Bonjour Luang Prabang

Let me put it this way - the bike was too small for Holly
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So, after a lazy slow boat and barely surviving the speed boat, we arrived in the beautiful old capital of Laos, Luang Prabang. We had heard from Peter and Odeke about Luang Prabang's luxurious silk (so we made sure to take full advantage), although I didn't want to splurge at the same store where Mick Jagger buys his silk, although I must say, I was very tempted. Luang Prabang is originally a French colony, so the streets are lined with these beautiful French colonial buildings. There are tons of French vacationers everywhere too. We stayed at an old colonial "mansion" called the Sayo Guesthouse, which was a great place for me to sprawl out, in and out of fits of delirium, in a feverish state for four nights. It had these amazingly high ceilings and massive windows with huge green shutters. Our view out the window was of monks working on a golden temple and of the gardens surrounding it - not too shabby. Our room was much better than the servant quarters. No, really, you could stay in cheaper rooms that used to be the servant quarters.

We had the waterfall all to ourselves... for a while.
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Our first night was spent with friends at Hive Bar, which is actually very Miami Beach, with small little tables made of drums outside and candles everywhere. Good music and a very relaxing atmosphere. Of course, our night could not stop there, so Kelly, Ryan, Kevin and I all headed way out into the middle of nowhere to a Lao bowling place. It was called "Bao Ling... something or other" which I seemed to find hilarious all night and proceeded to take entirely too many pictures of! And, of course, our night did not end there either. We ended up walking down an alley and seeing a sign that read "Cinema" and had all these Lao people turning down the road on their motorbikes. Hmmm... why not? It was a wedding party or something (very late night) filled with all Lao locals - and us. Ryan and I "made complete fools of ourselves" (according to Kevin and Kelly) by dancing wildly with the drunkest Lao man we could find, who thought puffing out his cheeks and poking them was a great dance move and apparently thought his voice was in tune. Good stuff.

Oh, the poor decisions that can be made after a few glasses of wine at the night market...

The crew just watching a little Bao Ling (Bowling to you foreigners)
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On our second day, Kevin and I rented bicycles, which was a great way to get a full tour of the city. Those motorbikes are crazy and you have to constantly dodge them, but it's well worth it. We had a pizza lunch along the main street and went and saw the most important temple in Luang Prabang, Wat Xieng Thong, built in 1560. We have more meditative pictures from this temple, just like in Chiang Mai.

It had been raining on and off for two days, so we were so happy when a perfectly sunny day came around on the day we were heading to Kouang Si Waterfall, which is about an hour away from the city. It is a beautiful drive up to the waterfall and we hired a car for the whole day, so we could take our time and relax. Before you reach the waterfalls, they have a little animal sanctuary for bears and a 7-year old tiger named Phet that were rescued from poachers. It is so sad, because even though these animals have been rescued, they now are crammed into tiny little areas. Phet was just pacing back and forth all day. We have never gotten so close to a tiger, you could literally feel her breath on you. She was so beautiful, but she wants so badly to go run free. Damn poachers.

Its all about the form here in Laos
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The waterfall was stunning! We weren't expecting it. We made sure we got there a little bit earlier than all of the tour buses, so we hiked up to the middle of the waterfall and found a great swimming place. The water was freezing, but we were so high up and the views were awesome. We had the waterfall all to ourselves. The hike up to the top of the waterfall was brutal - it was a flashback to The Gibbon Experience - completely vertical. As we were panting our way up, we asked a French girl making her way down, "Is it worth it?" "Yes, yes, worth it," she replied. We don't think she really knew either what we were asking or what she was saying, but either way, it wasn't that worth it, especially when you have been delirious, sweating through the bed for 3 days and feeling very weak.

Kevin by his lonesome, drinking his sorrows away because he can't convince the little ladies behind the bar to let us go Bao Ling.
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After spending a long day at the waterfall, the ride back to Luang Prabang was very peaceful. Our driver stopped at a small little village where we felt that we had to walk through, although we really were crashing. These people have really mastered their "begging faces" and try to get you to buy their bracelets and little bags. The thing is, they are all exactly the same. I took a photo of these three absolutely adorable little munchkins who were walking with their arms around each other down the dirt road. I was expecting them to put their hand out for money for taking their photo, but they didn't seem to expect money. We gave them a little, anyway, and I was so happy to see them run straight to the little candy vendor and buy lollipops, rather than head straight to their parents who send them off to work (at the age of 2!) to hand over their earnings. They were so cute, showing their friends their lollipops and letting them have a lick.

Main street in Luang Prabang (100 bucks if you can spot a scooter :)
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Kevin and I had heard great things about the Apsara Restaurant, so we decided to eat there for our last night in Luang Prabang before we headed off to Vang Vieng. We ordered the Panin fish for two (straight out of the Mekong), our first fish since in Asia. It came on a huge platter, comprising of two very big fish. I was still very sick, so I only had a few bites, but it was absolutely delicious and Kevin devoured it. It had this wonderfully sweet tamarind sauce on it. A must try while in Laos. I had a fantastic lime and pineapple sorbet to keep me going. Ughhh - nothing like being sick with a great meal in front of you - at least the fish went to good use with Kevin! We had to get out of Luang Prabang before Kevin headed back to the night market. He saw the biggest pipe made out of bone (or who knows what) and thinks he really needs it. He doesn't even smoke, but wants it as a centerpiece. He talked the girls down to $40 which, in my opinion, is waaaay too much for this thing. We see them everywhere and there really are much better quality ones (as well as smaller).  He is convinced he can get it into his bag and is willing to lug it around for the next few months. Oh, the poor decisions that can be made after a few glasses of wine at the night market...