Successful repairs
After the crazy night at the hostel, everyone managed to wake up and drag themselves out of bed. Luckily for them, breakfast was situated just across the road, so it wasn’t far at all. The breakfast was a nice combination of rice and egg, with some soup. Once everyone had finished breakfast, we had a walk down to the repair shop. Thankfully, the tuk tuk had been repaired successfully, and was ready for lift-off. It was a good feeling knowing we’d be arriving in Luang Prabang later today.
Everyone hopped on and we had a small drive back to the hostel. Everyone took half an hour to gather their stuff together, load up the tuk tuk, and get on the road again. The scenery we saw en route was absolutely astonishing, it truly is a beautiful country. It would look beautiful from inside a bus or car, but the fact we were in the open air in the back of a tuk tuk made it all the more spectacular. The great hills and vast valleys all surrounding us, with a great river protruding through the middle. I didn’t mind arriving in Luang Prabang a little later for these views!
Reaching the city
We were able to make it to Luang Prabang without any hitches this time. After yesterday’s breakdown, I counted my blessings that we were arriving in Luang Prabang. To be honest, now that the lads were driving, it was a lot smoother. The tuk tuk group drove to the hostel they had stayed in previously, so we decided to stay there too. The 3 of us checked in, found our room, and settled in. It was called the Chitlatda Central Bila House, check here for more info. It had good facilities, and it was in an excellent location. The others in the group brought their stuff to our room, but only 1 would be sleeping in here, the rest would be sleeping in the tuk tuk. As the laundry is cheap here, we took the opportunity to wash our stuff (left with reception), then headed out for some food.
We went to a popular nearby bar, called Utopia, that the tuk tuk lot recommended. All of us went and sat around a large table, and just had a good chat for hours. Everyone got some drinks in, and I even had fish and chips for dinner. It was actually very nice, and reminiscent of home! Judging by the drinks that the others were buying, it seemed like they were here for the long haul. After a few hours, Mat and I left to go a see the night market, something not to be missed in Luang Prabang.
The night market
The main stretch of the night market consisted of trinkets, odds and ends, cushion, paintings, souvenirs, and more. However, every 10 metres or so, you’d see the same things, again and again. A lot of the market seemed to be a copy and paste job. Don’t get me wrong, a lot of the stuff there would be nice for a lot of people, it’s just stuff I don’t have room for, nor need it. Down an alleyway, there was the food night market. It had fresh and cooked food, all the way down. There was fruit, cakes, pork, chicken butt holes, fish, and loads more food. We’d just eaten, so we didn’t really want anything, but it was absolutely packed with people.
After battling our way through the night market, and back to the main street where there’s a little space, we began our way home. There was a stall on the outskirts of the market that did huge crepes, similar to the ones in Nha Trang (read about that adventure here!). I had strawberry and chocolate…it was very messy, but delicious too. We ate these on the way back to the hostel, then once we’d cleaned up, we hit the sack for the night.
