Laos - part 2

Travelling in Laos was surprisingly easy.
In Luang Prabang there are many travel offices offering day trips and extended adventures or organising travel to the next town, next country, whereever.
The guest houses will also organise things for you.

With only a couple of days in Luang Prabang, we first went on a boat trip to the famous Pak Ou caves, up river on the Mekong.
I was filled with emotion as we sped, um er chugged upstream in the longboat, my dream of travelling up the Mekong was realised!


The tour stopped at a small village, where Lao rice whiskey is made.
We tasted, even though it was 10 o'clock in the morning!



Wandering through the village we found the weavers.
This lady let me take a photo if I bought a scarf, and as it was only $2, it seemed fair enough.

The caves are filled with hundreds of buddahs.
It seems that in Lao more is better and there is great spiritual merit in the many buddah images.



The boats tied up at this wonderfully rustic bamboo pontoon.

bamboo pontoon and boats at the Pak Ou caves

Another day was a minibus trip to the Tat Kuang Si - waterfalls and beautiful blue swimming holes.

Laos - part 1

It seems so long ago we flew to Luang Prabang in northern Laos.
Not knowing what to expect!

Luang Prabang is world heritage listed because of its ancient monuments and unique beauty.


Wat xieng thong is over 500 years old and is so beautifully decorated inside and out.
It is one of many temples in the city, and only one of the very many we were to see on our trip!

There are also over 200 guest houses in Luang Prabang.
We chose ours on the internet, and what a little beauty!
For A$26 a night, aircon, TV, a baclony and delightful hosts!

rattana guest house

We soon discovered the local brew!
Beer Lao is very good and justly famous through the region.



We had dinner next to the Mekong river as the sun set.


Another day we climbed all the steps to Mount Phousi which has a temple on the top (surprise!)

the view from Mount Phousi over the city and Nam Khan river

Getting around was very easy by bicycle, everybody goes by bike or motorbike.


We stayed here for 3 nights, but could have stayed a week or two, it was so relaxing and interesting.
and it had a fab night market!