Tag: #luangprabang

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Lungprabang, Laos Unesco city

the city is a UNESCO heritage site on the river since it has the oldest Buddhist temple left standing in Laos and was the palace of the king for generations. It’s a cute little city with most everything in walking distance and there are some interesting attractions in the vicinity including an extremely beautiful waterfall and some scenery. It’s best to go during the rainy season since the “high season” between December through March has extensive air pollution due to farm burnings throughout Southeast Asia. Many of the hotels and restaurants now are being bought by Vietnamese and Chinese, most of whom do not even speak Lao, so try to find those places that are owned and operated by Lao people if you want to experience Lao culture. Read more about this area at the link below.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luang_Prabang

There are several very nice classic cars in the city
The Sunset view from the hill
This was someone’s idea of a lion which looks more like a cat.
Who’s driving? Maybe the kids should have helmets also?
Bocce (petanque) is very popular in Laos. There are many excellent professional players as well.
Crossing a temporary bridge to get to a very nice restaurant restaurant on the other side of the river
Phousi Hill photo enthusiasts waiting for the sunset
Here is the sunset view
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Luang Prabang Day 2

Luang Prabang Obama restaurant
Having a lunch where President Obama visited 7 years ago.
train ticket booth warnings
Warnings at the train ticket booth not to let your animals on the tracks and not to steal parts from the railroad
hotel bathroom provisions
After checking into our new hotel room we find they have provided plenty of toothbrushes from Vietnam
Luang Prabang improved air
The air has somewhat improved overnight due to strong winds. It’s too bad we didn’t have rain to get rid of the rest of the smog
a good dinner in Luang Prabang
Century eggs, which anti-or called horse piss eggs, with a nice spicy sauce and some vegetables
smoggy sun
sun through the smog
beautiful sun
Very pretty sun but because it is through the smog it just reminds me of LA in the ’60’s
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Laos – Vientiane and Luang Prabang

A poor farmhouse next to an extensive China funded development in Vientiane.
smog in Vang Vien
We tried to escape smog in Vientiane so went to the countryside. Even Vang Vieng was covered in smog.
Salad restaurant SOMTAM
RIGHT – Luang Prabang SOMTAM (papaya salad), Left – sticky rice, Luang Prabang sausage. Middle – grilled chicken and upper left – fried fish. Very delicious
Food Market crowds
Crowds are back at the food market – inexpensive food and drink.
delicacy - luang prabang
a delicacy
dried buffalo lung
another delicacy
take home for a big dinner
fire on river bank
putting out a breakfast fire on the riverbank opposite the hotel. this adds to the smog.
smoggy luang prabang
very smoggy even in luang prabang, the UNESCO city in Laos
wedding party
guests lined up to greet the wedding couple
putting out the fire
now 4 people are watching the fire being put out
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Outlying parts of Luang Prabang

Pha Daeng Peak Viewpoint
After stopping at a gas station’s finally one gas station has gas. There is a huge gas shortage in Laos right now.

Nong Kiau is a really nice place to visit but be prepared to be a hiker and hill climber.

Nope. Not enough gas for the van.
A few Israelis and a monk.
contemplating the quality of being, or bean (coffee bean)
something wrong!
pretty desolate thanks to covid.
scooters are cement carrying workhorses
Local KHAO SOI
good plant for making soup for pigs but it will cause you to itch if you touch it.
TEAK
at the restaurant
SOMTAM, fried pork and a spicy pork dish. That burning sensation.
It was a very tiring trek to the top
view from the hotel balcony
from the balcony viewing river commerce
very nice texture
the bamboo bridge to the failed climb from hell
leeches do some significant bloodletting. It was hard to stop.
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Luang Prabang – Part 2

Old colonial style

did you know that Laos was at one time a colony of France? Laos is on the east side of Thailand and the British colony of Burma was on the west side of Thailand. Did you know that Thailand played off the British and the French to get more territory? Did you know that the Lao and Thai cultures are very much the same? Did you know that many of the streets in Vientiane are called “Rue”, french for “street”? Did you know that the Lao and Thai languages, written and spoken, are very similar?

This is about the age to start teaching kids to drive a motorcycle
A village street
A local temple. This isn’t a wealthy community
our transport to the hotel from the bus station
Delicious food everywhere
looking pregnant
inexpensive smoothies. We had avocado mixes
Zurich Cafe. Good bread. Make sure it is freshly baked.
Jerky drying on the street
People buy these cages with birds in them and then let them go. By the way, new shoes. Aren’t they nice?
A map of the town attractions
A view from the top
Phousi Overlook
Kids on the playground
most of the official building signage is in French as well as Lao. And of course you can understand this much French, right? After all, half of English is French.
Making sugarcane juice
Many monks in this town and a great many of them have either orange or black umbrellas to keep the sun and rain off them
What would a photo blog of a colonial town be like without the photo of an old car?!
A Hill tribe restaurant
an old stupah
mostly due to Covid, no business for two years, you see the signs everywhere. People just could not afford to stay in business and yet they have to continue paying property taxes so they need to do something with the property
The attractions around the city
At the Zurich Café we had an avocado salad and a ciabatta sandwich
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Luang Prabang – The Old Capital of Laos

Getting there means riding the new Lao/Chinese railway fast train which says it’s supposed to be running at 127 km/h. But getting on the train is a complete mess. First you have to line up to get all your documents checked including a vaccination certificate, ID card (passport) and ticket. Then you have to sit and wait one hour until they tell you to line up again to check tickets to get to the platform. Of course the tickets are checked again once you get to your seat. The system was developed by the Chinese and implemented by Lao authorities. The ride was nice.

Why not? Good place to eat actually
very tasty rice soup for breakfast, while finding love at this port
Is this a really good selling point for these sarong?
Contemplating the meaning of cryptocurrency
A big boat for small fish
A nice view of the Mekong (Nam Kong)
Why not try out a Reuben sandwich made in Laos? It was very tasty
my friend had a taco salad
map of the temples on the other side of the river
On the ferry
Kids playing by the ferry landing
The only way to get to this side of the river is by small ferry
Someone threatened to throw me in the river
Nice view from the opposite side of the river looking at the town
Old stupas
Dinner cruises on the river
On the right you see Lao avocados
Nighttime overlooking the night market and the royal temple
Kids riding an electric motorcycle on the left, made in China of course
The founding king of modern Laos and a monk guide
Quite a few western pastry shops in town
our lunch restaurant
local SOMTAM (spicy papaya salad) is delicious
Takes me back to the late 60s