Luang Prabang, Laos
2/10/2009
file:///Volumes/My%20Passport_1/Trip%202009/Pictures%20For%20Email/IMG_5065.jpg
One of many little sidestreets where you can wander for days - at the bottom of the little hill is the Mekong River.
Luang Prabang is one of those places you never want to leave. This is a magical place in the center of Laos, a very charming little city about a 7 hour bus ride from Vang Vieng. This is my third time here and each time just gets better. Lots of little side streets to wander about and a wide selection of cafes, bistros and food stands to tempt your tastebuds. Down by the Mekong River, there are some great places to watch the sunset.  This is a great place to just hang out. Yesterday, I was sitting in a cafe just soaking it all in, watching the people walking by, having a cappuchino, when I realized I had been sitting there for over an hour. So I ordered another cappuchino. That's the kind of place this is.

I came here by bus from Vang Vieng. It's only about 150 miles from Vang Vieng but the ride took about 7 hours through some pretty rugged mountains which made for a very slow trip. The scenery was pretty spectacular so it is not a boring ride at all as you go over the mountains and through lots of little villages. It was very hazy and the windows were dirty, so it was hard to get any good pictures. Didn't even bother. You can fly from Vientienne in about 45 minutes or Chiang Mai in about an hour, but then you'd miss a truly amazing ride.

Just like everyplace else this place has changed quite a bit since my first visit 6 years ago. There are a lot more people here, although it doesn't feel crowded. They've also installed 2 ATM machines here like in Vang Vieng. Internet connections here can be unbelievably slow which can get pretty aggravating when it takes 10 minutes to load your emails, and then an eternity to open one. Before you know it, you've spent an hour trying to answer a couple of emails. Although, sometimes they run pretty fast too - you just don't know - all depends how many people are on at the same time I guess. There are a lot of places with free WiFi to get you into their cafes, but those places are spotty at best. I found one place last night with a nice speedy connection, but I couldn't get the WiFi to work with my Mac. So much for uploading any pictures from here. I'm going to have to wait till I get back to Thailand. AT least there I had free WiFi in my room. If the connection was a little slow, I could still upload pictures - let it go all night if I had to. I don't have that luxury here. I can't stand sitting in an internet cafe for more than 15 minutes.

Today, I was walking around when I ran into some people I met in Vang Vieng 3 years ago. I had no idea who they were, but I remembered after we started talking. They were my neighbors at the bungalows I was staying at - the same ones I stayed at this time. Funny how you run into people like that. They're from Ireland and they just happen to be traveling again here in Laos, really nice people - they recognized me right away and came over to say hello. That was nice. I'll run into them again.

Another reason why I travel.......