Jen & Clare Flee the Western Hemisphere

We've only been Luang Prabang for two full days but we've already come to love it. It's small, quiet, easy-going, beautiful, tasty, and it has so many temples that we've lost count of how many we've visited. All those iconic photos you see of monks in orange robes amongst golden temples are accurate. Nearly every temple (wat) is tended by monks, who are often quite young (kids and teenagers). Unlike the temples in China and Vietnam, these are painted in gold and gleam in the sun. The Buddhas, boddhisatvas, and temple artwork also look different: they remind us more of India than China. Rather than try to remember all the wats we visited, we'll just list a few highlights. 1. Being led by two monks, one of which spoke English, down into a cave to see a wat. He gets up at 4 am everyday to pray. 2. Quiet. A very nice change of pace from Hanoi. Plus you can cross the streets without getting run over. 3. Fresh fruit smoothies for 5000 kip (60 cents or so). 4. Crossing the Mekong to see a few wats on the other side. There were no other tourists! 5. Food with lots of herbs and spices. 6. A decrepit old wat on the other side of the Mekong that was on the top of a hill and provided great views of the river and the city. 7. Bright orange robes everywhere. If not on monks then hanging out to dry. 8. Sticky rice with ice cream. 9. Snails everywhere. But not for eating. 10. A huge night market with beautiful goods and much less aggressive vendors. Our time is running out at the internet cafe so that's all for now folks.