It's Christmas Time in... Laos

Six hours late... Our flight from Hanoi to Luang Prabang was six hours late leaving. The flight also was moved from the reliable Vietnam Airlines to Lao Airlines. Lao airlines does not publish their safety records, nor do NGOs or embassies advise their employees to use this airline. Those facts made me feel great about the flight, just great; thankfully it was a completely uneventful flight. We landed in a chilly Luang Prabang, well chilly by Southeast Asian standards, and made our way into town. Two hours after getting into we were still walking the streets without a room at the inn, as it were. We had visited around twenty guesthouses, and no one had any rooms. We had two choices: sleep on the street or put an expensive place on Visa. The good people at Visa were pleased with our decision.

We however were not; we found a $4 per night guesthouse the next morning, and it was just as nice as what we'd paid $65 for the night before. After being suitably pleased with out new accommodations we headed out into Luang Prabang. We walked around this charming town for a while and ended up at the Restaurant L'Elephant, where we made a reservation for Christmas dinner. We spent the rest of the day wandering around town, but the highlight of the day was definitely the dinner. Andrew and I shared a table with an interesting French couple who were great company, but the best part was surely the food. We began with some cheese and cherry tomatoes filled with a similar soft cheese. Next up for me was a baked cream of mushroom soup, with cheese on top. The third course was the main, Andrew and I both had turkey stuffed with local wild mushrooms, scalloped potatoes, and some asparagus. Following that there was a soft cheese course, and then a cake dessert. All in all this one is one of the finest meals I've ever had, anywhere.

On Boxing Day we lounged around for the morning and then headed out to a waterfall. The waterfall itself was quite nice, but the real hilight was the trail Andrew and I found that led us through this gorgeous riverbed/flooded forest. We made our way through the calf-deep water and came to appreciate what a truly beautiful part of the world Laos is. We only had a couple hours there, but it was one of the most memorable experiences I had in Southeast Asia. I think this is because we found this trail on our own (it wasn't exactly hidden though) and it was so gorgeous.

The next day we caught a bus to the capital city of Vientiane. The bus ride really showed off the Laotian countryside. We also had the pleasure of sharing our bus with vomitting Laotian women and an especially stinky rooster; I guess these thing build character. Vientiane was an interesting little city, we went to a covered market that was the least hectic of any I've ever been to. We also took a trip to "The Vertical Runway", this is the Laotian Arc d'Triomphe. It is so named because it was made from cement intended for a new airport and looks very similar to the arc in Paris. That night we had a nice sushi feast and headed to the airport the next morning.

Andrew went back to Saigon and then Canada. I went to Bangkok for a couple days, and then came back to Canada. And that's where I am now, sitting in Victoria writing my blog on my new Macbook. I'll save any grand reflections on SE Asia for another blog, but I will add some photos now, so if you're reading this check out this last few entries for some new pictures.