoon by climbing the many steps to Phu Si, a temple site on top of a high hill in the center of town.  Along the path there are several caves crammed with Buddha statues, there are many Buddhas along the paths, and there is even a small cave with what is reputed to be a footprint of the Buddha in the rock (if true, he was much larger than an elephant).  At the top, in addition to the small temple, there is a small gun emplacement left over from the war.

In the evening the main street through town is closed off to traffic and filled with a huge night market selling a full range of crafts and artwork, antiques, and t-shirts.  On a side street are many informal street restaurants, where for 10,000 kip (about $1.25) you can fill a plate from a buffet of noodle and vegetable dishes.  Grilled meats and fish (and of course beer) are also available.

Second day we continued exploring the city on foot.  We walked around the grounds of the former royal palace (used as the king's residence into the 1960s).  In late afternoon we took a cruise up the Mekong to watch the sunset.  While strolling around the center later in the evening, we ran into one of our backpacking buddies from San Diego, Judd Westover, and spent a couple of hours catching up over beers.