Wowwwww. Lao.
When we arrived in Luang Prabang, we were greeted with a (not so fun) surprise – a visa fee that had to be paid in US dollars. Unfortunately, we didn’t have any enough USD on us. Thankfully for us, we had just made new friends from Seattle at the Chiang Mai airport, bonding over our similar backpacks, and they were generous enough to lend us some cash. We are super thankful to them for helping us! Shoutout Jill and Kevin!
After this initial mini mishap, we headed to Luang Prabang from the airport… and by headed, we mean, we walked from the airport to the center of town. it was actually a really fun walk with our new friends, where we had the chance to talk and get to know them, watch a beautiful sunset, and walk across a very old wooden bridge.
Luang Prabang was quite the contrast to our time in Thailand. LP is set on the Mekong River, the third largest river in Asia, with muddy brown water and dense trees surrounding. Very different from the clear blue waters we have been spoiled with up until this point. However, the river was beautiful in its own right and there were great views of it throughout LP. We loved the quaint and subtle beauty of the town, including its rich culture and temples sprinkled throughout. Many parts of LP are UNESCO World Heritage locations which you can see by how well preserved the town is.
One of the must-visit spots in Luang Prabang is the Kuang Si Waterfall. We rented a scooter to get there, and while the entire drive was spectacular… the falls are simply breathtaking. They are a series of cascading waterfalls surrounded by lush green forests and turquoise blue water. We spent a couple hours here hiking and admiring the beauty of the falls. A few times we just sat down and listened to the water crash. It was so peaceful. We’d go back to Luang Prabang just to see this waterfall again.
The peaceful tranquility of the falls was not without excitement. Upon arriving, we accidentally locked our keys in the inside seat compartment of the scooter. The parking attendant was incredibly helpful and said he would try a few things while we were visiting the falls, including keys from a similar name and model scooter. Unfortunately, when we returned, he told us he wasn’t able to break in… which I guess is good from a security perspective. Our own attempts to break into the bike were unsuccessful and the rental company was not getting back to us.
Just as defeat was starting to set in, a Vietnamese man walked up to us and with few words asserted that he knew how to get the keys out and proceeded to pull up really hard on the seat… like really hard… we thought he was going to break it. To our surprise, Justin was able to squeeze his hand in and grab the key. It was a miracle, and we immediately celebrated with clapping, jumping up, and down hugs! We’ll never forget him.
The kindness of strangers continued to be a recurring theme throughout our time in Luang Prabang. From Jill and Kevin at the airport who loaned us the money for our visas to the Vietnamese man who helped us get our keys back, we were constantly amazed by the kindness of the people we met. We think it’s part of the magic of Lao.
On our last morning, we wanted to observe Tak Bat, the morning alms giving ceremony in Luang Prabang. Tak Bat is a tradition in the Lao Buddhist culture where all the monks line up to collect alms from local Buddhists. The ceremony is conducted in complete silence and starts around 5:30am. The monks walk through the town collecting the alms and we walked with them to a few different locations. Tak Bat is really a beautiful tradition, and we are glad we had the opportunity to observe it!
There was something really special about Lao. It was a place that really forced you to be present in the moment and appreciate what was right in front of you. From the amazing sunsets over the Mekong River, to the bustling night market, Luang Prabang is beautiful and charming. We are definitely looking forward to going back to Lao and checking out a few of the other cities we didn’t have time to visit this time around. Thanks to our friend Kelsey who encouraged us to add Lao to our plan! It truly is a special place and one we will be yearning to visit again.
