Luang Prabang - a perfect introduction

It's lunchtime, around 30 °, in the background there are green, wooded hills, in front of them flows the brown Mekong, which has a lot of water due to the rainy season, in front of it, under the trees, at a little table made with wooden boards, Ines, sipping a fresh pineapple shake and the previous ones Typing travel experiences, accompanied by calm, modern Laotian sounds...can you imagine it? I couldn't do it if I weren't here myself! I'm grinning like a honey cake horse as I slowly understand what awaits me here and in the next few months (!)! But from the beginning. The journey felt longer than the stated 18 hours, but it was relatively unspectacular. Well, I quickly put aside the brief uncertainty as to whether my visa would actually be issued to me in Laos, since I couldn't provide proof of my connecting flight from Cambodia at the time of check-in, and quickly had the flight confirmation ready to hand in Hanoi thanks to the free WIFI, but it was not necessary upon arrival in Luang Prabang. The flight with the turboprop was also less exciting than expected. Despite being very tired, I made the most of the rest of the first day and explored the town. Highlight of the day: a one-hour oil massage with monks singing in the background. I'm totally into it from the start. During the flight, all the tension of the last few days suddenly disappeared and I can enjoy it right from the start. There's so much here that reminds me of Nepal (probably because Nepal is the only Asian country I've ever known personally), where I felt so comfortable last year. In comparison, there is no travel group with which you can meet at a specific time. I can just do whatever I want and I really enjoy that! It's funny that you rarely sit down alone in a café/restaurant at home and just take in the scenery. It's wonderful here! Yesterday I took the obligatory trip to the waterfall and the caves full of Buddha statues with an American and a Norwegian from my guesthouse. The trip on the Mekong in the longboat was particularly great. I knew that my travel time was during the end of the rainy season, but I didn't know exactly what that meant. It's relatively warm to humid the whole time, the sun is shining and then, in no time, clouds appear and it's raining heavily. But the warm rain never really lasts long, so the whole thing is over after half an hour and the sun is back just as quickly. The Laotians are of course used to the quickly changing weather and do not let it limit them. Even on the number 1 means of transport, the scooter, whether alone or with four people, with children and friends, the umbrella is quickly opened and casually continued riding with one hand. The women traveling with you sit in the back, as befits them, side-saddle. The scenery somehow has something of Marry Poppins flying by. A really nice side effect of the rain, there are beautiful rainbows to see all the time. Like in fairytale land! It's difficult for me to capture all the impressions in pictures, because you don't know where to stop first. Maybe these pictures will help you get a little impression...

Drifting works quite well. Contacting other travelers is also pretty straightforward. Every now and then you have a little chat if you want, otherwise everyone does what they want. After I found the corner of the bar on the third trip down the street, I was quickly invited to have a "small" beer (the German searched in vain for a calibration mark or a statement of contents! I now know that it is 630 ml ;o)). . It was a pretty fun evening and I was proud of myself for not being in bed so early. Well, I spontaneously changed my mind in the morning and didn't get up at 5:30 to watch the procession of the monks who receive food from the population, but instead used the time to sleep and then took the bus to the second station around 7:30 to drive on my trip.