3 days in Luang Prabang, Laos

We were excited to go to the next city Luang Prabang after hearing how much other travelers loved it. We took an overnight mini van rather than a bus, thinking it would be easier on our stomachs since Laos roads are so bad and twisty. It ended up only being Jeremy, myself and the non-english-speaking van driver who blasted his Laos tunes the entire way. We made it to Luang Prabang by 6am, found a guesthouse and crashed for some quality sleep. Our first day we just chilled and then found a local who took us in his boat down the river for sunset. We stopped at at a sand bar to sit and enjoy the sunset and our local friend just stripped down and started swimming in the river and making sand castles. We were laughing because how often can you say that your tour guide was talking to you about his country and culture while freely hanging out in his ginch with you!
That night we went out to dinner at an amazing bar called Utopia which was a garden that overlooked the river, all lit by candles, lanterns and low tables with pillows. It was beautiful and so unbelievably relaxed. It was perfect right before bed.
The next day we went out to Kuang Si waterfall where we hiked to the top and it was so beautiful. Starting with the big waterfall which ran off into roughly 4 tiers of waiting pools which ran to the bottom of the mountain. At each one tourists were able to either, use the rope swing or jump off small cliffs into the pools, swim or relax on the side by viewing from the benches.
On our final day in Luang Prabang we woke up at 5:30am to witness the everyday morning ritual of alms giving where hundreds of monks walk the streets to collect food such as fruit and rice, given to them by the locals. It was really neat to watch so many monks of all ages walking in single file, collecting food one by one. On one corner we saw an old beggar women with a box begging the monks for food, and as each of them walked passed they shared their food with her as they dropped some of their own into her box. It was really incredible to see the circle of everyone in the community taking care of each other. The locals gave to the monks and the monks gave to the poor.
Afterwards we attending a beautiful yoga class for sunrise at Utopia. We practiced our asanas on a platform that overlooked the river and with the heat of rising sun, it was so refreshing and exactly what I felt I had been needing. It was a very slow basic class and totally inspired me to get my butt in gear and start teaching.
In the afternoon we climbed to the temple on top of Mount Pho Si for a panoramic view of the city. That night we went for a traditional style Lao BBQ which jeremy and I were extremely excited to do and this being it last night made it to be perfect timing. We enjoyed grilling thinly sliced water buffalo which tasted like beef jerky, chicken and pork. While grilling all of this a soup broth was boiling around the grill. The broth consisting of veggies and Lao spices they had also given to us with the dinner set. This Lao style of BBQ is amazing and all of it tasted sooo good! Afterwards we attended night market and headed back to our hotel room where the next morning we would board a boat to pakbeng.
-jeremy and Kendal