We left lovely Chiang Mai by plane for our first flight on Lao Airlines. For those of you who may have heard of it, its history in a previous incarnation as Lao aviation was not a very safe one. We decided that flying was the way to do Lao after looking into the alternatives of boat and buses. I don't think these would have been a very comfortable option especially with my hatred of buses, although the scenery i imagine to be pretty spectacular.
Before we left i had reassured Sam that the planes would be new and safe even if it was a small plane with propellers. It was a fairly small plane but it was new and we even got fed on the 50 minute flight, can't imagine that happening on many other airlines. The only time my confidence wavered was reading that in case of landing on water you were to use your seat cushion a flotation device, as there were no lifejackets! and the usual pre flight safety routine only consisted of a quick show of where the emergency exits were. It also sounded a bit like a wind up motor but all in all it was a really good flight, 2 more to go. The landing in Luang Prabang was pretty spectacular, coming down over the hills and then right over the rivers, skimming the roof tops of the small houses near the airport. We had no problems getting our visas on arrival although the price was more than what we expected at $36 ($1 overtime fee for weekends) when the lao website says $30, we did however get 30 days instead of the 15 that we thought. Driving through the town first impressions were of a peaceful, pretty place, the french influence is definately in evidence throughout in architecture especially in the central tourist area. The whole place has the appearance of being very up market with whitewashed buildings with dark wood shuttered windows and doors, wooden balconys over looking the streets. Most restaurants are open fronted with polished wooden floors, heavy dark wood furniture, table cloths and candles. There are bakerys with fresh baguettes and croissants, pizza places and numerous shops selling beautiful but expensive jewellery and there is even a couple of posh wine bars. There are many beautiful gold embellished Wats/buddhist temples and all over there are young apprentice monks walking around in their orange robes, we saw a lot of them on the internet the other night keeping up to date on the world news undoubtably.
We rented some bikes for $1 a day to potter around with. The currency situation in Laos is something i am still adjusting to, you can pay in kip (Laos official national currency), dollars, Thai Baht and even euros in some places! what makes it even more confusing is that the exchange rate means that you get around 17 000 kip to the pound, so changing 100 pounds can make you a millionaire!!
