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
No comments:
Post a Comment