Luang Prabang wormhole

Picking up where we left off before Christmas... Our ride from Nong Khiao to Luang Prabang was the longest of the trip so far - 140 kilometers - but was very, very far from being our most difficult. We covered the distance quickly and enjoyed periodic views of the Nam Ou river as we followed it south. Approaching the city, roads got busier, and we wondered if we would have trouble crossing bridges in heavy traffic (a problem in some Thai cities). Instead, we noticed motorcycle traffic on our road growing thicker and thicker, and cars thinning out, until we were in a tightly spaced single file line of motorcycles going over a scenic wooden bikes-only bridge. This kicked off the delightful trend of everything in Luang Prabang being easy and lovely.

We stayed in the UNESCO approved French colonial city center, on a shaded street of mixed French buildings and beautiful old Buddhist temples. This part of the city sits on a narrow peninsula between the Mekong and Nam Khan rivers, so from our hotel or most places we strolled, we were never more than a block or two from green river views. The street around the corner had a French bakery, a Swiss bakery, and a Scandinavian bakery within a quarter mile. During our time in Laos so far, I haven't felt deprived, but this instant teleportation into the first world was a fairly enjoyable shock.

For example, after about three weeks of craving cheese any time I felt hungry on the bike, one cafe not only served sharp cheddar in their burritos, but also drew me a map to the store where I could buy my own. Among other totally non essential but very enjoyable events, we tried Lao fine dining at a restaurant built around 300 year old lotus ponds. 

The Manda de Lao restaurant has some ambiance

Another culinary highlight was the Bamboo cooking school restaurant, where we ate the local snack of fried river weed, a bamboo stirfry, delicious jeows, and the most perfect sticky rice of the trip. Bamboo's waitress was a great lao tutor, laughing at our attempts and then teaching us the correct phrase. In general around town, with so many Lao English speakers, it was easy to find Lao language help. We may have finally managed to speak basic Lao that isn't entirely Thai with different pronouns.

Writing Lao vocabulary at bamboo restaurant

Jove and I spent about 48 hours in Luang Prabang, dividing our time between eating, looking at various Lao textiles in high end shops, and just walking around. We would have stayed much longer if our visa wasn't running short. It was so easy to sink into Luang Prabang's cocoon of relaxation, but maybe for the best we were forced to leave before turning too soft to continue bike touring. On our second day, stockpile of cheese and baguettes safely packed away, we barely managed to roll out of town before sunset.

Finally an updated map. Blank dots were covered by boat