Old World Asia

Luang Prabang, Laos

We left Vientiane on Sunday for Luang Prabang - a city which was declared a World Heritage Site in 1995 by UNESCO. The 9 hour mini-van ride was practically luxury as there was only 4 of us, Penne, Anna and Helena from Sweden, and myself. Like most of Asia getting from one place to another usually consisted of winding up and down mountains and volcanoes. This journey was no different. The landscape was filled with rolling hills covered in all shades of green and the blue sky filled with clouds that resembled raw cotton.

We arrived in LP just in time to see the locals start setting up for their daily night markets. The streets were filled with panels of beautifully hand quilted blankets, duvet covers, pillows and the most colorful silk scarves. By far the best market I've seen in Asia. Of course no night market would be complete without the food section. Penne and I have slowly worked our way up the food stalls from one end of the street to the other. Delicious leaf rolls stuffed with some sort of spicy eggplant paste, little fried samosa type things filled with grated coconut, som tam (spicy papaya salad), laaps of all varieties, spicy sausages, and of course pho.

That same night we ran into Matt and Jon, two english guys i'd met in Kuala Lumpur, and then again in Koh Phi Phi, along with their friend Sally. The boys were planning on leaving the next day back to Bangkok so we all decided to hit one of the 3 bars in LP - Hive Bar before it closed at midnight (about the latest anything is open in LP). Besides Beer Lao, Laos is famous (infamous) for their local whiskey made by many of the nearby villages called what else but 'Lao Lao'. I can't even begin to explain how foul this stuff is! Whiskey, HA! more like rubbing alcohol. No wonder they give this stuff out for free. There was no way anyone would pay actually pay for this kind of punishment - well, except for Penne who ordered a glass neat ;)

Yesterday we decided to visit the Kuang Si falls and after negotiating a price we got a boat owner to take 4 of us for $16. The boat ride along the Mekong was so peaceful and calm all of us had dozed off at some point. I guess the driver realized this because once we arrived on land he turned into Mr. Tuk-Tuk Speedracer. I swear the wheels on this heaping piece of metal were any shape other than round. Regardless of ditch, pothole, pedestrian, corner, or turkey he maintained a steady speed of 40km/h! The falls were fabulous, the climb up was broken up with little swimming areas. The water was bloody cold, but after numbness wore off very refreshing. We headed back to town just in time as the sky opened up. Now this was the weather i had been expecting after researching that sept/oct were the most rainy months.

Its now Wednesday morning and the rains has stopped... for now. Keep your fingers crossed that it stays this way because we haven't done our night market shopping yet :)