Luang Prabang

Luang Prabang is a very quaint place that is beautiful, rustic and looks like she is surrounded by mountains. Despite the dusty roads, the place is clean and the shop displays are inviting.

There were bicycles at the hotel Lotus Villa that we could use and whilst cycling found a very helpful shop owner from Lala Laos(that ruby has read about), who gave us tourist information and had a lovely story. The story goes like this.
When he was in the village near nong khiaw, some foreigners randomly singled him out and paid for his education so now he runs this shop of the shirts designed by him and only Laos made products and the profits go into helping 4 girls get an education as girls are only educated up to primary school level. This is his way of paying forward for what he had been blessed with.

We also witnessed by chance a washing Buddha ceremony for the Laotian new year as we were perusing through the night market. An elaborate contraption designed like a dragon, allows the devotees to pour water from the head and tail of the drain that them trickled down to wash a Buddha statue and the run offs collected by the locals at the back of the temple as holy water.

Laotians bbq everything including the bishop's noses of chickens on a satay stick. We had a lovely meal at a restaurant called Tamarind that showcased Laotian local food without the belly a ache. After dinner we got back to the hotel and crashed exhausted but delighted.Read more