I have almost never used the word charming in my entire life, let alone for a city; but that is exactly what Luang Prabang is, charming! 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!
We landed in Luang Prabang at around 4 PM on what seemed like the worlds smallest international airport. I’d been meaning to come to this place for almost a decade and I finally made it!
We got a visa on arrival and then completed immigration/customs. It’s a multi-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. The hotel had no TV in the rooms – the idea is to watch the river and enjoy town instead! I can get behind that!
We dumped our bags and decided to walk about town. The evening was pleasantly quiet and peaceful.
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.
What a lovely day. I can already tell I’m going to love it here!