Luang Prabang, Laos

We've been in Luang Prabang, Laos for two nights and we are really enjoying it here. The walkable city re-opened to tourism in 1989 after the fall of the USSR and Soviet bloc governments. In 1995 Luang Prabang was placed on the UNESCO World Heritage list and that has raised the city's international profile. The city is small and encircled by mountains and set at the confluence of the Nam Khan and Mekong River. The architecture is French provincial and there is Wat(temple) after Wat after Wat. To get here took 6 hours of windy roads with villages around every bend. It seemed like everyone was working as we passed through the villages, even the little children. All of them had dogs, chickens, and a resident pig. It was tough to see the living conditions, houses built right on the side of the road. Upon arrival we checked into a cute guesthouse a block from the Mekong and headed right down to the river for what we do best, Happy Hour. As we sat there we watched the boats go by, locals gardening on the banks, and the glimmer of fading sun on the river. We love being vagabonds. Yesterday we woke to cloudy skies and it actually RAINED on us. Of course, their first rain in 6 months. It didn't stop our walking tour of the city and we enjoyed seeing the sights and visiting lots of wats. Luang Prabang has an incredible night market and textiles are the thing to buy here and that's been our evening entertainment. You just want to buy from the local women because they are so genuine and sweet and really want your business. Each tells you that it's your lucky day and last night when we bought a quantity of beautiful handmade mulberry paper lanterns and the young woman smiled as big as can be, waved the money and said today was her lucky day. That moment made our day. We've discovered great food here and they even have good wine because of the French influence. This morning our alarm rang at 6:00 AM. Why? To witness the monks collecting their food from the locals and tourists. It's an amazing sight seeing the parade of monks getting offerings for their daily meals. It was worth the early morning to see the ritual. Laos is teaching us a lot and we hope you are enjoying seeing this country along with us.