Luang Prabang and Reincarnation

For our trip from Bangkok to Luang Prabang, we decided to take a flight due to time constraints. We quickly booked the flight and our guesthouse in Bangkok before encountering a strange quirk. At Don Muang Airport in Bangkok, very loud noises echoed from the toilets 🤔. It took a few moments to realize that these sounds couldn't possibly come from human digestive tracts due to their volume and pitch. And lo and behold, after closer inspection, Christian found a fart noise generator that gave it its all at irregular intervals. Finally, a good invention...😂 According to Nathalie, this apparatus was not available in the ladies' toilet, where only a poop smell generator was installed 😂.

Upon arrival in Luang Prabang, one could immediately sense a prevailing tranquility and absolute deceleration. The visa formalities were absolutely no problem even with incomplete documents. The relaxed and surprisingly friendly officials demanded a $1 service fee for the missing passport photos, and we were able to enter. The short taxi ride and the nice welcome with fresh fruit and coffee before we even talked about 'formalities' in our guesthouse were - in contrast to Bangkok - absolutely stress-free 🤷‍♂️.

Luang Prabang is simply a very pretty small city built in French colonial style, but with an Asian temple flair. As an evening highlight, a large night market is offered, which leads past many ornate temples. As for the nightlife, that's almost it. There are countless cute bars, cafes, and restaurants here, but by 11:30 PM at the latest, the sidewalks are rolled up 🤷‍♂️. In fact, hardly anyone is on the street from then on. Everything here has its own rhythm 🕔. This is probably why the pace of life is so calm here. By the way, the Asian poffertjes made from coconut milk and sticky rice are highly recommended at the night market 🤤.

Since we had (still) found a timely ending on the first evening in the most stylish bar in Luang Prabang, the Utopia, we decided to do something quieter on the second evening. Therefore, we opted for a Mekong Sundown Cruise 😎 instead of hiking up a hill where everyone gathers for the sunset. In short: a WONDERFUL decision. Top boat, top location, wonderfully cheerful atmosphere, and all at a very fair price of around €9 🌅. At the beginning of the cruise tour, we had to fish two fish out of an aquarium, which were released back into the Mekong during a solemn ceremony at sunset (reincarnation). These fish had the task of accompanying the wishes written on banana leaves by us and swimming to fulfill them 🤗. Aladin had at least three open wishes, but formulating only one important wish is indeed not that easy and makes you very pensive... 🧐. On another banana leaf, something "bad" should be written. These leaves were sunk with a stone. In short, a beautiful and for some, a very emotional ceremony.

The evening ended with a delicious Laotian BBQ in a recommended restaurant where we - without a reservation - met Miriam and Philipp in the waiting area and then spontaneously spent the evening together in a cross-legged position. This way, we could exchange ideas and tips about further highlights. All in all, a successful conclusion to the first 1.5 days in Luang Prabang 😊.

We would love for it to continue like this, and with a few more tips and the serenity we found on-site, we are very sure about it 😎...