Travel Talk

Lazy Days & Late Nights in Luang Prabang

sunset in luang prabang, laos over the mekong river

Top of the morning, I’ve been in Luang Prabang about a week or so now, every day I tell them I’m leaving tomorrow and now they just smile. I’ve been lazing around all day, running into characters and having late nights, in this sleepy yet beautiful town of Luang Prabang, Laos.

Yesterday I ran into some New Yorkers and we hung out all day, hit up the market had some Laos Coffee. Laos Coffee is the best coffee I’ve ever tasted. It’s almost like hot chocolate but just really strong and sweet coffee. It was soooo good I thought to myself, this is the type of thing that would make going into work on a cold January day in Canada somewhat bearable. Then I forgot about the cold while wiping away some sweat from my brow.

It will cost you ~6-8,000 kip. It is so strong that unless it’s your first one of the day, a small will do. They know that hence jack the price. This stuff is serious. I have enough of that crude oil in my stomach to fuel a cargo tanker on a cross Atlantic voyage, or something like that. Mix that with Tom’s Whiskey and your stomach will not be loving you so much.

The pork here is insanely delicious, think massive chunks of back bacon, it’s “the goods”. Stopped by Tom’s Cobra Whisky again and had a shot, then an hour or so later, Tom had packed up shop. I figured we were friends now so I went into his cellar, helped him move a bike and he agreed to sell us more. Tom’s a character but do I REALLY have to qualify that? The guy sells cobra snake whiskey. He has these massive drums of super strong liquor that he rams full with any kind of poisonous creep crawler he can get his claws on.

Before the whiskey we went for a walk into the heart of the Mekong River. It’s low season so only part of the river is going and the rest is sandy / rocky beach. We went there for sunset and just hung out while enjoying a Laos Beer. Laos or Lao Beer is great and ~10,000Kip for a large one, indeed. Being on the Mekong in the middle of the river at sun set was something I”ll remember, one of those “stop thinking about anything and just absorb” type moments if you will.

Hit up the night market for some more pork and run into these Thai business men. Not sure how communication started but it went from pleasantries to us joining them, our liquor becoming theirs and theirs ours. Same for the food. We had so much meat on the table it would make  a vegan cry. They also had Johnny Walker and a host of other fine beverages. We indulged and exchanged contact info then went back to my new friends and just chilled before running into the guy who works at my guest house and hanging with him and one of his tuk tuk driver friends.

I am now proud to say I have a tuk tuk friend in Luang Prabang. Remember that it is important to have a tuk tuk friend. He’s your ride, treat him well and he’ll treat you well. Give you practical advice on numerous types of matters. These tuk tuk / cab drivers know the pulse of a city and will fill you in on what things actually cost etc etc…

Today, I woke up late again. To be frank, it’s not that I’m waking up late, it’s just I couldn’t find something on d ay 2 here so I emptied my entire back pack on the ground, now I’m much too lazy to ever re-pack it and each morning when I wake up I say “I’ll do it tonight” then that never happens type scenario.

Luang Prabang is either your cup of coffee (Laos Coffee is the bomb) or it’s not. Most people I have ran into have been like “wow this place is boring” when they first get here, make it a day or so and suddenly it’s heavenly. The thought of going to Cambodia on this leg is absurd. I also hate the time restriction of needing another shot. I’m happy out here and don’t want to leave, let alone take a grueling trip by bus and train to BKK or Chiang Mai or an expensive flight going away from where I want to be heading.

Just ran into my American friends walking by, I’m off to breakfast and don’t care to proof read this, so I won’t.

Tips hat,

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