Coming out of the airport, we asked the tuk tuk driver to take us to the southern bus terminal so we can catch the next bus going to Ban Nakasang. This started a whole chain of events we can refer to a “misunderstanding”.

The tuk tuk driver took us to the bus ‘terminal’ (an open market with 2 buses and many chickens) and to our surprise, there was a bus leaving right there and then going to our destination. After we paid double the normal price (tuk tuk driver was ‘kind ‘enough to get us tickets quicker than we were able to open our mouths) we boarded a local bus heading to Ban Nakasang, or so we thought.

The bus was definitely the authentic experience we were looking for-no doors, hardly any windows, loud Lao pop music and as Kevin likes to joke, “we’re the only 2 white people on the bus!” The driver stopped every 30 minutes in villages along the way and within seconds, we were surrounded by villagers peddling food through the windows such as meat on skewers, coconut and candy.

After 2.5 hours, we reached a car ferry and people started yelling something about Don Khong (not to be confused with Don Khon-our final destination). Once we got to the other side of the river, things started happening very fast. Within a matter of minutes the bus drove off and we were left on the side of the road with our backpacks while a minivan driver and an old woman with no teeth explained to us that we are nowhere near Don Khon. Thinking about this now seems funny but there was nothing comical about being stuck in the middle of nowhere in the heat after getting only 4 hrs of sleep the night before.

It turns out we were now on Don Khong which is the main island in Si Phan Don. It is said to be the most convenient one in terms of services for tourists but lacks the charm of its southern brothers-Don Det and Don Khon where we wanted to go.

Now tired, dirty and hungry, what else could we do? We went to eat. We needed to cool off, get a drink and strategize. We considered staying in Don Khong for the night and just taking a boat the next day to Don Khon but a quick look around revealed that there was absolutely nothing to do there and we were already too excited about getting to Don Khon. By God, we were gonna get there one way or another!

Luckily, we ran into 2 nice Israeli guys at the restaurant who had just arrived on the island 20 minutes earlier and were also ready to leave already. These guys were on 6 month journey through Asia eating only Western food, if you can believe that.

Anyway, we all chartered a boat together and after another 1.5 hr in the sun going down the Mekong we were finally in Don Khon! Hurray!!!

After such an ordeal, we thought we deserved some kind of compensation (ok, I thought we did) and we marched right into the fanciest place on the island according to the lonely planet guidebook. We were going to splurge and pay $20 a night! That’s right, we thought we were living large! Turns out a lot of other people on the island are living large and the hotel was fully booked which meant we’d need to continue carrying our 12kg backpacks in search of another option. That option ended up being a simple guesthouse for only $2/night, the price of 2 fruit shakes in Laos.

We took a very modest room in a family’s house (on stilts) where the bathroom was outside right near the chickens. Being able to speak French proved to be very useful as the family didn’t speak a word of English but their French was great! The mother, Sissamon, told us about her family and showed us pictures of her oldest son currently studying painting in Bangkok.

We went for a short walk and saw a magnificent sunset over the river, got dinner and stared at the starry sky for a while. Back at the guesthouse we chatted with the family for a bit but we were exhausted by 9pm and were sleeping, under the mosquito net, covered in Deet by 9:02pm.

The next morning we upgraded to a $5 bungalow with private shower and a fan!

Let us all pray to the God of Malaria that the mosquitoes also took the wrong bus and are still stuck in Don Khong!

So far we’ve stumbled upon two photography exhibitions while strolling around in Luang Prabang. The first was housed in a beautiful French villa showcasing photos of Lao life as part of the Biennale international de l’image. The second exhibition was right next to the Palace museum entitled “Floating Buddhas”. The photos were taken by a German photographer who was invited by the monks of Luang Prabang to document novices’ study and practice of meditation. The photos were all shot with an analog camera in black and white achieving a wonderful dramatic effect. I liked it so much I bought a poster of the exhibition and with some luck, it will actually make it all the way back to New York.

We arrived in Luang Prabang on Friday morning and did not have a hotel reservation. At the airport, we met a fellow traveler, Laura, who mentioned she was going to a guesthouse that may have another room available. We decided to share a tuk tuk to the city (about 4km away) and see if we could stay at that same place. After a short drive, we got into town and realized that Laura’s guesthouse did not have any available rooms but the guesthouse next door-Levady had a room. We quickly snatched that room and started our adventure.

It was only later in the day that we realized we had struck gold-the guesthouse was in the most beautiful enchanting alley covered in trees and flowers. The location was perfect, right between the Mekong and the Nam Khan rivers leading to a beautiful Wat (Buddhist temple). We walked through the temple every time to get to the many cafes, restaurants and sights the town has to offer. We spent the first night in a regular double room and switched the next day to the “deluxe” room-a second floor wooden room with a balcony! Now we had front row seats to the alley and Lao life!

Right across from our guesthouse was a Lao family that seems like the local community center. Every day we watched people come in, sing, dance or act in a show. One afternoon as we were hanging out on our porch, we managed to capture it on video!

In Levady guesthouse we had the opportunity to stay with a family of three generations and observe how they live. One thing that is clearly very different about the way of life here is the absence of separation between work and private life. Your home is in most cases your place of business be it a guesthouse, a café , a stall at the night market, an art gallery or a massage/spa shop. People live where they work, sometimes on the second floor and sometimes in the room right next to yours. The whole family hangs out together while some members work, it would be as if my mom, grandma, nephews and cats all sat together with me in my cubicle back in NY.

At 6a.m. this morning, dozens of cell phone alarms clocks could be heard around the backpackers’ area, it was time to get up and see the Buddhist monks. Every morning, hundreds of monks dressed in a traditional orange outfit roam the silent streets of Luang Prabang collecting alms from the locals (Tak Bat in Lao). All along the main road of town, people set up mats on the floor with pots of sticky rice and wait for their turn to give food to the monks. The monks walk silently in a long never ending line, gazing at the floor while accepting those small portions of rice. The people of Luang Prabang seem grateful for their chance to perform a Buddhist “Mitzvah” and bow their head down as they serve the rice. This surreal daily ritual is filled with early morning’s haze and complete silence, the only thing that can be heard is the tourists’ cameras clicking.
Britney Spears may think she has it hard but the monks of Luang Prabang are shot from every possible angle. Some tourists even go as far as walking right up to the young monks and taking their photo. From a spiritual and humbling experience, it was transformed into a circus, or at least that’s how it felt to me. Tourists position themselves in good “photo worthy” angles and are even given the option to buy some crackers so they can give to the monks (feeding time at the zoo?). After snapping a couple of photos I realized I am simply not able to be part of this paparazzi show and opted to just stand back and look at the wonderful symbiosis of the monks and the Luang Prabangis.

The charm of this amazing place takes over you immediately and you are forced to walk slow, talk softly and think happy thoughts (no, no interesting brownies served for breakfast). It is simply gorgeous here, the combination of stunning Wats, beautiful French Lao buildings, enchanting Mekong river and breath taking views all make it a very special place. Luang Prabang is a gay friendly cat friendly place where people are smiley, relaxed and kind. It feels like an island but is actually a small town in the mountains. We have been trying to think of what this place reminds us of and so far we’ve come up with a mix of Sapa (Vietnam), Colon (Panama), Sinai (Egypt) and Zichron (Israel), I guess it is just like nothing we’ve ever seen.