Luang Probang

Luang Probang sits at the merging of the Mekong River and Nam Ou river with the picturesque mountains/karsts hugging the perimeter of the town. It is a postcard perfect city (small city though, only about 50,000 people), filled with boutique hotels, French bakeries, and chic bars! Despite the expensive side of this stop, it was charming and well worth it.

We visited a Buddhist temple from the 15th Century that had a famous tree of life mosaic and an impressive collection of the royal family's religious decor - a variety of Buddha's and a golden 'float' used in the king's funeral parade. And to our delight one of the carved golden dragons jutting out from the front of this float had a nice size ball of sticky rice in its mouth (quite the offering). In the courtyard, filled with orange robed monks, were the tombs for a whole line of the royal family.

We explored most of the city by foot in two days, and while zigzagging our way down the peninsula, which ended at the intersection of the two rivers, we decided the city's architecture had a similar feel to New Orleans (a New Orleans filled with Buddhist temples).

With a significantly warmer temperature than the northern mountains, Luang Probang's many cafes were a popular hang out (although some to chic for us). We did enjoy the fusion of French, Western, Thai, and Laotion food on all of the local menus. If we were eating meat, we could have splurged for a Laotian bbq, where you are your own chef. Most restaurants had stone tables with a small fire pit in the center that would be fired up for the customer to grill their own feast...it sure smelled fabulous. This is not the only time our vegetarian will is was almost broken. But, we definitely couldn't beat the one dollar baguette sandwich stuffed with cheese, veggies, and topped with mustard (a novelty here!), sold from little food vendors who seemed to come out of the cracks to line the street every night. We ate a baguette for a midnight snack in the courtyard of our small hotel.

We stayed in a French style old house with dark woodwork and beautiful hardwood floors. Although we stayed in the budget part of town, the narrow streets were lined with similar colonial buildings.