Day 142 – 21 December 2009: Luang Prabang

In the truck, we are awoken by Essex and Hughie drunkenly climbing in at 3am, with Hughie insisting that they need to get some pot noodles left over from China as a late night snack. Hughie has got hold of the truck key, so opens the storage lockers below to get the gas out to boil the water. By now, these episodes are to be expected...

Luang Prabang is a tourist resort out of nowhere, with large echos of Laos’ not so distant past as a French colony mixed with lots of Buddhist Temples and monks scattered around the town. I wouldn’t call this a backpackers resort, as many of the tourists here are older French people et familles as well as American families. There is a market that fills the main street at night and there is a good mix of local and western restaurants. Although not a typical backpacker stop, Luang Prabang is an oasis of chilled out vibes and so could be said to be aimed at the ‘new hippy dollar’ as some American marketing person might put it.

For lunch, I have my Laos pizza stop at a café referring to itself as a Swedish bakery. The crust is perfectly thin but soft and it has good herby flavours. It’s a bit on the dry side with the tomato base, but it is easily the best pizza of the trip so far. 8 ½ / 10.

In the afternoon, I have a siesta followed by a few cocktails and then dinner at an Indian restaurant. The food there is better than anything I tasted in India, although the so called Keema Naan seemed to lack any meat.