luang prabang

market produce -----------------------waterfall

3 meats special (quite tasty...) ----- waterfall steps


super yammee tilapia from mekong ------korean barbecue with the bad kiwi eggs



a world heritage site, luang prabang is a beautiful town with a combo of traditional and colonial architecture. even though there are many of us 'falangs', foreigners, the charm of the town still remains. almost surrounded by water, it has the mekong river to one side and the nam khan to the other. each side catering to a falangs needs; shade, tranquility and liquids.

the fabrics, jewelry and handcrafts are wonderfully fantastic. if i had the choice, i would buy to my hearts content. alas, the bank (the majority of things are charged in dollars) and backpack do not allow it and neither does my conscious. i would not want to carry such heavy loads around. we will just have to return!

since we have been here, we have found some great places to eat lao (korean) style bbq, where you cook the meat, noodles and veg in a kind of "cone-grill with moat" apparatus. it does a sterling job and we enjoy a facial steam bath at the same time! not too kak -
i participated in tum tum chengs cookery class which was an amazing way to spend a day; learning about the different ingredients and how to make the specialties. even have the certificate to prove it :) !

i fear it is going to be difficult to leave this lovely place. we have met some great people: the"bad eggs" from nz, usa and germany. and now that we have found the best, and probably cheapest, freshly braaied fish, we have to leave to continue our expedition.

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Luang Prabang est tout simplement un petite ville magique entre le mekong et la riviere Nam Kan. Les restes de la colonisation se melangent tres bien avec le style traditionnel laotien. Les rues sont jolies, les gens vraiment gentils et la nourriture vraiment bonne. Autant de raisons qui font qu'il est difficile d'en partir. Les journees se passent soit a la cascade naturelle perdue au milieu de la jungle, soit la visite des villages alentours en vtt, soit a boire des coups avec les amis routards rencontres.

J'ai meme eu la chance d'avoir la visite de Khanh de passage sur Luang Prabang pour la journee ! Toutes les bonnes choses ont une fin, et demain nous partons donc pour Hanoi au Vietnam par avion. J'aurai vraiment aime aller visiter les villes du Nord mais les trajets sont longs et le passage par la frontiere terrestre s'annoncait vraiment difficile. Ca fait bizarre de dire ca mais on manque egalement de temps. Le choix des villes a visiter est difficile mais on va pas se plaindre non plus...