Luang Prabang - Laos

June 8th - 11th, 2016

Already dreading the boat ride, we got up and left the hotel with plenty of time to spare so as to try and secure a seat in as favourable position as possible...preferably far from the toilets and bar to restrict the amount of drunks stumbling past us and hopefully in front of the people who couldn't be bothered to go to the smoking area at the back of the boat and instead blew smoke and ash over us all day. It was then we discovered it was a different boat to the day before, this one having no tables, only the minibus type seats and luckily there were a couple of seats still free near the front, so we put our bags here and went off to find breakfast and lunch once again. We ended up with the same as before, minus the banana crisps, as everything was slightly more expensive than the previous village so we couldn't afford them too. Thankfully the trip today wasn't as bad, a lot of people seemed to be nursing hangovers and so there was a more subdued feel to the journey, it only becoming rowdy again much later in the afternoon when we were nearing our destination. The journey being an hour longer today, mostly due I think to the increased number of stops to drop and pick people up, however the scenery finally changed about 2 thirds of the way through and suddenly there was something to look at. The river widened and you could see greater distances to swathes of forested hills in the hazy sunshine, more and more boats and fishermen were about watching us with careful curiosity and hoards of children playing in the river would let out squeals of delight as we went past waving and shouting at us to respond. Finally, the last leg was behind us and we moored up at the 'New Pier' which has been moved 10km away from the town of Luang Prabang so as to generate more work for the tuk tuk drivers!! All these little things designed to wean every last penny out of tourists has led us to intensely dislike Laos before even really getting to see any of it and we are hoping being in the bigger towns where there are more options will change our opinions slightly. We checked into our hotel and were relieved that the room was satisfactory, quite pleasant in fact, and there were no extras to be paid for before we could stretch and spread ourselves out for a while. After a much needed shower we set out to explore the town a little before it got too dark and ended up at the Night Market which sets itself up every day along the main street. A warren of little stalls selling some lovely looking souvenirs, brightly coloured and meticulously laid out, the market went on for a long way before we turned around to go back down the other side, stopping frequently to look at the many items on offer before heading to a little stand we'd seen for dinner. A very cheap buffet style street stall with a dozen or so different vegetarian dishes (meat is really expensive here) which you cram onto the small plate they give you, then once you've made your selections they put it all in a wok and fry it up so it's piping hot, making the fact that its sat out in the open not so much of an issue for your health! We gobbled down our dinner, having not eaten very much the last couple of days and chatted with an older couple from New Zealand who sat across from us at the makeshift trestle table about their experiences of travelling, glad to find someone else who feels the same way we do about how tourists are squeezed for all they're worth and finding out some useful info on buses in Laos while we were at it. Saying farewell, we wandered down through the rest of the market before going back to the hotel for an early night. Luang Prabang is a pretty little town in the middle of nowhere, there are the usual sights to be found, temples, a couple of museums and the inevitable markets, as well as the Mekong river which sits far below and stretches on through the green hills as far as you can see. We spent our two days here wandering around admiring the well kept colonial style buildings, a legacy from the French who ruled Laos for many years and trying to keep cool...the sun here is quite fierce so we kept in the shade wherever we could and in our room during the hottest times. There are a vast number of guesthouses, restaurants, cafes and tuk tuks here all vying for your business, showing how busy it could become in the high season, luckily for us it was quiet and relaxed, though without doing tours to waterfalls or other temples, there isn't a huge amount to do here. An interesting sight was the bamboo bridge spanning a side shoot of the river which is only crossable in the dry season as the floods from the rainy season wash it away, only for it to be rebuilt the next year! A nice place to chill out for a few days, but we could have done with staying somewhere that had a swimming pool!!