The slow boat docked outside of Luang Prabang around 5pm. We did not know much about this city beforehand, but it quickly became one of our favorites. We took a tuk-tuk to the center of town, where we explored the night market and had pizza and wine for dinner. Laos was colonized by the French, who occupied it as a Protectorate from 1893-1945 and as part of French Indochina from 1946-1953. The French influence is apparent in the teakwood riverside villas, abundance of good bread and pastries, and availability of wine (which we haven’t found elsewhere in Southeast Asia). After two days of eating instant curry noodles on the boat, the decent pizza we ordered tasted amazing. The next day, we visited Wat Xieng Thong, a gold and black wooden Lao monastery built in the 1500s. We then took a short boat ride across the Mekong to Ban Xieng Maen, a small village almost completely devoid of tourists. We walked down the road and were greeted by many children, chickens, and dogs. Much of the town was gathered for a party in celebration of the Anniversary of the Lao Army, founded on January 20, 1949. In the late afternoon, we went to Utopia, an outdoor bar lounge, and read while the sun set and the clear, starry night sky emerged. We had a traditional Lao dinner of fish cooked in a banana leaf with sticky rice and green papaya salad at Tamarind, a Lao cooking school and restaurant. On our final day, we walked a few miles to the Living Land Farm, which supports sustainable farming in the face of pesticide use and slash and burn agriculture in much of the country. The farm’s programs were fully booked, so we took a tuk-tuk to Kuang Si Waterfall, a series of bright turquoise pools in a wooded area. Kuang Si is also home to the Free the Bears Rescue Center, a refuge for bears threatened by logging, sponsored by international organizations including the U.S. Embassy. In the evening, we climbed Mt. Phu Si for sunset views of one of our new favorite cities. Luang Prabang is a charming city that seems to harmoniously blend contradictions: red, communist flags hang above storefronts and hotel developments, while Buddhist offerings such as cups of rice sit below. French verandas adorned with teak furniture abut gold pagodas with sharp spires. The lack of visible corporate consumerism makes this country unique among those that Robert and I have visited – there are almost no mass market logos anywhere, and there is not a single McDonalds or Burger King in the country. Walking through the market in Luang Prabang and seeing monks clad in orange robes feels like stepping back in time, until you notice that they are looking down at their smart phones. Luang Prabang is an exceptionally worthwhile stop in Southeast Asia, which is largely built up and commercialized in many other touristed cities. The city was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1995, which increased tourism, but also imposed some restrictions (like no big tour buses) that helped it retain some of its untouched beauty.
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