Things To Do In Luang Prabang

Previously:

Lotus Villa Hotel and Tamarind Restaurant, Luang Prabang

There are temples after temples here in Luang Prabang.  However, there are a few most famous temples that you can't miss while you were here.  Such as Wat Mahathat, That Chomsi, Royal Temple and Wat Xieng Thong.  These temples are located in the city that can be reached by foot or Lao style taxi for more convenient option.

night market is just located on the foot of That Chomsi 

That Chomsi

We need to climb few hundreds steps of stairs before arriving the peak of this temple.  Better to visit in the late afternoon, because this place is popular for watching sunset from the peak.  Make sure to come earlier before sunset time as a lot of people are gathering there already taking the best spot to watch the sunset. 

View from on top of That Chomsi

There is night market in Luang Prabang that open every night after 6 pm.  So, it would be a nice walk looking at their crafts and souvenirs while digging in some of their street food delicacies as well.  The best way is to visit That Chomsi around 4 pm and by the time you finish watching the sunset from up there just come down and the market will be there bustling already.

few stalls selling the fresh fruit shakes and milk frappe

We found this hot pot stall just in the corner of the road.  They are located not so far from That Chomsi.  Range of fresh vegetables, fish cakes, noodle and some seafood are there for you to pick.  The lady gave us a basket to fill in with all the goodies of our choice.  Once you finish, the lady will cook them for you in her special broth and ding... not so long it will be ready for you to dig in with spicy homemade ma la  chilli sauce.  This thing is called ma la hot pot.  Ma la is the type of Chinese pepper that make your tounge numb.  I love lots of them in my soup although we suffer from the numby tounge for a moment but they tasted absolutely delicious.

Soup version by Octie Appetie

Ma la chilli paste

Stay tuned for the next blog still in Luang Prabang:
Morning Market And Prachaniyom Coffee, Luang Prabang

Lotus Villa Hotel and Tamarind Restaurant, Luang Prabang

The most convenient direct flight (about 2 hours flight) but a little splurge from Bangkok to Luang Prabang is with Bangkok Airways.  This boutique airline provides their passengers with a private waiting-lounge completed with snacks, light drinks and their famous khao tom mud or steamed sweet sticky rice with banana filling.  You can enjoy the free wi-fi and some refreshments before departing.  What a nice start of holiday.

We stayed at Lotus Villa in Luang Prabang for 3 nights.  It was a small boutique hotel with clean room and friendly smiley receptionists and superb breakfast.

complimentary welcome drink and fresh fruits

standard room on the 2nd floor

deluxe room is on the ground floor

Luang Prabang city is not so big.  For advance adventurers, they can easily cover the temples and restaurants from their hotel by foot.  However, as we came with elderly and a toddler, this type of vehicle is the best option for us.  They can be hired for all day, half day or just to take you to certain place.  It is like a taxi but without meters and natural air (no window).  Here in Luang Prabang, there are no taxi unless you do the advance booking through internet or hotel reception for private van.  Bargaining is highly needed, if you are foreigner and don't know how to speak the language at all and do not want to risk to get cheated, the best way is to ask your hotel concierge for a help finding the transportation.  However, I found that many of the drivers are actually pretty good and honest.

Once we arrived and dropped our stuff in the hotel, of course the first thing we did was heading to the local restaurant serving local cuisine.  Tamarind restaurant serves the Luang Prabang delicacies.   The photos below are some of the food that we tried.

Or lam gai

This is Lao signature dish.  It is basically a spicy stew chicken dish with some eggplant and green vegetables.

Lemongrass stuffed with chicken

It is the whole stalk of lemongrass in each one and they stuffed with minced chicken and green shallot then dipped in egg before deep-fried .  Very fragrant and tasty absolutely delicious.

Herb fish steamed in banana leaf

Khai paen - crispy river weed

This crispy river weed is called khai paen but the raw one is called kai hin.  It is a river weed that topped with lots of white sesame and then fried in hot oil in just a few seconds.  Very thin slice and very crispy.  It is normally served with jeow or type of chilli dipping paste and can be eaten on its own or with sticky rice.

Fresh fruit platter

In here, they serve the drink with bamboo straw very eco-friendly.  Love the idea.

Stay tuned for the next blog still in Luang Prabang:
Things To Do In Luang Prabang

Last night in Xishuangbanna

Previously:

Things To Do In Xishuangbanna

Local morning market

Aini traditional set lunch

Tai Lue style temple

This Dai style temple is pretty similar in architecture and style with Thai temple.  One of another must influenced each other.  According historian, Northern Thai people actually came from Southern part of China.  That probably makes sense.  Because not only the food, house style, they also share similar language as well.

Next, we visited the biggest Pu Er Cha (or Puer tea) brewing company on the way back to Meng La.  Not only tasting the tea, we also can admire the tea leaves that they dried and make as an art.  For examples, as 3D picture in frame and the UNESCO (the biggest) round tea monument made purely from tea leaves.

sampling the tea brews

Last night here in Xishuangbanna, we just had a nice local street food with our guide.  She took us to the local Meng La spicy noodle and skewers.  It was a balmy night but with good companions and great food, I couldn't complain nothing.

Until we see you again Xishuangbanna.  Bye for now and Octie Appetie...