Well, after arriving on Saturday the 26th in Luang Prabang late in the evening, we were itching to check the place out. We found a great place down the street for breakfast with Kaffe Lao Dam (black Lao coffee) and then took off on the bikes to check out the ancient Buddhist Wats in the area.
I'm not knocking the Wats..believe me, I'm not. I've seen Wats all over Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam and now Laos...and well, you get Watted out...believe me. But there is still something mystical, soothing and calming whenever I go to visit a Buddhist Wat and seeing and hearing the monks in their saffron robes chanting. It just gives me this feeling of a higher power in the universe. There are many very old Wats within Luang Prabang area, and I think we visited half of them. But the city has become the #1 tourist place in Laos and we were just shocked at the number of foreigners in the small city...they were everywhere. Restaurants in the evening were teeming with Aussies, Americans, Brits, Chinese and many many other people from elsewhere. Most of the guesthouses we tried to get into were completely booked solid. So this is a good thing I think for Laos and the people. But still, there was much evidence of very poor people but everywhere we went, the people were smiling, waving, and wanting to talk with us. Everyone asked where we were from and almost all were so admiring of America, despite George Bush ..and that made me feel very good. Colin and I both thought that the Lao people were perhaps the friendliest and nicest people we have met in Asia. But back to the Wats.........
This is a beautiful Wat which sits on top of a mountain in the middle of the city of Luang Prang.
We concluded our Wat tour on the bikes, rehydrated with our favorite...Beerlao...and had lunch. Cruised the evening looking at the markets and to bed.......
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