Luang Prabang

Quickly we have settled into a routine in the small city. Returning to the gym we then frequented our favourite food stall to eat a brunch of chicken and avocado baguettes, reflecting on yesterday’s events and beginning to plan those to come.

Following days of heavy rains, the clouds have broken up to reveal bright blue skies and an unrelenting tropical sun. We remained cool under the shelter of the food stand and watched as a team of men manoeuvred a long boat down to the edge of the Nam Khan River, where they and other boats are practising for an upcoming regatta. The men shouted in unison as they sought momentum to push and turn the great weight of the colourful boat.

We returned to the hostel in time to say goodbye to Anna as she had finished her Stray adventure to fly to Bangkok before home to Switzerland. This left just us in Luang Prabang but later on Jacob, Poppy and Thomas as well as three other travellers arrived as the group behind our own (Jacob, Poppy and Thomas had all ‘hopped off’ in Chiang Mai). It appears that we will all leave together with Keo and Chris on Tuesday for our next destination, Vang Vieng.

We spent time planning ahead for adventures to come along our trail through South East Asia and booked a flight to get us back from Hanoi (the final destination on the Stray route) to Bangkok for our own flight home at the end of October. Afterwards we set out into the humidity to climb the highest point in the city, Mount Phousi, to gaze over the city and its surrounding rainforests, rivers and mountains. The staircase of over 300 steps was lined with handrails of white, silver and gold dragons and halfway up there was a small cave containing the imprint of what is believed to be the Buddha’s footprint. Further up the staircase we passed monks in saffron robes pounding a large hanging drum upon a sheltered platform, echoing a beat thumped out from the long boats down in the river, seen as small slithers on the water from our vantage point.

At the summit, we sat on a tiled bench to recover before making our descent through the shade of tree lined terracotta steps. Taking a different path to the one we had climbed we were able to come out above the night market. There we ate skewered chicken and stir-fried noodles on a Persian style mat behind the stall where it was cooked. We watched the bustle of the city move past us as the sun set and the streets became lit by electric light.Read more