Luang Prabang is a city of softness and beauty
It is a pretty town full of beautiful temples, dark wooden houses where the red saris of Buddhist monks dry.
On the banks of the Mekong river, we walk, sit on terraces and contemplate the river.
We stroll through the old quarters, we go to the night market which is held in the main street. There you can find beautiful shimmering silk scarves, bags and tunics. But also jewellery in the shape of a dove made from metal extracted from bombs.
Sauna, massage and magnificent waterfalls, Luang Prabang is full of surprises
You get a massage when you leave the herbal sauna in a coarse board shack. We eat a lemon pie bought from the French bakery, we go to the Kuang Si waterfalls and climb through the jungle to contemplate it from above.
An astonishing gastronomic diversity that you have to discover in the streets of Luang Prabang
In Luang Prabang, you can eat in the Food Street: a narrow street with vendors on one side and tables and benches on the other. You take a plate and order and then you go and sit down with complete strangers and you make nice encounters by eating good and cheap things that you can’t find anywhere else.
The most beautiful temples of Laos are there: fine, delicate and colourful
In Luang Prabang, one can spend a whole week visiting, once, twice, three times, the dazzling temples of gilded gold on red flats, roofs chiselled like birds’ wings. Find a room, by chance, where dozens of ancient statues are piled up, waiting for me, luminous in the half-light, lit by a ray of light or dancing the dust of the past.
Luang Prabang is a pious city and guarantor of its traditions
In Luang Prabang, one watches around 5:30 am, while remaining very very discreet, furtive (I didn’t take any photo), the alms ceremony, these monks who come to collect offerings in the street.
Just crossing the river, we find silent temples, deserted by tourists and we find ourselves alone contemplating the ancient frescoes, the sculpted doors and the smile of Buddha.
In Luang Prabang, the 16th century contemplates us
There is so much to see: the Wat Xieng Thong, the palace, the collection of ancient cars of the fallen king, the Pak Ou caves upriver on the banks of the Mekong river…
Take your time, don’t chase after clichés, minions in saffron robes on dusty paths, horse-drawn carriages… sit down and watch. All this will be offered to you without effort.
