Charming Luang Prabang

November 24, 2007. Luang Prabang, Laos

(notes from my journal)

I have never used the word charming in my entire life, but that is the word that kept coming to my head about how I felt about Luang Prabang. It’s a sleepy town, nestled on the banks of two rivers, the Mekong and Nam Khan. Good coffee, baguettes, fresh butter and jam – can life get any better?

Our flight from Chiang Mai to Luang Prabang was a little over an hour in a tiny plane with Lao Airlines. These guys take being on time to a different level. The flight left 30 minutes before scheduled time. They served a meal as well. (Are you listening, domestic American carriers?)

We landed in Luang Prabang at around 4 PM on the worlds smallest international airport. When we arrived, we had to get a visa on arrival and then go through immigration/customs. It’s a two step process: First, you fill out a form, apply for a visa-on-arrival, pay the appropriate fee for your country and give your passport at the first window. Then stand in line to get your passport back from the window right next to it. Once you get the visa, you then proceed to the window that will check your visa (which you just got) to ensure it’s ok and let you in. You pick your bags and you’re out!

We got to our hotel, The Apsara, on the banks of the river and checked in. We dumped our bags and decided to walk about town. It’s terribly quiet and peaceful here. Luang Prabang is a UNESCO protected world heritage site, which means you will never see the likes of Wal-Marts and McDoanlds here (Thank You, UNESCO). This place has a lot of European influence and we saw a lot of coffee places around town. We walked around the night market had dinner at one of the joints on the main street and headed back to the hotel.