Luang Prabang

After the beautiful river trip, we arrived in Luang Prabang on June 19. Called the 'crown jewel' of Laos, LP is surrounded by mountains and is at the confluence of the Nam Khan and the Mekong rivers. The city is full of crumbling French provincial architechure and pointed temples. We found a lovely air conditioned guesthouse:



and set about exploring the city. The handicraft markets are amazing here in LP, we've enjoyed shopping - so much so that we fear we might have to send another box home! We enjoyed some traditional dance and music at the former Royal Theatre. The women are so graceful, and the men's costumes so fierce!





Last night we sought out a highly recommended restaurant in our Lonely Planet guidebook: Maly Lao Food for some traditional Laos cuisine. It blew us away. Basically there was a hole in the table where they placed a pot of hot coals. On top of that they placed a combination soup pot and barbeque. Our helpful waitress showed us the ropes (thank goodness, as we didn't know what to do!):



Into the surrounding soup pot we put water, egg, morning glory greens, green onions, noodles, mushrooms, and tomatoes. As that stewed, we put pork fat on the top of the grill as lube and then placed thinly sliced chicken and beef to grill. The end result was absolutely delicious! We, of course, partook of the Laos traditional drink, Beer Lao, but this time they served it with ice cubes as the bottle was not chilled. We hope they were made of bottled water!

Yesterday morning (June 21) we headed out to do some sightseeing. We visited an old Wat (temple) with some figures in front that looked just like the dancers from last night! After one stop, we decided to find some shade and ordered breakfast. The temperature here is in the mid-90s on a daily basis. Kate's mango lassi arrived in lovely presentation, complete with a bamboo straw:



Post breakfast we were ready for the climb up the water serpent steps to another of LP's temples, this one on top of the mountain in the center of town.



The views were lovely from the top of the mountain:



And Don got to play with an old Russian anti-aircraft cannon. Watch him return to his youth!

Today Kate went to elephant wrangling school and Don went kayaking. Kate took the camera so no photos yet!

Tomorrow we fly to Hanoi.

Best,
Don & Kate