You can travel to Luang Prabang by bus but it will take you around 11-13 hours, that's half a day gone on a bumpy road with endless potholes. Due to time constraint, we decided to take a flight, ticket's around USD 80+ per person.
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| Lao Airlines from Vientiane to Luang Prabang |
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| View from the flight |
Luang Prabang is a UNESCO WORLD HERITAGE city. The architecture of the houses are French-influenced. The city reminds me of Melaka. Our 1st destination is Haw Kham (after we dropped our luggage in the guest house. BUT... our great trip has been marred by 1 incident and it all started from this guest house! To be told later #makingyoucurioussothatyouwillcontinuetoreadon), the former royal palace and now national museum.
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| Walking to Haw Kham. We are not allowed to take any photos in the palace. |
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We walked to Phou Si the main hill in Luang Prabang after our visit at Haw Kham.
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| The stairway to Phou Si. It's not very steep but I am a weak lady ~ so it took me a while to reach the top :| |
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| The stupa of Wat Chom Si on the summit of Mount Phou si. |
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| View from Phou Si |
We didn't stay long at Phou Si for its sunset view as we have to wait for another 2 hours and we refused to come back to pay another 20,000 kip. The truth is I just don't want to climb the staircase for the 2nd time :p. We just took a stroll around Luang Prabang and I have to say it's one of my favorite cities, loving its cooling weather as well (if I ignore the incident occurred in the guest house -.-).
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| Buddies |
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| Evening at Luang Prabang |
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| We had dinner at the night market. |
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| Local handmade souvenirs. |
The following day, we woke up early for the alms ceremony. Monks collect food (rice or fruits) from kneeling villages or tourists.
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| If you would like to give alms make sure you prepare quality food. There are local merchants that sell stale and unsafe food and cause the monks fall ill. |
After that, we walked to the river and paid for a boat ride to Whisky village and Pak Ou caves. There's nothing much to see in Whisky village. Just some local villagers selling souvenirs and local lao rice spirit (Laolao). You can try their Laolao and purchase some back (some with snakes in it...lol).
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| Buddha sculptures are placed in the caves in different positions - meditation, teaching, peace... |
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| Tourists flock to the cave for its miniature Buddha sculptures |
Back to the mainland and had traditional Lao food for lunch. Don't ask me the food names, I forgot...hehe. Basically, we just use the lettuce to wrap the ingredients. We were given a small bucket of sticky rice (very delicious) which is not shown in the pictures.
At night, we passed by a food stall with many locals and saw them eating something like Hong Kong Chee Cheong Fun. Just that the fillings are slightly different - with meat and vege (egg, optional) instead of prawns / Chinese Roast Pork. With the help of a local, we managed to order two plates but the merchant hiked up the price because we are tourists! (the pain of it -.-).
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| Nevertheless, it's extremely delicious! It's a must try if you are there. |
So it's gonna be a Part 2 for Luang Prabang, too many photos and too little time. Stay tuned!
Check out my previous post on Vientiane ->
Laos - Vientiane
P.S: Photo credits to Mr Bin. Thank you!
P.S:
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Travel, in the younger sort, is a part of education; in the elder, a part of experience. ~ Francis Bacon, Sr.
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