Its sa-bai-dee here… not sa-wat-dee!
Chad traveled to Laos this week to study the Lao language. Lao is very similar to Thai and we are hoping that he is able to get fairly proficient. He took a two day class and will test this upcoming week. We have our hopes up that he will do well!
Chad stayed in Vientiane, the capital city for the first half of the week then Sam, Jack, Anna and I met him in Luang Prabang. Luang Prabang is small city located on the Mekong River. It is the former capital of Laos Kingdom and is dominated by French colonial architecture from when Laos was part of French Indochina.
A strong influence from the colonial period remains: the city has excellent French breads and pastries and wonderful Lao-French fusion restaurants. We really loved Luang Prabang. It is small, quaint and unique – a great break from bustling Bangkok. We could walk or bike most places rather than taking mass transit. Although it lacks major tourist attractions, Luang Prabang will really win you over with it’s small alleys, beautiful streets and boutique shops. It has a fantastic night market which opens every day at 6pm. The handicrafts were some of the best we have seen and very reasonably priced. We also caught a few days of cooler weather – which, of course, was simply fantastic.
Travel to Luang Prabang was easy. Luang Prabang has an international airport so we simply hopped on a 1.5 hour flight from Don Mueang International airport in Bangkok. I say “simply” – but I was traveling alone with three small children so “simply” is a generous term (the kids humored me and were on their *best* behavior).
Luang Prabang was not as child friendly as some places we have stayed. The hotels are mostly small boutique places or cheap guest houses and the restaurants and bars cater mostly to backpackers and older couples. So, as usual, we were quite the spectacle. It took some research and work to find a hotel that would accommodate us and provide a baby crib. But we had a great time nevertheless.
Some of the bigger “attractions” include the daily Tak Bat (where the town’s village monks take a barefoot stroll throughout the town to collect food donations), Kuang Si falls (where you can swim and play in the multi-tiered waterfalls), and Pak Ou caves (a small cave system full of small Buddha statues). We really recommend the falls which were pretty and quiet and full of crystal clear water. Jack loved being brave and splashing in all the small little pools. The Pak Ou caves were a little bit of a trek and not overly impressive – but you do get to take in the sights along the Mekong River on the way.
Will Travel with Toddlers 