Luang Prabang

To me, the temples in Laos had the perfect balance of ornateness, majesty, and humility.

Almost everyone we’ve spoken to at home, who have done the SE Asia circuit, have said in one way or another that Laos was their favourite country in this corner of the world. With that thought, we planned and re-planned our itinerary many times to fit in at least one city in Laos. In the end, we found ourselves flying in and out of Luang Prabang for a short 4-day-3-night stay, and it was one of the best decisions we’ve made on this trip.

Luang Prabang was a tiny town with one main thoroughfare. Situated between two rivers, the Mekong and the Nam Khan, the surrounding scenery was lush and peaceful. There were a lot of foreign tourists in Luang Prabang, but it still managed to preserve more small town charm than a manufactured tourist trap. We enjoyed just strolling along the streets by day, hiding out in cafes during the hottest hours, and sitting down at communal tables in the night market. We ate by candlelight because power cuts are not unusual in Laos, and of course we found ourselves in the middle of one right when we decided to visit the food stalls in the night market. We took a boat ride out to the caves, and wandered through some temples. However, in general, Luang Prabang was a place to unwind, take things slowly, and the perfect town to just live and be for a while.

One of the wats along the main road, by the National Museum

It should be worth noting that we (I) loved the cafe Joma in Luang Prabang. It is Canadian-owned and managed, and to have a cup of regular strength coffee after Vietnam was heavenly enough, but their Nanaimo bars were the real thing!! We felt an affectionate attachment to the bakery, and sat there using the WiFi, blogging and catching up on emails on a couple of afternoons.

This photo could’ve been taken anywhere, but I loved that it was in Laos!

The other treasure we found in Laos were the crepes on the side of the road at night. Here in SE Asia, a lot of times the “crepes” would turn into “rotis”, and we’d watch in equal parts fascination and dismay as the vendors added oil and egg to our concoction. In Laos, the French influence was largely preserved correctly, that we found authentic crepes just like the ones in Paris, except here, there were lots of mango, coconut, and other delicious combinations not found anywhere else!

Mango and Nutella crepe, with a mango shake to drink – because I can!

We loved our relaxing stay in Laos, and were even more impressed with the way the small airport (read: field beside city with one runway) security worked. Going back and forth between security was not a problem, and neither were bottled waters or coconut shakes in plastic bags. Best of all, as we lined up in front of immigration to get our exit stamps, the customs agents informed us to “come back later, we’re having lunch.” Gotta love the way things are run out here!