Muang Khua
We arrived into this very small town after a long and irritating journey over the border from Vietnam. You can read about that in the last post. We made it here, exhausted, hot and annoyed, and basically just found a place to stay and waited for the morning. There isn’t alot to do there but it’s very nice to look at!
There are absolutely 0 places to book a night in advance, so we had to just walk into one of the 5 guest houses here and ask for a room. We stayed at Monathan Guest House and paid €17 total for the night AND dinner and breakfast.
The reason we wanted to get to this city first was the boat ride we took to get to the next city, Nong Khiew. Check it out!
So about half way through the boat ride, we had to get out of the boat and into a truck and ride alongside the water to pass by the dam and then get in another boat on the other side.
We arrived safely into Nong Khiew with all of our stuff and immediately went for an iced coffee.
Nong Khiew
This city is only slightly larger than the last, but has more tourism and sights to see. The unfortunate thing is that during this time of year, the region is known for its smokey air. They burn their fields in preparation of new planting. So you kind of smell smoke at all times and there are pieces of ash falling down on you from time to time. Otherwise, it’s very beautiful with the river weaving through the hills all around.
There are a few lookout points on the hilltop that require an hour and a half hike. So we did this one day. Apparently there are still unexploded bombs from those darn Americans being found in the less visited woods and mountain areas nearby. Some locals people use the scrap metal for jewelry or as construction for homes.
We really needed some down time after a month of go go GO in Vietnam. So this is actually all we did in three days here. The other days, we sat around and drank refreshing drinks, ate good food and admired the view.
Luang Prabang
Because we didn’t do a whole lot in the last city, I am bundling these all together in one. The majority of LPB is located on a small peninsula where two rivers connect, the Mekong and the Nam Khan. There are about three streets going longways down the peninsula and something around 20 cross streets.
This city is popular for the many many temples all around. There is basically one on each block. The largest and maybe most visited temple is called Xiengthong.
It was originally built in the 1560s and was renovated most recently in the 1960s.
I loved these colored glass pieces in the walls creating a mural. The tree on the back of the temple is called the flaming tree and there is a whole legend about the foundation of Luang Prabang. I don’t know. I just think it’s pretty.
LPB used to be the home of the last Lao Royal family and this palace has been a museum since 1976… one year after the royal family’s mysterious death. Very curious indeed.
We walked around the palace museum and saw the interior of the palace cars the family used to drive and the large temple on the property. We weren’t allowed to take pictures inside. The throne room also had these glass piece mosaics that I love so much! Very shiny and colourful!
royal palace museum 
temple of phra bang
Just a 30 minute drive outside the city, there is a beautiful natural pool and waterfall. It is called Kuangsi Waterfall and it was like heaven in the jungle. The water is so cold and a light turquoise color.
Super cold water and small bites from those fish that eat peoples feet skin kept it from being a completely relaxing swim, but it was absolutely gorgeous and I could have stayed for days! We felt lucky that it was nowhere near as busy and crowded as it normally would be.
I would be happy to return to this city at some time in the future and see how it’s changing. That waterfall alone is enough reason to come back!
Stories of Exploration and Travel 