Luang Prabang

Luang Prabang is a beautiful city heavily influenced by the French, you can tell by the architecture of some of the buildings, and my favorite part, the food.

One of my favorite meals of the trip

To be honest, I didn't do much in Luang Prabang. I was running low on cash and Luang Prabang was more expensive than I anticipated. Don't get me wrong, it was still very cheap, but not as cheap as I anticipated it to be. However, I can almost guarantee that if I go back in 5 years the cost of anything from food to guesthouses to beer will be twice the price of what it is today, maybe even three times as much.

At Kuang Si Falls. I think I was in the process of yelling "Hold the button!"

I spent about three or four nights in Luang Prabang. Each day we pretty much just walked around town, absorbing the sites, smells, and people. At night we would do they same. There's a cool night market that we walked through with lots of crafts, Beerlao t-shirts, and other souvenirs. One of the days I went the Kuang Si Falls with the Korean, the Kiwi, and the Brit. Talk about an international crew! (The German would've came too but he was still feeling sick from the stomach flu.) We bargained with a tuktuk driver who agreed to drive us out to falls and wait for us until we're finished (so much cheaper than going with a guided tour). The falls were beautiful! Kuang Si Falls consisted of cascading falls into different pools that you could swing in, jump in, dive or just sit in (which is what we did with BeerLao). There was also elephant riding and ziplining in the area so every now and then an elephant would walk through the pool below us, but unfortunately no zipliners that day for us to see.

On the boat back to our tuktuk from Kuang Si Falls

The most memorable thing about Luang Prabang was watching the procession of monks collecting alms in early morning. Every morning I set my alarm at 5am to go see it, and on my last day I finally got my butt out of bed and did just that. Luang Prabang is popular for its's large number of Buddhist monasteries and temples, so every morning at around sunrise the monks walk through the streets asking for alms from the local people. They  carried pots where the locals gave them sticky rice and other various treats. This was truly a special moment; the sun just rising, the monks flowing through the streets in a river of orange robes, and it was a very quiet procession. Except for one very big annoyance; the tourists. I'm one too and yes, I stole some shots with my tiny point and shoot, discretely of course. However, those with the giant DSLRs running between monks to get the best shot was rude.

Luang Prabang is considered to be a holy city with about 33 wats in the small area, and this is a pretty special tradition of walking through the city (I think). Regardless, the monks were being treated like a tourist attraction, or like animals in a zoo. I made the mistake by making my perch next to a high-end guesthouse where a loud British kid was yelling about how hungry he was while the monks were walking past. When the procession was finished and I was making my way back to my guesthouse, and the papparazzi was surrounding a girl that the monks were giving some of their sticky rice to. It was really sad, and it ruined the peacefulness of the whole movement. If you ever make it to Luang Prabang, I really recommend seeing this, but be weary of your actions. Here's some advice if you do find yourself there.

Here's some more advice I didn't follow when I started my vacation. ALWAYS bring dollars with you. I wad dumb and only brought Korean won with me, so I had a panic attack on my last day in Luang Prabang when I was out of the Laos kip I exchanged. I stopped at over a dozen currency exchange places and travel agencies that offered such services until I finally found a place that exchanged to Korean won. I also only brought my Korean credit card which was NOT accepted anywhere. I honestly don't know what I would have done if I didn't find a place that accepted Korean won. So always bring dollars or euros. I have learned my lesson. Goodbye Luang Prabang. Helloooooo Vang Vieng!

Lao Style Sandwich AKA my breakfast every morning in Luang Prabang.  Basically a baquette with cucumbers, tomatoes, tofu, eggs, lettuce, sweet chilli sauce, and some other delicious goodness. Noms.