We arrived at Luang Prabang airport on the smallest plane in the world…at least it seemed that way until we saw the smaller plane that Lao airlines were flying from Vientiane to Luange Prabang when we landed.  We flew Bangkok Air which is a serviceable enough airline.  Being a ATR70 (that’s code for IT HAD PROPELLERS!!!!) it was only a small service.  A pleasant two hour flight and we had left the horrors of Bangkok behind us and arrived in  lovely Luang Prabang.

We then had to line up to purchase our visas.  This took about half an hour as there was a long line of people and only one person taking money and writing out the visa.  Once the visas were obtained and duly admired we then had to line up for passport control.  This also took a little while as there were two men – one to look at the passport and one to stamp it.  By this time our bags were the last on the conveyor belt.  Someone had obviously gotten tired of watching them go around so we found them dumped on the floor.  Fair enough I guess, there were only around 40 passengers+ luggage to get through and we were the last ones in the line.

Anyway, once we were through the airport we got a taxi to take us to our hotel, Lotus Villa, which was very nice with a comfortable bed, hot shower and a balcony out the front from which we could watch the procession of monks each morning.

The alms giving each morning is a time honoured tradition in which, usually, housewives give rice to the monks as they pass by each morning, ensuring that the monks have breakfast and that the housewives make “merit” each day.  It is facinating to watch.  Unfortuantely it is at 6am! There are signs all around the town asking that visitors to the area respect the custom and stand a small distance away to watch and to not point flashing cameras into the monks faces. It was a nice thing to watch first thing in the morning.

Adam was not feeling at all well by the time we arrived at the hotel, so we stayed indoors for a few hours so he could get to rest. We went out in search of dinner and found a resturant just around the corner from our hotel, The 3 Nagas, where we dined on Mekong river weed and buffalo skin amongst other delights. It cost a bit more than we were expecting but was a very satisfying dinner for our introduction into Luang Prabang eating.

The next day we were up early to watch the monks on their morning trail before breakfast. With Adam feeling better we set off to explore. There really isn’t a lot of Luang Prabang, but there is a lot to see. Walking down the main road we dropping into the Grand Palace for a look. It’s not nearly as big as the one in Phnom Penh or as shiny as the one in Bangkok. It has been made into a museum of the old Royal Family. It was nice and interesting. Not really and WOW moments, although they did have a very impressive mosaic on the walls of the throne room, much like Wat Xieng Thong. After the palace we walked into the wat on the main street. It wasn’t as spectacular as some of the wats we have seen, but still very nice.

We really didn’t do a lot other than walk and eat for the rest of the day. Luang Prabang is really just one of those places where you can get a lot out of it just be taking it easy. There are things to do, the Pak Ou Caves, the waterfalls, elephant riding, trekking, kayaking….the list can go on, but you can have just as much fun sitting in one of the cafes and watching the world go by. There is such a huge diversity of people to watch there.

We spent three lovely days there before we were off to Nong Khiaw…..by boat! This was a 6 hour boat ride which deserves a blog post all of it’s very own so I will leave things here and pick it up again shortly…………..