We arrived late last night and didn't get to see much of the town, so this morning we wanted to explore. Our hotel has another great breakfast buffet- I'm thinking of opening a restaurant in Boston called "Asian hotel breakfast"- pancakes and bacon, friend rice and noodles, all alongside fresh fruit and made-to-order noodle soup and omelettes. It's a genius concenpt.
We went first up the Phousi hill to the temple at the top. It was a long, hot climb up the stairs. I am so sick of being soaking wet with sweat! My clothes are just never dry. The view from the top was beautiful. You could see the two rivers as well as the mountains beyond. Laos is nothing what I expected. The city feels spacious and clean, and the standard of living in what we've seen is quite high. I imagine it changes a littler further away, but from a first glance it's a lovely place. On the way down we took the back stairs, though a set of Buddha statues for each day of the week. There was a monk there taking photos like us. When we told him we were American, he said "oh, Independence Day!" So cute. The final stairs down had white naga railings which were a whimsical touch. We ended up by the other river and walked back up to the center.
We went to the national museum, which consisted of the royal palace and a pretty wat. This was the first time I've ever taken my shoes off to go into a museum! The throne room was decorated in mosaic scenes from daily life in Laos, and the wat was done in green and gold. Toward the end of the tour I realized that my capris had completely worn through, shredding really, so that was back to the hotel to change before lunch. I was annoyed; it was only the second time I've worn them.
We had lunch on the river, a cute place with some breeze. Then we walked to the end of the peninsula to see the famous Wat Xhieng Thom. It was so hot. I was dying. They were doing construction at the wat so it was rather underwhelming. We took some pictures, but I couldn't really enjoy it. On the way back to the hotel we stopped at the 3 Nagas, a highly recommended restaurant that had lemongrass mojitos on special. They were amazingly refreshing! The heat was really just oppressive.
We hid in the AC of the hotel for a bit before heading out for dinner. People apparently eat late here, but we eventually ended up back at 3 nagas.
Our final activity was the night market. The night market here in Luang Prabang takes up a whole street for blocks. Many of the sellers had the same goods, but we found some gems mixed in. I made a list for gifts for people but didn't buy anything today. Julie got a picture of a bodhi tree drawn by a young art student.
Overall Laos has been a pleasant surprise, and I hope it cools off enough to appreciate it more in the coming days.
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