Travels:Laos. Enjoying life on the Nam Khan

Luang Prabang
Day 11
Tuesday December 30, 2008

Just when you think Luang Prabang can't get any prettier, husband J and I walked to another part of this little town, along another river called the Nam Khan (River Khan). The sun came out at about 10.30am so it was sunny and warm, and we were taking in the beauty of this part of town. The scene was gorgeous - monks in their orange robe crossing a bamboo bridge, kids screaming half naked covered in mud, whilst swimming and diving from a home-made springboard made of tree branches! It was a delightful sight! These kids have real fun, without the trappings of tuition, music and dance classes, computer games or chat rooms. They enjoy being out of the house with friends. It's like how it was some 30 years ago - when I was young. Except I didn't have a river, just a filthy smelly monsoon drain near my grandma's house!! Ugh!

Spring diving from a homemade diving board on the Nam Khan

Monks crossing the bamboo bridge over the Nam Khan

We walked up to Wat Xieng Thong, one of the oldest wats in Laos, certainly the oldest in Luang Prabang. There was a main wat, and a few little ones scattered around the big grounds. This wat seemed to be popular; there were a lot of people! I was a little "wat-ted out", so I didn't spend much time admiring the paintings or the architecture. J seemed more into it.

Big grounds around Wat Xieng Thong, oldest wat in Luang Prabang

After much photo taking at this old wat, J and I walked to a nearby restaurant and I had beef pho. It was delicious! We walked some more and passed by rows of springroll skins put out to dry on woven bamboo racks. They looked a little different than the ones mom and I saw in Vietnam, these had pepper seeds in them. So far, I've never come across raw springrolls with pepper seeds in them.

Letting the springroll skins out to dry

We came back to the guesthouse and had a siesta for the rest of the afternoon. Went out at night for dinner and had fish lab at one of the restaurants nearby. The lab was a bit too salty, so I didn't quite enjoy that. Hung out at JoMa for a bit before returning to the guesthouse. Tonight is colder than usual in Luang Prabang.

xoxo,