We are just ending off our four days in Luang Prabang, Laos. This country is beautiful! The city is set on a peninsula between two rivers, and is surrounded by mountains. One of the rivers is the Mekong River which also runs through Thailand, Vietnam, and Cambodia. The city is just adorable, with almost all buildings having red roofs, and no buildings more than two stories high. The area is a mix of local houses and guesthouses, and is easily explored on bikes. We borrowed bikes from our guesthouse and made our way around the peninsula and found a new favourite coffee shop. Everything is very laid back here, so we had lots of time to relax. There is a strong French influence here, with most signs written in Lao and French, however most of the locals seem to speak Lao and English. There are morning and evening markets which were a great place to find fresh food and homemade crafts.
As it was in Thailand, religion is a very big part of daily life here. There are monks walking around the city all day, but they have a more obvious presence in the mornings. Everyday at 6am, the monks line up and walk through the streets accepting food offerings from the locals who sit on the side of the road. This is called the Almsgiving ceremony, and was very interesting to watch!
We took a day trip into the jungle and got to ride elephants! It was so fun. Both of us were on the same elephant and we rode through a village and along the river. Our elephant was 33 years old, but still a trouble maker. Always stopping to tear down some branches for a snack!
We took a boat across the river to see the Pak Ou caves. The caves are set into the limestone karsts and are filled with thousands of Buddha statues of all different sizes.
We finished off the day trip with a swim in some waterfalls. The Kuang Si waterfalls are one of the only falls in the area with water at this time of year. There were multiple pools coming down off the main falls, and were definitely worth the trip!
We are going to Nong Khiaw tomorrow by bus, a town in Northern Laos. Check back soon for more updates and photos.