We arrived in Laos on Monday 14th, late afternoon to fairly cloudy and comparatively chilly temperatures. When I say chilly it had probably dipped just below 20, for us that was the first time we had experienced such a chill since Kilimanjaro. It was an excuse to pull out a thin jumper, I’ve been carrying four around with me for the whole trip just in case of such an eventuality.
After receiving lots of information and a lovely welcome from our Laos hostess and being shown to our room in Le Bang Vua Villa
we dropped off our luggage, got ready for the evening and set out to explore.
Most of Luang Prabang is situated around South East Asia’s biggest river, the mighty Mekong. Where we were staying was a lovely little part beside the Nam Khan river, a tributary of the Mekong. In order to reach the main area of Luang Prabang you had to cross the Nam Khan. Our quickest and easiest way was across a rickety , bamboo bridge that is erected for six months of the year before being dismantled for the rainy season. It costs 5,000kip (50p) to cross there and back and was an extremely novel experience, especially in the dark with lots of others crossing.
Once across we were straight into the busy Main Street and night market where we settled down to enjoy our first Laos meal.
Rob and I are now hooked on our sit up and beg bikes complete with shopping baskets. When we realised that Le Vang Bua Villas also loaned them out free of charge we spent the rest of our time in Laos exploring Luang Prabang, the banks of the Mekong River
and the surrounding craft villages and coffee shops.
Unfortunately we weren’t able to take our bikes across the bamboo bridge but instead had to travel a short distance further to the old bridge.
This is just open to mopeds and cyclists and only gives you a narrow row of boards on which to balance. My coordination is such that, as long as I concentrated fully, I could remain on the allocated planks. If however, I tried to look left or right to admire the view my balance was lost and was a struggle to regain. This crossing also became stressful as the mopeds, loathe to be stuck behind a wobbly, slow cyclist, would, on approach to the bridge, accelerate behind you and cut in close in front. This did nothing to build my confidence and I silently dreaded these crossings while Rob cycled ahead oblivious.
Travelling on our bikes was definitely the best way to explore the area, you get to see so much more, can stop at whatever you fancy and get to experience the greetings of the Laos people as you cycle through their villages. 
We found another bamboo bridge used almost exclusively for young monks to cross the Nam Khan to a hidden temple to say their prayers.
and got to see lots more lovely temples.
My favourite cycle didn’t involve us crossing any bridges or deliberately visiting any more temples thankfully. It took us South of Luang Prabang along roads running parallel to the Mekong. As we cycled through villages we passed some beautiful French inspired architecture
alongside extremely basic dwellings
and many building sites
With glimpses of the Mekong river
and children playing in between.
The roads were beautifully quiet apart from children travelling to school
and numerous pets, 
mostly dogs 
who felt the road was their rightful domain.
Eventually we stopped at a little coffee shop in a craft village. The setting was beautiful
and we met a gorgeous, little girl called Purlern (not sure of the spelling) and her Thai parents who were temporarily living and working in Laos.
Wandering down the street after our refreshments we passed many small, female led industries including silk spinning, basket weaving and paper making. We were drawn to a particularly productive location where you could observe each stage of the paper making and purchase the end products at crazy, cheap prices.
After pouring various ingredients into a wooden frame the woman above was tapping the mixture, I think from our unclear exchange, to disperse any air bubbles
With the frame still in liquid this lady then placed various leaves and flowers on to the surface of the mixture in a repeating pattern.
She then lifted the frame out of the liquid and put it, with many others, to dry in the sun.
There was also a young man busy painting intricate designs on plain paper. His work was fascinating to watch and he seemed quite happy for me to do so until I took out my phone to take a picture. He then stopped painting and turned to his phone. Each time I tried again he left his artwork so I had to take this surreptitiously.🤭
Apart from our cycling we spent some time by the pool
crossed the bamboo bridge in the daytime
to attend our first experience of Asian yoga. It was probably the most sweaty and exhausting hour and a half of our lives and was very upsetting when, apart from on flexibility and a headstand, Rob was so much better. 🤨I know yoga is not meant to be competitive but I can’t help it and it’s just made me so determined to improve. 😊
The night market was fascinating, not only for the many different products it sold but also for the way in which family life was conducted around it.
While running a stall whole families would share a meal
and babies and young children would sleep or play while older children did their homework. The atmosphere of the whole market seemed very laid back and relaxed with none of the tension or pressure to buy that we have experienced at so many others. Whilst in Luang Prabang (sorry for the repetition but I just love the name), we had our most interesting and one of our most delicious meals yet. It was in a restaurant called Dyen Sabai and was right beside the bamboo bridge on our side of the river. Our meal was called a Laos Fondue and involved the middle of our table being removed in order to accommodate a bucket full of red, hot charcoals. On top of this was placed a metal bowl with a peak in the middle. Unsure what we were supposed to do we watched as our waiter demonstrated rubbing fat over the peak before laying very thin pieces of chicken on it to fry. He then poured onion soup in the surrounding bowl and placed vegetables in this to cook.
Rob and I spent the next hour or so cooking and eating our meal as and when we were ready for it and adding various flavours to the cooked products including a delicious Tamarind sauce. One of the oddest aspects was the inclusion of two eggs in with the vegetables. We watched as those at surrounding tables cracked the eggs into the onion soup. We followed suit and although it seemed slightly strange, once cooked, they tasted delicious.
I’m sure there could be a niche market for a restaurant serving just these in Hannington, I’ll add it to my list of new ventures to try when I get home.🤗
Laos was lovely and a great place for experiencing some new things. Sadly though, it was time to leave South East Asia and head even further south to experience our next destination, Sri Lanka. 🇱🇰
Rob & Emma's Trip 