🇱🇦 Luang Prabang

Our slow boat reached the quaint village of Luang Prabang on the evening of December 5th, 2023. With our backpacks we scramble up the steep stairs where the tuk tuks are already waiting for us at the top. We pay the driver who takes us with other tourists on a rather bumpy ride, over partly unpaved roads, to the night market in the center and lets us out there. Our hotel is only two minutes away from there. In Laos you pay for the accommodation immediately upon arrival, but in Vietnam you pay upon departure, so every country handles this differently 🙃 Unfortunately, we didn't have enough cash in our pockets, but in consultation, it was okay for everyone involved if we handed over the rest later 😇

We moved into a nice, large room with a bathroom and comfortable beds, but the balcony I had booked was missing. Chris went to reception again and asked. Unfortunately the room was already occupied, the boss said on the phone. As soon as the room was free again, we could move... well, we agreed and stayed in this room for two nights...then we were finally allowed to move to the room with a balcony. Unfortunately, the new room was much smaller and no longer as homely and comfortable as the first! 😄👎🏼 What the heck, we couldn't easily switch back now! We only paid the rest of the money when we got the room we had booked. Otherwise we felt comfortable, we had a good small breakfast every morning and our accommodation was also in a good location.

The Mekong River was not far from the accommodation, as was an ATM, various supermarkets, cafes and restaurants in the immediate vicinity and of course the night market. If you walk past the night market in the evening towards the royal palace, you can stroll through many of the local stalls. Here you can buy souvenirs and keepsakes such as postcards, clothing, bags, magnets, pictures and bracelets (jewelry). The Night Market offers plenty of food and seating options, as well as Asian pancakes “roti” and fruit shakes. But we didn't get very far with our English... we noticed that when we ordered our food. Our first impression was sobering. The locals mostly gave us a very distant impression; they didn't seem particularly friendly, courteous or open, which was a shame. We ordered “Khao Soi”, which we knew from northern Thailand, and were disappointed because it tasted completely different than expected. For dessert there was “Roti”, which was just as delicious as in Thailand 🙃 we regularly saw the people from our slow boat at the night market, that shouldn’t change in the next few weeks, apparently most of them followed the same route through it Country.

One morning we set our alarm for 5 a.m. We wanted to be on “Phousi Hill” in time for sunrise. A Buddhist temple. The view from the summit is quite popular, especially at sunset, and is very close to us. We sprayed ourselves with mosquito spray and set off in the dark, armed with water bottles and headlamps. There were small plastic chairs everywhere on the side of the road and the first monks were walking on the road in small groups. At first we didn't think anything of it and a short time later we ran into the arms of a Laotian lady who offered us a seat. At first we didn't know what to do and didn't get any real information. We sat down on the chairs and each was given a jar of sticky rice and candy. Once again a group of monks came from the “Haw Pha Bang” temple, they lined up with us one by one and we gave them a handful of rice and/or sweets in their basket. In retrospect, I knew what it was about: it was a ceremony, namely the traditional morning alms walk. Source Internet: Monks are not allowed to own anything, they rely on donations. In the morning they walk through the streets with their baskets and collect food.

How could it be otherwise, when the monks had moved on, we were allowed to leave and leave the lady a nice sum. 💸 🫠

At the entrance to “Phousi Hill” we paid the entrance fee (20,000 kip per person) and slowly climbed the steps to the viewing point, still getting to the top in time for sunrise. Please remember to wear suitable, long clothing. We weren't the first... when we got to the top, we managed to get a nice spot. We marveled at the great view over Luang Prabang while the sun slowly emerged from behind a blanket of clouds and the fog cleared. We took a few more pictures and a good hour later we went downhill again. It was definitely worth getting up early for.

We stayed 4 nights and planned our onward journey. I knew the small, original village of Nong Khiaw in the north of the country from Instagram. We booked a minivan ride and left Luang Prabang on December 9th.