Louang Prabang - Am I Really in Asia?

3/31/2012 12:19 PM

Louang Prabang…. How to even begin to describe it; French architecture meats Asia? Cobblestone streets lined with lush green trees. Beautiful 19^th century homes clustered together with street vendors and monks draped in orange robes who begin to wander the streets before the sun is even up. Yes, it is a huge tourist destination, but to be entirely honest, for some reason…. I don’t feel like that detracts from the beauty of this town; it just doesn’t feel like Asia. One almost feels as if you have gone back in time 100 years to some small sleepy French town in the south of France. Its hard to describe… its unlike the rest of SE Asia…. For now, I’m happy about that.

Tuk-Tuk in Louang Prabang

I’m staying at a place called the Manichan Guesthouse and it is absolutely wonderful. The family that runs it will do anything to please and it is just the most relaxing place on earth. All the rooms open to a lush treed courtyard where a wonderful breakfast is served every morning; and by wonderful breakfast, I mean like three course breakfast….. with REAL coffee!! Its in the centre of town. This place is just absolute paradise… I fear I may find myself spending a lot longer here than I had originally intended. There is simply a lot to do.

I was talking about going up river (the Mekong) last night via speed boat, however, this proved impossible for numerous reasons, so I decided to do the next best thing; par a driver to take me out for an hour long ride up the river. To say the least, these boats go fast…. Really fast, like 60 km/h fast. They are pretty much flat bottomed bamboo boats with massive engines on them. They go incredibly fast but are really uncomfortable… I cant imagine spending eight hours in one all the way to Huay Xai. So I had an absolute blast this morning. I can imagine how deadly these things can be. 

This afternoon I will spend the afternoon wandering around town. I am planning to rent a motorbike tomorrow, and by motorbike, I mean proper motorbike, not a scooter, so I need to do a bit of planning for that… ie… find some decent maps. I went to the Tourist Information Office a little while ago, however, they were closed for their lunch break so I will check back with them this afternoon.

I may plan a 3 day Elephant Hospice experience, which is somewhat cheaper than the Gibbon Experience, and for some reason more appealing to me. We will see about that.

All for now