mango on an apple

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!

The tuk-tuks in Laos are the prettiest I have seen so far

It is worth a post to talk about the people we’ve met on our travels. As a couple, it isn’t always easy to strike up conversations with strangers traveling with friends or on their own, but when we did, we have met some pretty interesting and great people.

The unspoken agreement for travelers on the road seems to be conversation first, names maybe later. We all know that our paths will cross but briefly, and we will have lots in common for that short period of time, but afterwards, mostly we go our separate ways and won’t see each other again. And that is totally how it is supposed to be.

In India, when I was sick in bed, Alex on his own met many people in our hotel and on his solo tour to the Monkey Temple. Of the people he met, there was a British couple freshly out of school, whom we ran into again later in Udaipur, and we traded advice on where to eat and what to do in Udaipur – helpful advice that led me to the awesome cooking class.

In Jaipur, I also struck up a conversation with a French couple while using the public computers in our hotel, and it was they who helped me pick out our apartment in Paris for September.

In India, we also had the fortune to meet up with Tracy, Mohit, and Alex’s high school friend Anu, all of whom shared their time generously with us, showing us the country from a local lens that we would’ve otherwise missed.

In Cambodia, we bonded with an American couple on the same trip as us from Bangkok, and ended up sharing everything from tuk-tuks to mangoes and lychees on the side of the road, making our journey much more full of colour (and our dinner orders much more varied than with just two people)!

In Vietnam, we spent a full day on a boat with three Londoners originally from very different parts of the world, and heard fantastic stories on the places they’ve seen. We learned about different ways of traveling, such as the concept of couch-surfing, now in a much more regulated but still fun environment.

The stories we’ve heard from travelers have also been amazing. From people celebrating graduation, to people taking an unofficial year off school (and going back to write their exams in the hopes that they pass and continue on into the next year anyway!), to ex-stockbrokers who are well-versed in Cambodia currency fluctuations, to ex-pat hotel managers with homes on different continents, everyone has a tale worth telling and worth listening to. It is something that never gets old, and helps the flow of conversation along as we travel on.

I think the friends along the way is one of the things I will miss the most about traveling life once we are settled again. There just doesn’t seem to be a better way to run into such a diverse population with unique stories to share, and for that, I am glad we have chosen this path.