The photo above was taken of the beautiful view we had over breakfast from hotel this morning. We started off the day with an early wake up to prepare us for our lengthy six hour bus ride from Vang Vieng to the large city of Luang Prabang. It was a change of scenery from the riverside villages of Vang Vieng to the bustling city of Luang Prabang, with the extensive mountain ranges between. The scenery along the way was spectacular, as we climbed through the mountain ranges along the picturesque windy roads.
We had a short stop in a local village for lunch, with the majority of us ordering fried rice or a noodle soup. Here you can see our lunch being freshly prepared.
After the long bus ride of nearly six hours our bus went into a pothole and everyone on the bus heard a loud noise. It was sad to say our bus’ suspension had broken. Fortunately it broke down in the middle of a town and so we had a restaurant to relax in with a game of uno while we waited for the back up bus to come to collect us. We were amazed how quickly this happened and it wasn’t long before we were on our way again.
We arrived at our last hotel with the relaxing feeling of being able to settle in a hotel for more than two or less nights at a time. It is clear to see Luang Prabang’s strong French influence and rich colonial character. Restaurants and cafes line the laneways in the centre of the city. After settling down at our hotel we went out for dinner, being transported by three vans. Following dinner, we went to a busy night market filled with many handbags, assortments of cutlery, silverware and many, many, patterned genie pants. After an hour and fifteen minutes of endless bargaining we started our trip back to the hotel for a good night’s rest for tomorrow’s adventures.
By Nicholas Timson & Michelle Martin