Luang Prabang. Luang Phabang. Loungphabang. It doesn’t matter how you spell it, this city is gorgeous. Walking down the main street you notice the French colonial influences sprinkled amongst the many Buddhist temples. As a lover of French culture, I am thrilled to have some pain au chocolat and a few croissants to get me through the day in Asia.

DISCLAIMER: This does not mean I support the practice of acquiring full or partial political control over another country, occupying it with settlers, and exploiting it economically 🙂

Morning Alms

Exploring around town, you are bound to see more than a handful of Buddhist Monks. Also if you are an early riser, you can witness or partake in an amazing experience.

The daily event of giving alms is a very important Buddhist tradition in Laos. At sunrise (or as early as 5:30 am), you will see the devoted members of this community line up in the street. Orange-clad monks, carrying large bowls, walk in a single-file line, while people offer food, such as sticky rice or bananas. There is no talking. There is no eye contact. All is done in silence. This tradition helps supply the local temples with their food.

Bars and Bowling

After a couple days on the slow boat, I figure our first night in Luang Prabang will be relaxing. Explore the main street, get a drink or two, and maybe get to bed early; a nice little Wednesday…like days of the week matter to us anymore.

We head towards the center of town with one thing on our mind: Mexican. Being from Kansas City, you might think we miss barbecue the most. While it’s up there on our list, some good Tex Mex will always make us happy. With our cravings partially fulfilled (not the best food at Amigos), we make our way towards a bar.

Utopia

Our friends Megan, Josh, Christy, and Darren gave us this bar recommendation. We get to Utopia and quickly realize that all of our slow boat friends are there. It’s like a little Laos version of Cheers. After a quick BeerLao, I decide its a great idea to partake in some Lao Lao. This is cheap Laotian rice whiskey and one of my better decisions of the night.

Utopia closes around midnight and everyone is asking us if we are going bowling. Yes, bowling. Not really knowing if this is actual bowling or some trendy bar/activity that people in their 30’s don’t know about, we say yes.

Leaving the Utopia, we run into a random guy named Zeb who is already negotiating a cheap tuk-tuk ride to this “bowling alley.” We join his group and we’re off. After about 10 minutes of driving to the outskirts of the town, we arrive at a giant metal building that’s an actual bowling alley. Who knew?

A couple beers and a couple games later, we walk outside to the archery range, because duh, there is an archery range. I proceed to dominate and win myself a pack of smokes. Deciding not to take up smoking at this time, I trade it in for a few more arrows before we hail another tuk-tuk back to the city at around 4 am.

Food in Luang Prabang

Here’s a list of three places you must try when in Luang Prabang. All of these were recommended to us by friends, and we now give them our full endorsement.

• Manda de Laos
  • Enjoy delicious traditional Laotian food next to three beautiful lotus ponds that are registered as a UNESCO World Heritage site.
• Tamarind
  • Great place to order a platter with smaller portions of many types of classic Lao cuisine. We went there twice.
• Dyen Sabai
  • Enjoy some Lao fondue while you relax in a bamboo hut tucked away across the river. They also have Scrabble and 2 for 1 drinks.

Pro Tips for Luang Prabang

• If you’re brave enough, rent a scooter and drive to Kuang Si Falls. The roads aren’t the best, but the scenery is beyond amazing. Make sure you wear a helmet. I can’t even count the number of people we met that had road rash from scooter accidents.
• Headed to Vietnam next? Make a stop at the Vietnamese Consulate to get your entrance Visa to Vietnam. You fill out a form and drop off your passport with $50 (for multiple entries). Two days later, you come back with a fun new sticker in your passport.
• Mount Phousi is a hot spot for a great sunset photo. Depending on your personality, you may want to fight the crowds for an amazing shot, or you may want to steer clear of this area when the sun is going down.
• Bamboo Bridge. Walk on it.

The Land of a Million Elephants

Animal tourism is a very complex and sensitive subject. There are times on our adventure where we make the decision not to visit an attraction because of the way a business is run or the way animals are treated. We always attempt to research certain outings involving animals to ensure that the establishment is sustainable, responsible, and free of cruelty.

MandaLao Elephant Conservation is another recommendation that we encourage others to experience. There are many “Elephant Sanctuaries” in Laos, but this is the only one we found that fit with our ideals. (Thanks Megan and Josh).

The elephants we got to observe throughout the day were named Buhn Tem, Tong Khoun, and Mae Mahn.

Five Freedoms of MandaLao:

Our guide, Tan, talked about the the freedoms they provide the elephants.

• Freedom from hunger and thirst. The diet of the elephant is supplied by their natural surroundings (60%) and is supplemented by food brought in (40%) by the the sanctuary
• Freedom from discomfort. Elephants are not chained or caged.
• Freedom from cruelty. There is no elephant riding allowed here. When elephants are conditioned to ride, it involves the use of tools such as hooks and hammers. The chairs used for riding also cause discomfort and overheating as elephants to not have sweat glands. At MandaLao, tours are only once a day as not to overwhelm the elephants. Other “sanctuaries” charge less, but tend to work the elephants more.
• Freedom to act as they want. Just an elephant being an elephant. Many places advertise bathing with elephants. This establishment focuses on walking alongside them, if the elephant chooses to go in the water, great, if not, no big deal.
• Freedom to produce… if they please 😉

There are neighboring farms to MandaLao, so of course these elephants get into some trouble. They may decide to stroll on down to a field and have a nice little lunch. Through proceeds of items like elephant poop paper, the conservation has two funds. One of these funds is dedicated to pay farmers for damage done by elephants. Instead of harming an elephant that is in their field, farmers will make a note of everything destroyed, and MandaLao will reimburse that farmer. MandaLao also partners with farmers by encouraging them to grow crops that will help supplement the elephant’s diet.

Yes, a Baby Elephant

This is Kit. He is two years old. He is not any ordinary baby elephant. If everything goes to plan, when Kit reaches maturity (10-12 years old), he will be the first elephant in Laos to be born into captivity and introduced back into the wild without ever having been broken for work or tourism. This shows MandaLao’s dedication to saving and preserving elephants in Laos. While many sanctuaries will break a baby elephant so it can be around people, ManadaLao is making sure this does not happen to baby Kit. You can read more about Kit’s development and journey back in to the wild here.

An Airport First

Time for another traveling first. Sitting in the lounge at Luang Prabang (Thanks Credit Card) we see our flight to Hanoi, Vietnam is about to board. We aren’t in a hurry, but decide to head that way. At the gate, the attendant checks our pass and basically points to a plane on the tarmac. We walk, unassisted to prop plane like it’s no big deal. We sit down, and a couple of minutes later our flight takes off. Why is this strange? Well, our flight just left 30 minutes early!