Luang Prabang

Our two-day cruise ended in Luang Prabang, the colonial capital of Laos. It is now a tourist haven where most Mekong River tours in the northern part of the country start and end. The old colonial character has been preserved, so there are no skyscrapers or building over four or five stories tall.

Luang Prabang has a very large and vibrant night market. Though things are cheap, you can get better deals if you are a haggler. There are lots of restaurants and cafes catering to tourist from all over the world. We favored the Coconut Restaurant, the Tamarind Restaurant, and a newly opened fusion restaurant serving Lao, French, Italian, Mexican, and Senegalese cuisines. Of course, we ate some great food in Luang Prabang. We ate some of the same dishes from Cambodia and Thailand. Though some look different, they nevertheless have the same taste since the 4 main ingredients are the same. One street food we really loved is the coconut custard pancakes. This is more like a dessert, sweet and yummy, best eaten warm- Sherry has already looked up the recipe and is in search of the pan!

Night market 

Coconut pancakes

Love me some street side grilled fish

There are quite a few tours available from Luang Prabang. Of course, we took the waterfall tour to the majestic Kuang Si Waterfalls. This fall is the biggest in the area with three tiers leading to a 50 meters (164 ft) drop into spectacular emerald pools.  The water is very cold!

The top of the falls

On the way to the waterfalls, we passed through the bear sanctuary where there are a number of rescued Moon Bears. The bears are captured and killed for their bile.