Luang Prabang

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From: annette rusling
Date: 23 February 2011 18:05:14 GMT+07:00
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Subject: Luang Prabang

So after finally disembarking from our slow boats it was time for the accomodation hunt in Luang Prabang. By now I had surgically attached myself to my group of Canadian girls I met on the journey so Candace, Andrea, Joanna and me found a place by the river to spend our first night. Our only real thoughts that night were of food, and luckily Luang Prabang has a lot on offer. There are plenty of restaurants selling both Laos and Western food, but by far our favourite place to go during our time there was the street at the end of the market full of food stalls. You can load up a platefull of vegetables, various rice dishes, noodles and pasta for 10,000 kip (less than a quid) and the fresh/fried spring rolls going for 1000 kip each formed my staple diet.
 
The highlight sights-wise around Luang Prabang (for me at least) was Kuang Si waterfalls. About 30km outside the city you can charter a tuk-tuk for about 30000 kip each and the driver will wait there for you until you are ready to go home. This is not an into-the-wild type waterfall, on the contrary it forms the centre of a well looked after park, but this means this gorgeous place is well protected. I have never seen a waterfall so perfect. The swimming areas were as blue as they come and some of the falls seemed so symmetrical it was almost Disney. I would definitely recommend making the effort to climb to the top. The views of the mountains and of the rest of the park were incredible.
 
The same park is also home to rescued bears. Unfortunately all the animals seem to do now they are in captivity is laze around, but they would apparently have been victim to poachers if they were not looked after in the park and it was interesting to see the local species. The bears there (I think) were Asian Sun bears with cute faces, black mains and a golden strip down their middles.
 
Now to the nightlife in Luang Prabang. An interesting experience indeed. Luang Prabang as a city is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. This means the beautiful Laos temples which sit in harmony with colonial French architecture are ptotected but it also means they have curfew. That's right, curfew. After findin an excellent nightspot at Utopia bar (on the river, very chilled, various seating areas and even a beach volleyball court) it felt like the evening was just getting started when the bartenders started shutting up shop. Where to now? was the cry heard around the whole city. The answer? Discoteque of course! It was hands down one of the strangest places I have ever been. Local people were mixing with drunken westerners in a warehouse style building while bad pop music played and a projecter seemed to be showing soft porn over everyone's heads. The highlight of the night had to be Justin's dancing (another Canadian). The man had no inhibitions whatsoever and was doing his best to whip out the craziest moves in the place. Second highlight was the conga line everyone joined.
 
A good night was definitely had by all and I was looking forward to partying on the river at my next destination, Vang Vieng. (Next blog post!)