Today was originally planned to be a rest and relax kind of day, and though we had picked some thong to do around town the night before, it still more or less stood as such. We wake up in decent time to go grab some breakfast and visit the morning market. The market had lot of interesting stalls and foods to browse, but the combination of the heat from the sun and the cooking fires and the smell of so many various foods so early in the morning, it was a little difficult to focus on.
We then climbed up Phousi Hill, which is a sacred buddhist temple at the top of a couple hundred stairs up. From what I’ve heard, many people do this climb either early in the morning or closer to dinner, to watch the sun rise or set from the top. We did not plan this dar in advance, so when we got there at around 10am, the sun has already risen, and was not about to set anytime soon. The hill still gives a nice view over Luang Prabang, especially Haw Phra Bang, another large buddhist monastery across the street from the base.
After stopping by the foreign exchange to convert to some more kip, we went back to the hotel to get away from the sun and cool off a bit. Dinner time came around and we caught a Tuktuk over to the other side of the river. Normally this wouldn’t be required, but the construction along the river coast has made it inaccessible to cross the river without going quite a bit further upstream.
We get to the restaurant, which offers a cool wooden patio area with a nice view over the river and downtown Luang Prabang. I order one of the staple dishes in Laos, Larb, which is a type of minced meat salad, which of course came with sticky rice. Sticky rice in Laos is both the most common food eaten here, as well as a type of utensil, as often times you eat your food by grabbing some stickt rice and using it to pick and eat with your food. It’s served essentially with every single meal here, whether the menu specifies it or not.
We order some drinks alongside the meal as we overlook the river. One of the few upsides to the temperatures here is that cold drinks are even more refreshing. Once we finish our food, we get the interesting task of getting back to the hotel. The restaraunt provided us with some vouchers for a ferry across the river back to the peninsula and some vague directions as to where you can catch the boat.
After following the directions to the best of our ability, we find a small sign with the word “boat” and an arrow pointing down a very narrow alleyway staircase that descends into darkness, the stairs condition worsening with every step down. We eventually make it to the bottom, where the staircase ends directly in the river, accompanied by a loosely translated sign that said “yell for boat”. One quick shout later and out of the darkness comes a guy on a long canoe. We give him the boat vouchers and he ferries us across the river. Whatever works I suppose.
Once back on the peninsula, we visit the night market. Countless stalls selling clothes, food, and accessories, we stop by one that sells metal keychains made from recovered unexploded ordinances from the wars in Laos. We finally head back to the hotel to get out of the heat and get some sleep.
Home 