A chilled day ahead
I had a lazy morning today, polished off with some scrambled eggs. Mat and I planned on having a chilled out day today, exploring Luang Prabang. Despite having been here a few days, we’ve only seen our immediate surroundings and we want to branch out and see more of Luang Prabang. We started off our little adventure by going for a walk in no particular direction. This happened to lead us to the edge of the city, as we walked along a hill’s edge, looking down at the foliage and river. For a list of things to do in Luang Prabang, check this out.
It was extremely hot today, so any shade we got from the trees was much appreciated. Neither of us had a destination in mind. We just kept walking up and down different streets to see what they offered. There were a few temples that we happened upon and walked past, I wasn’t too bothered about paying to walk around them. I was on the lookout for a bandana, mainly so I could use it to cover my face when riding in a tuk tuk to protect me from dust/vehicle emissions (every little helps!). However, it turns out there were no bandanas to be found in Luang Prabang.
Stocking up
After an hour or so, we decided to stop near where the night market is will be later today, and had some food from a kitchen here. My dish was slightly spicy, but enough to make me sweat, cry, and make my nose run! Afterwards, we managed to find some sort of venue that looked derelict, yet had many open plan shops, and so much stock it was unreal. My cap had been ruined during the night after someone had slept on it, but I took this opportunity to haggle for a nice North Face cap. It was great quality except for a little scuff on the rim. Mat also bartered for some very cheap Vans (shoes not vehicles).
When we were on our hostel’s street, we visited a small mart and stocked up on some supplies, mainly toiletries. We returned to the hostel after this, and Jannis invited us to a trip just out of town, for a small party. Mat and I were both game, so we hopped in the tuk tuk and stopped at a dirt car park. We had music, some drinks, and everyone just talked, danced, or sang. It was very chilled out, especially as the Sun was setting, which made for a great ambience. Everyone also played Ninja Go, surprisingly I won a couple of games, so I was pretty thrilled! We returned to Luang Prabang once the Sun had gone down.
Goodbyes
Once back at the hostel, Mat and I went for food, and Jannis joined us. We had a look round the night market, but nothing was taking our fancy. At a stall on the outskirts, we had some huge sandwiches and some of the small coconut pancakes. Everything was very cheap but so delicious! After we had our fill, we returned to the hostel once more.
We decided to meet the others at the Utopia bar, so we went and had a few drinks with them. We were also chatting, and even playing Ninja Go there. As Mat and I departed for the hostel, we said our goodbyes to Jannis, Will, and Gisa. Despite having only having been with the tuk tuk lot for a few days, it seemed like we’d been friends ages. That’s the great thing about travelling, the friends you make are solid. Even if you have known them a day, it can seem like you’ve been friends for a year. I would have like to say goodbye to Julie (pronounced yoo-lee) and Mira. Tomorrow morning we leave Luang Prabang and travel south.
