Destination Laos: Part 23 Misty Morning in Luang Prabang

Misty morning in Luang Prabang, looking across the Mekong Nam.

French baguette spread with Laughing Cow cheese, stuffed with canned ham, strips of carrots and cucumbers and finished off with a dollop of ketchup before it is packed tightly with a rubber band in paper and plastic bag. Breakfast, sitting on the pavement's edge right in front of the night market in the middle of Luang Prabang, next to the post office, another French colonial leftover. Watching frangipani trees shed their blooms onto the floor - no surprise its the Lao national flower (named Champa) as i later found out back home surfing the net, and the odd tuk tuk and moto going by, mostly carrying the local women going to the market this early in the morning, with rattan baskets of vegetables balanced precariously on their vehicles.

Above: Moving out of the Phakam, a nice quiet place to stay tucked in a residential suburb

I enjoy watching package tourists, from my seat on the pavement across the road from some hotels which obviously i would never afford. At about 7 a.m. the deluge of them came down hunting for food. They remind me of the follies and petty grievances of the life i all but left behind the moment i got off that plane - trying to bargain and "show who's boss" when buying a 9,000 kip baguette, for instance, and rudely shoving their cameras into everyone's faces as if they were but exhibits.

Above: Rain-drenched alley that comes to life at night as a local market selling an amazing array of food and snacks.

The reason i was up and about early that day was due to my eviction from the Phakam, as rhey were already fully booked for today. Did make a reservation at the Oudomphone for the night, the elderly owner promising me a choice of rooms 4 or 10 - either one would do perfectly, but when i got back from the caves and waterfall, they "forgot" and i went room hunting for another night, this time with company though. 2 Canadians who spoke fluent Mandarin Chinese and an Israeli fresh off the Pak Beng boat formed the rather irritable foursome who skulked through almost all the alleys of Luang Prabang and, because of "contrarian theory" decided to look at our collective guidebooks to find the top listed places to stay and give those a miss to better our chances.

It wasn't much better. In the end, we split ways, me and the Israeli heading one way off Thanon Sisavangvong while the Canadians went the other, wishing each other good luck in our increasingly futile (and desperate) bid not to sleep on the streets of Luang Prabang, pretty though it was, for the night.

Finally, 17 dollars got me the last room at a restaurant-hotel. Le Tam Tam, i think it's called. Easily the most expensive place i've ever paid for in my travels (i'm cheap). Moving out tomorrow, and pre-emptivity and a better understanding of the mad scramble at 6 when the boats pull in from the Golden Triangle made me book (and damn well doubly triple confirm it) a bed at Levady's for the next 3 nights, where walking in i bumped into the Israeli, Amid again.

Above: One of the small joys of travelling - breakfast! It's always exciting and fun to wake up, wash up and then go downstairs looking for breakfast, seeing where the local people eat and occassionally joining them for a hot cup of tea/coffee and a chat. Or just sitting on one of those little plastic toy-like stools or nearby steps and benches to sample that exotic-looking, new food that you have never seen, much less tasted before, watching the world go by, your newly adopted country going about its daily business.