Luang Prabang Scenes, 1

We were in Luang Prabang February 10-15, five nights at the My Lao Home hotels complex, an old town setting of French colonial homes now converted to rooms and villas, restaurant, coffee shop, crafts shoppe, and more. It was a block's walk to the Mekong, a block in a different direction to the night market, and just on the the edge of the little peninsula formed by the confluence of the Na Kahn and Mekong rivers. We were interested mostly in the colonial architecture and such, but also wanted to rest up for the madhouse of Hanoi and a month in Vietnam. (Little did we know...). After a first night in a small room, we upgraded to something more spacious for a five night stay. One day we lazed. One day we lazed and visited the Vietnam consulate to get our visae. One day we did the peninsular circumnavigation. One day we went out to the Kuang Si waterfalls and bear preserve. Every night we visited the night market and ate out in the old quarter, including a genuine French colonial meal.

MyLaoHome; ours was the Orchid House

Restaurant where we had breakfast daily

Interior of Orchid House; since our interest here was in the colonial architecture,
and since the MyLaoHome complex was among the UNESCO-protected
properties, I'll indulge in a few photos

Lounge; heavy teak

Orchids indeed, everywhere

The foliage everywhere was impressive

Outside our room

Our upgraded room

Don't know how we'll ever get used to less than king-sized again

Huge bathtub; only problem was there was only enough hot water for about 3"

Nice touch; on Valentine's Day every room was given a rose

Just that far from the Mekong

Two Days On The Mekong River, 2

Continuing our voyage down the Mekong River in Laos...

Back on the water, a fenced-in garden on the shore

More shore activity

One of two tributaries I saw in the course of our 100+ mile voyage; dry season

Panning for gold

More interesting mountains appear

Tour boats and another village

High water mark: easily 7 meters

Under construction: high speed train from China to Bangkok and beyond

More mountains

Docking now at the Pak Ou caves

Still wondering where she fits in Buddhism

Actually it wasn't much of a cave that Vicki missed (too many painful steps)

Back on the river; I interpreted the red flags as a no-no; but, no, our captain
steered right between them and passed without a ruffle

And now we are in "Whiskey Village"; obviously it has a real name, but this is
what's it's known as in the tourist trade; here are the stills in which they're making
rice whiskey, Mekong Moonshine

Aged for 12 years in these oak barrels...

Filtered, not once, but three times

For 50 bhat of course I had to have one; 100 proof grain alcohol; Lao Lao, it's
called

In the wat adjoining the market; we are so watted-out

Typical wat inscription tree: wisdom quotes

Our boat, now laden with whiskey, about to shove off

On final approach to Luang Prabang

As the river widens, fish farms appear

And finally we arrive at the "port" of Luang Prabang...and more adventure

Overnight In Pak Beng

We arrived at Pak Beng about 5:30. A hotel van took us to Le Grand, the big resort there, another beautiful room/villa and dinner.

I was navigating all the way, although Google Maps was a bit sketchy regarding
the course of the river

Le Grand, Pak Beng, Laos

Right across the river from an elephant reserve

The tour boats were packed in exactly like sardines

The deck of our villa

And view of the river

Another beautiful room...but this time we were worthy, having shelled out $90,
a splurge; we figured a remote village in darkest Laos might be worth it; turns out
it was not quite that remote; but still a good decision; beautiful furniture, floors,
all teak

Sunset on the Mekong

And a full moon, heading to dinner at the hotel

Only kind of beer I had in Laos, Beerlao

My appetizer was a fairly decent Tom Yum; sadly I failed to photograph the
triple curry we shared for dinner

Dessert: local fruits and coconut ice cream

A bit of the Le Grand complex, reception, and the restaurant; being on the side
of the hill, everything was pretty steep and not very friendly for the mobility-
impaired

Next morning at breakfast, across the river

You can lead an elephant to water, but...