After the long, long way, we finally arrived to Luang Prabang around 9 in the morning. We shared a tuk-tuk to the city centre with a bunch of other tourists from the bus and started to look for a hotel. We were determined to find something quiet. So we headed to areas that are a little further away from the touristiest streets. After taking a look in several guesthouses, we settled in one that seemed the most secluded from tourist streets, hoping to find peace and quiet there. We soon realised that this might not have been the wisest option, because instead of tourists (who in this town do not seem to be crazy party animals or disco lovers), we’ve got locals with their daily activities around – motorbikes riding, children playing, roosters crying their greetings, local men having beer just near our windows, etc. But in the end it’s not that bad, as even the local people need their sleep and hence the night time is generally quiet.
We went for a walk around the city centre and liked this place right away. Luang Prabang is quite a peaceful and its centre is rather small, so that it is easy to walk everywhere. The centre of the city is located on a peninsular that is formed at the meeting point of two rivers – Mekong and Nam Khan.
We walked on the river banks and enjoyed the views. We also visited Wat Xieng Thong temple, which is one of the icons of Luang Prabang (a really nice one) and had a quick look at few other temples. By that time the heat of the day was up and the lack of sleep of the previous night did not make it easier. So we headed back to our guesthouse and had a nice long siesta.
We got up just in time to get to the top of the town centre own hill, That Phu Si, by the time of sunset. The hilltop offers amazing views over the city, the rivers and nearby mountains.
Of course, there is also yet another temple at the hilltop and on the way down, there are a number of Buddha statues (e.g. a Buddha for each day of the week –Monday Buddha, Tuesday Buddha, etc.) and a footprint of Buddha.
After that it was time for a nice dinner at a riverside restaurant and then massage. I had a foot massage and Felipe had Lao massage this time. Then we could really call it a day and go for a good night sleep.
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