Lovely Luang Prabang

This must rate as one of the most beautiful towns in the world. Its right up there with Antigua in Guatemala in my book, but also with a little something extra.

As I mentioned in my previous post, Luang Prabang is a world heritage site, meaning the old buildings are protected and the lovely small streets are still lined with the original old French style buildings. Scattered around town are also numerous beautiful Buddhist Wats, or temples. These Wats are all still in use and bright orange robed monks wander the streets by the hundred. Right now I can here the bells ringing from on of the temples across the street.

And this wonderful little town is also set in a spectacular location right on the banks of the mighty Mekong river, surrounded by dark green hills. There are some supposedly beautiful waterfalls and caves in the surrounding areas too. I have to say supposedly since I haven't had the chance to see them. I'd set aside today for that part of my explorations but have been knocked-out with food poisoning. Yip, I finally succumbed to the temptations of all the wonderful French restaurants in town, and obviously chose the wrong one (I thoroughly enjoyed my steak the first time around but our subsequent encounters have been less so...). Its a pity not to have been able to enjoy myself here to the full but I'll still leave the place with fond memories.

A view over Luang Prabang and the Mekong river just before sunset.

A street in Luang Prabang, with a gilded temple on the hill overlooking a street complete with French architecture and an ubiquitous tuk-tuk.

Some young monks wander the streets. I wish I could take better photos of them but its seen as pretty rude. Early tomorrow morning I plan to watch them receiving alms from the locals outside the Wats.

Tomorrow I get on yet another all day bus. This time its to a town called Luang Namtha in the far northwest, near the border with Myanmar. Its way off the beaten track but there is supposed to be some good trekking in the nearby national park, and this is appealingly different to the usual trekking people doing in northern Thailand. I must confess that I need to do the trekking in order to get prepared for my fast approaching climb of Mt Kinabalu in Borneo with Russell.

From Luang Namtha I have to get down to the border with Thailand at Houyxai, where I join my Gibbon Experience trip. Its all going to be a bit of a rush over the next week so I hope it all fits together.