Pete and Chon's Asia Vacation: Laos

Luang Prabang

The world heritage listed town of Luang Prabang was a chance for Chon and I to knock it back a gear and take in some of it's beautiful sites at a more leisurely pace. It is a small town with a french colonial feel but dotted with Buddhist temples and orange clad monks. The locals are very friendly and happy to help you were they can.

We utilised the free bicycles offered by the resort almost daily to explore the sleepy town. It is so laid back that most of the shops and establishments shut their doors from 11:00am to 1:30pm and then again from 3:00pm until 5:00pm with a curfew of 11:30pm for restaurants, bars and cafés. People are so relaxed here that whilst viewing a spectacular sunset on top of Phou Si Hill, a Chinese man farted loudly standing right in front of Chon. That is the second time in our travels that a Chinese man has farted in Chon's general direction whilst in a beautiful, peaceful location.

We also joined a cruise up the mighty Mekong river stopping at a rice whisky village (Xiang Hai Village) and Pak Ou caves that contained thousands of budha statues. The night market was fun for about 50 metres until I got sick of ducking under the low marquees and inhaling European second hand cigarette smoke. We opted out of the market in favour of a dark dodgy alleyway. A highlight of our stay in Laos was a visit to the Kuang Si Waterfalls that also had a Moon Bear enclosure. We swam in the cool water below the waterfall but the fun stopped when I dropped Chon's camera in the water (it still works though).