Luang Prabang

Hi everyone,

As you can imagine, we were pretty happy to arrive in Luang Prabang. Laos is much more tourist friendly than China, even though the infrastructure is far inferior. However, amazingly, Laos appears to be cleaner than China.We stayed at Spicy Laos Backpacker’s hostel, which was a very social place to be. The people were great. However, there was an unfortunate incident with a falling ceiling fan, though thankfully we were not involved. We arrived late at night, made friends with two very nice British girls (Carinne and Tara), and then went to sleep.

The next morning the four of us went to the Kuangsi waterfalls. Tara and I got to jump off of the falls, as well as swing on a rope into the water.We also did a small hike, during which I got stung by something which I could not see but which hurt quite a lot. We then saw some bears in a rescue sanctuary before going back to the hostel. Later, we went to the only club in the city with literally everyone at the hostel. Every business closes at midnight, as is required by law, but for some reason the bowling alley is open until 3am, so off we went. After hanging around there for a while, we made our way back to the hostel via tuk-tuk (either a motorcycle with a frame on it to carry passengers, or a small truck).

The next day, having made two other friends, the six of us rented bicycles in order to explore the villages surrounding Luang Prabang. It was a very pleasant excursion, though it is difficult to climb hills on a bike without gears, and more difficult to stop without properly functioning brakes. The people in the villages seemed very cheerful, even though the conditions in which they live are rather spartan.

On Ilana’s birthday, Carinne, Tara, Ilana and I went to an elephant village (where they treat the elephants properly, unlike some of the tours) with a company called Tiger Trail. We learned a bit about elephants beforehand, and then spent an hour riding them. It is a strange experience. The size of the animal instills confidence, but it still feels unstable, rather similar to riding a camel. Afterwards, we got to feed the elephants. I thought it was fun, but Ilana absolutely loved it! We then went to a disappointing waterfall before heading to a cute little café for cake. Finally, we went out for dinner and drinks with a large number of people.

Though we did not see the most famous temple, nor the famous hilltop view, nor fed the monks (because it was raining) we had an amazing time in Luang Prabang, and I would highly recommend it as a backpacker’s destination.

Thanks for reading!