Oooom, hot hot heat

Luang Prabang, Laos

A vip bus ride the next day, that took about 7 hours over the hills brought us into the UNESCO World Heritage site of Luang Prabang. We left Vang Vien at about 9.30 am and arrived approximately in the central bus station of L.P at 4.30pm. A quick 10 minute tuk-tuk ride brought us right into the main street where guest-houses were aplenty to choose from.

(Tip: When descending the bus at the central station, you will be surrounded by various guesthouse "agents" offering you their best price if you follow them. Keep in mind that the guesthouses are literally next to each other; so if you do follow an "agent" and are not satisfied with the room; you can always walk into the next one. So what we did was get a brochure with a map of the area and just dive into the main street. You'll have plenty of choices so relax and just haggle away).

The guest-houses were all clean and simple. So we un-packed, cleaned ourselves up and started to head out for dinner. In any asian city/ town, tourist pot; there shall always be something similar or akin to a night market; and Luang Prabang is no exception. The Night Market in downtown Luang Prabang, which is open roughly from 5.30pm till 10pm is a treasure trove of scarves, hand-painted artworks, beutiful hand-crafted linens and accessories.

I went crazy running my hand on all the tradiotinal skirts and colourful scarves looking for one i'd spare my USD for. Bangles and bracelets as well as figurines of Buddhist worship were also among the many crafts on sale. Laos Kip, and US Dollars are mainly in use although some may accept Thai Baht if you have them to spare.
 But as we walked through the market, most stalls and both sell the same wares and our churning, growling tummies were in need of serious fuel before we could go on.
Luckily for us, Ro found a vegetarian buffet vendor right smack in the middle of the market. 5000 kip for a plate of food. There were spring rolls for 1000 kip a piece, but who would mind? All you can eat, and cheap too. We indulged, had more than one serving before we moved on to what some might say the national sport of Luang prabang.
Bowling!
(Note: As Luang Prabang is famous for its many temples and holy status, it is by law that all establishments of bussiness should be closed by 11.00pm; except for the bowling alley which gets to open till 2.00 am. Disco bowl maybe?)

The next day, began with breakfast at a nearby cafe, called Joma which serves a big portion of delectable goods for a good price. The setting and ambience were reminiscent of a cozy western cafe and the menu was filled with choices for all taste buds. We tried getting tickets to fly into Hanoi that morning itself, but the planning and searching, and haggling prices with tour agencies sucked us dry of energy before we agreed to cool ourselves from the scorching sun at the famed Kwang Si waterfalls; an hour's drive from the town of Luang Prabang.

Driving through rice paddy fields and villages to get there reminded me of driving through KB, my very own village; where everything was still and green. Kwang Si waterfalls was a good choice, the water was cooling, there was another swing in one of the swimming area and the place was cleaner than the last waterfall i came across (okay, Makassar has so much to catch up to!) Just sitting on one of the rocks with my feet in the water was good enough for me.
After much sun-bathing and water-paddling, we rallied and went back into town, to explore the temples and Luang Prabang's National Museum.

Despite of such good intentions, i did not get to see the temples and museum  untill the next day, which incidentally was when Ro parted ways with us to see the rest of Laos on his own.

The National Museum was; i guess in a way was interesting? It explained essentially the history (duh!) and legendary stories of the kingdom through out the ages. But i guess i was hoping for something more as the best thing in the museum to me were the paintings, and the stories it told.

To finish of our stay, with one extra day, we took a boat trip out to see the Pak Ou Caves (with upper and lower caves and a whole lot of stairs in between these two) and a nearby village called 'Lao-Lao village' or in other words; whisky village. Where home-made Lao whisky is made and processed before it is sent all over the city. Scorpions and cobras were the meaty choice to put in a laos whisky bottle. Too strong?

3 days in Luang Prabang was enough for me. I prefered its streets and general feel to Vang Vien; but alas we had places to go and Vietnam to see. I do miss the fruitshakes though.

Pink Dragonfruit just doesn't taste as good on its own.:)