Laos

We spent one night in Bangkok, after flying literally halfway ‘round the world, before catching a plane to get to Luang Prabang. That short (1 hr) flight into Laos turned out to be more interesting than we envisioned. We were driven on a bus for 5-10 minutes to get to the plane that was parked out on the edge of the airport’s property. After everyone boarded and was settled, the pilot announced that we had to get off the plane and return to the airport, because there was a mechanical issue, and they needed to get another plane! We did ultimately arrive safely in Luang Prabang, albeit 3 hours later than expected.

The countryside is hilly and green, and cities and towns are clustered around rivers.

For dinner our first night, we joined both locals and tourists at the Night Market…

… trying hand pulled noodles…

… with 2 different preparations of beef -

The next day we checked out Kuang Si waterfalls…

… and I decided to get a picture with Steve thrown in for scale, because this main fall was pretty impressive -

The water gets its beautiful hue from suspended limestone particles, as well as white calcium deposits on the floor of the pools -

I just loved the travertine terraces in the jungle setting -

We had gone here early in the morning to try and beat the crowds, and were fairly successful. Our driver was quite surprised when we returned to the car after just 1 hour, because most people spend the whole day exploring, swimming and having a picnic. All I wanted were some pretty pictures. :) So we had him drop us off at Wat Xiengthong (built in 1560) -

The term “wat” means a Buddhist temple or monastery, but is actually a compound containing the temple (in the above picture), stupas (shrines) and living quarters for the monks. We were there just before noon and that sun was SO hot! I kept seeking shade, and found some gorgeous murals…

… including this Tree of Life -

We paused at the nearby Mekong River…

… before going on to the Royal Palace Museum. This is the Royal Temple on the grounds…

… but we could only take photos of the outside.

I didn’t mind, since the seven-headed nagas were quite photogenic -

These are the serpents that line temple stairways, and we saw them all over town. We didn’t end up visiting any other temples, because we ran short on time, and it was just so darn hot. Luang Prabang has 33 temples in the city proper, and over 100 when you include the surrounding villages.

if you enlarge the image, you can see the golden Buddha tucked up on the left hillside

The first rice paddies we had seen were on Bali, and they had just been planted. It was neat to see these lush fields ready for harvest -

In the next post, I’ll share the story of visiting Nong Khiaw, including pictures of course!

on the road again…