Luang Prabang is touted as a great town to visit in Laos- full of character and culture. And it certainly has that. But it is also overan by tourists- namely French. The buildings are charming, looking like a French village in the middle of Laos mountains. And bakeries abound! Unfortanely, all this Western tourism has driven up the prices quite exponentially. I could only afford 3 nights there! Besides all the French buildings and bakeries, LP is full of wats and temples. One can't walk down the road without encountering saffron-robed monks. My guesthouse was situated next to one of the temples and I had the privilege of awakening to the monks drumming and chanting at 5:30 in the morning! A little early for mem but hey, when in Laos...
I spent most of my days hanging with my new friends from the horrid bus ride and exploring the town. Checked out a couple of museums and wats. Ate way too many crepes and baguettes and enjoyed the views of the mighty Mekong. LP is a rather sedate town to kick back and enjoy watching time pass by. Pretty soon I was itching for more excitement, which brought me to Sayaboury.
Just getting to Sayaboury was a challenge! It has approximately 6 + different spellings to start. A friend and I got a tuk-tuk to the local bus station and asked for the next but to the town. Well, there is no set timetable for when the buses leave. You see, the bus leaves when it is full! So we hung out at the bus station for awhile. Luckily, they only had about 15 more seats to fill. And they ended up overselling the seats, nesecitating plastic stools set up in the aisle for everyone who didn't get a seat. This was a local bus- about 50 years old and on its last leg, it appeared. And we are in a mountainous region of Laos. Getting up the hills was rather interesting!
Pretty soon we came across the Mekong and had to take a barge across, guided by a tugboat. Little stalls were set up on each side of the river and even on the barge, selling all kinds of goodies from deep fried baby birds to crispy crickets.
Sayboury is even sleepier then LP. There is NO wifi and we had to walk 2 km to the nearest internet cafe (probably the only internet cafe). And I have yet to meet someone who actually speaks English. I am headed to an elephant rescue center to volunteer for a week or two. I'm hoping for internet access, but I'm not getting my hopes up.
