Luang Prabang

We had a great week in Luang Prabang, the city is so charming and the people are so friendly that it’s hard not to like. The city is tucked within a corner of the Mekong and Nam Khan rivers and it’s easy to walk from end to end. Every morning we would get breakfast from our favorite café and sometimes enjoy it on the hotel viranda. In the evenings, we would usually stroll through the colorful nightly market. We didn’t buy much (our packs are already too heavy) but its fun to watch the action. We ate dinner at a buffet in the market, only 5,000 kip (or 50 cents) for a big plate of different food, by far the best deal in town.

We spent a day visiting some of the many wats scattered throughout the city, our favorite being Wat Xieng Thong. There are 190 steps to the top, with beautiful Buddha statues along the way and stunning views of the city and the Mekong River. In a city of just 26,000 people, there are over 30 wats in Luang Prabang. Every day at sunrise, the beating of a wooden gong instructs monks to line up in preparation for filing through the street, barefoot and in single file. Carrying alms bowls, they collect offerings of sticky rice and other gifts from the kneeling villagers, who wish to receive merit by their actions. Many local women wake early each day just to prepare food for this ceremony.

After a few days, we arranged a trek to some Hmong and Khamu hill tribe villages. The trek itself was rougher than expected, through thick forest and streams and slippery hills. At one point, we had to cross the Mekong River and a man pulled up in an “I Love NY” t-shirt to take us to the other side. It was a memorable experience as the boat was filled with about 6 inches of water and it felt like we could tip over at any moment. Along the paths we met different groups of people, a couple of Hmong villagers growling like bears (jokingly) before we could see them in the scrub, a group of girls playing hide and seek behind a basket and a group of boys taking our pictures with handmade clay “cameras”. The villages were nice but we moved rather quickly through them along the 8 hour trek.

We arranged to have a traditional Luang Prabang meal at a place called Tamarind. There were so many different dishes served; mekong seaweed with sesame, leaves filled with buffalo/rice/peanut sauces, stuffed bamboo, laab (a dish with buffalo/eggplant/cilantro/lime), buffalo/pork soups and of course, lots of sticky rice. It was great to sample the unique dishes of Laos and to have someone explain how each dish was made (and how to eat it).

We spent one rainy day on the hotel viranda with our next door neighbor, Tommy. We met Tommy at a café on our first day in Luang Prabang and it was coincidence that he was staying in the same hotel in the room next door. Tommy is an interesting character, about 80 years old and full of stories, quotes and advice. He grew up in India, went to school in New Zealand and now runs a guesthouse in Thailand. He’s out there, I think a bit too much partying in the 60’s, but he was interesting and funny to visit with.

After 7 great nights in Luang Prabang, it was time to leave. We took a short 45 minute flight to Chang Mai and we’ll be in Northern Thailand for the next two weeks. Then we’ll be off to either Myanmar or Malaysia.

Laos, Vientiane to Vang Vieng

We spent a quiet three nights in Vientiane. The city rests on a bend in the Mekong River and it is the capitol of Laos, although with a population of only 200,000 people, the city is small and near silent. There isn’t an abundance of cars/scooters/buses cluttering the roads and no horns constantly beeping. It’s very peaceful to walk the streets, lined with traditional wood houses, French colonial buildings, temples and concrete structures. There isn’t much to do in Vientiane other than relax and enjoy the peace and quiet. We took a bus to a village about 5 hours north, Vang Vieng.

We had read that travelers either love or loathe Vang Vieng and unfortunately we were on the side of the latter. The village is nice and it’s placement along the Nam Song river with small wooden crossing bridges is beautiful, it was the atmosphere which was the problem. The village is overrun by young backpackers who either want to sit in one of the many restaurants blaring “Friends” or “Family Guy” 24/7 or who are there to get drunk daily and tube down the river. Then they proceed to walk around town dressed inappropriately for any city in the world. It just wasn’t for us. We did rent bicycles one day and explored the nearby villages and visited some caves nearby. That was our main highlight in Vang Vieng and we quickly moved on.

We took a long and bumpy bus ride along winding roads 6 hours north to Luang Prabang. The scenery was beautiful but the ride was nauseating. Although we’ve only been here for one night, we absolutely love it. Luang Prabang is a beautiful city set along the Mekong River with tree-lined streets and French colonial architecture with beautiful limestone mountains as the backdrop. It is dotted with Buddhist wats and monks wandering the city, smiling locals and quaint shops. We are staying in the Old Quarter which will be a good base to see the various sites and close to the nightly Hmong market which sells traditional Lao handicrafts, jewelry and traditional medicines. There are an abundance of cafes along the Mekong River, so we’ll more than likely park at one for a while this morning and watch the city float by. Then in the coming days we’ll be taking a 1 or 2 day trek to the villages north of Luang Prabang.

More to come.

Sapa and the Nearby Villages

We took an overnight train from Hanoi to Sapa which was an 11 hour ride. The cabin was extremely comfortable, with four plush beds and nice furnishings. We were sharing the cabin with a couple from Australia and spent the evening having drinks and snacks and talking about various places to travel. We arrived in Sapa in the early morning and it was a short bus ride to our hotel, which overlooked foggy rice terraces and nearby Cat Cat village.

Sapa is a small picturesque village just 5 minutes from the China border. The main town is a bit touristy but a short trek will take you into the nearby villages where you can see many hill tribe people, their villages, rice terraces and lush vegetation. The minority groups which are most prominent are the Hmong, Red Dao, White Thai, Giay, Tay, Muong groups.

Groups of ethnic Hmong youngsters and women can be seen hauling impossibly heavy, awkward baskets of wood, stakes, bamboo, bricks, mud and produce. The Hmong people are the most outgoing, always smiling and wanting to talk (or sell you some homemade jewelry or clothing). We went on a trek to nearby Cat Cat village which winds through the village and rice terraces, the views changing by the hour due to the low hanging fog that comes and goes.

We were sick for a few days which unfortunately cut into our time to do longer treks outside of Sapa. We were able to do a full day trek to Lao Chai and Ta Van which is predominantly Red Dao and Giay minorities. We didn’t go with an organized trek or have a guide but a couple of Hmong women followed us on our trek and pointed us in the right direction for the different paths to take, at times holding our hands while we crossed small rivers on small stepping rocks. The views were breathtaking and it was nice to see life in the small rural villages. We met one woman along the way who must have been around 80 years old, her ears stretched from the heavy weight of the large earrings that they wear. She sat with us for a while and took the rings from her ears to try to sell.

At the end of our 10km trek, the Hmong women didn’t ask for any money but only asked that we purchase something. I spent $4 on a few bracelets and then we took a motorbike back to Sapa. The motorbike ride was intense, winding around mountains while our driver made calls on his cell phone but we made it back quickly and in one piece! We made plans to leave although it is an area we will definitely come back to. There are so many villages in the north of Vietnam that we would need weeks to explore fully. We took an overnight train back to Hanoi and it was nice to be back. We both feel very comfortable there and enjoy daily life in the city. We spent another 6 nights in Hanoi before taking a flight to Vientiane, Laos (only an hour and a half flight on a prop plane). We are both happy to be starting a new country and we’ve been looking forward to Laos for a while now.