Luang Prabang, Laos

I arrived yesterday in Luang Prabang, Laos - I love this town. It really is charming...there's a lot of French colonial influence in the architecture and food. I finally had some pate and baguette last night for dinner! I'm so excited that I'm here until the 8th. Then I take a bus down to Vientiane.

So far today, I'm being lazy. I'm just walking around the town and taking pictures of different temples and houses that pique my interest. Last night, I ate at a restaurant called Arisai, it was their very first opening night. It's very cute - the owner is a Lao/French woman (older, but stunning). I had pate with cornichons for a starter, chicken and cous cous with homemade harissa (that's the whole reason I popped in), apple tarte tartin and a nice glass of Pinot Grigio. It was a lovely dinner - I ended up sharing my dessert with these two Australian ladies sitting at the table next to me. There was so much food - I packed home more than half of my appetizer and my main!

Luang Prabang is just a really lovely little town. It is situated between the Mekong River and a smaller tributary, the Khan River. The architecture is charming and there are some really cool shops and very edgy restaurants (looks like there are a lot of American/European investors). People are friendly, even though most speak only Lao and French or Thai. I feel safe walking about on my own. Interspersed all throughout town are various temples. There are roughly 5,000 monks that live in Luang Prabang. Every morning, they walk through the town to collect alms from the people. I'll get up tomorrow morning to take some snaps - it's supposed to be a moving sight. I really can't wait to share the pics!

So far, I've walked down to where the tributary meets the Mekong and now I'm wandering along the street alongside the Mekong. I'm going to stop off at a restaurant called the Three Elephants to check out their food. They offer cooking classes, so I might sign up if I like their cuisine. If not, there's another place down the street that also offers cooking classes. It's recommended in the Lonely Planet guide, so that's a likely alternative. I'm also going to sign up for a day trek and a visit to the Elephant Camp and kayaking. LP is a great base for some good eco-tourism especially if you're fit. They've got some great sounding biking and trekking tours that I'm a little too novice (and chicken) to try out.

Between the 1-2 tours and the cooking class, I'll just have today and one more day to explore the town. I'm really enjoying myself so far. Laos is on the edge of becoming a big tourist hot spot. I can see why...but I hope that they don't lose the charm. The entire town is a UNESCO world heritage site. I think that this area could shift in the next 3-5 years. (Maybe I could take a job teaching English here next year? We'll see. I'd definitely like to come back again before it gets too touristy...anyone interested?)

I'm staying at the Senesouk Guest House and it's nice to be able to stay longer than 2-3 nights in one place. One small quirk...you take off your shoes before entering many places here...the guest house (hotel), the internet cafe...it's interesting. Oh! And the weather is nice...a bit cool actually. I'm wearing my jeans and a t-shirt today and it's a bit warm in the sun, but then I've had to wrap my scarf around myself in the shade several times already. In the evening, it's quite cool...I almost want to ask for an extra blanket on my bed. The end of November and the month of December are great times to be traveling in this part of the world! (The only place I missed on was Hoi An and Hue...but I guess there's never one good time to travel the entirety of Vietnam. March is the best time to hit both North and South Vietnam...but it sounds like it will be fairly warm. I'm glad it was cool and didn't really mind the rain so much.)

More soon!