Sabaidee!
After a short stay over in Bangkok, we left our friends Zack and Matt to head for Laos early this morning. I think we all are feeling a bit jet lagged but we pushed through to get us on track with the time change and got a feel for this beautiful, laid back city.
Our hotel, Villa Ban Lakkham, picked us up from the airport and got us safely to their very cute hotel across from the Nam Khan river. Location is great as we can easily walk to pretty much everywhere. They also offer free bikes, which we may take them up on later this week. Here’s a view of the dining area where we picked up a few cold 650 ml beers for 10,000 kip (about a $1.20) by the river. After walking around in 95 degree weather, it was wondermus.
Villa Ban Lakkham restaurant
Next we took a visit to Wat Xieng Thong (temple dating back 1560). For 20,000 kip, you can tour the grounds. Ladies, if you forget to bring a sarong and scarf for your shoulders, they have some you can rent for about a $1 (5,000 kip per piece).
There are several small chapel buildings on the grounds that house some beautiful Buddha statues.
You can tell they are still working on restoring many features of this piece of Lao religious architecture, but there are parts that look like they are in need of quite a bit of repair. I’m sure as tourism grows in Luang Pragang, funds for this project will too.
Our friend Katie admiring Xieng Thong
Other than sweating more than any of us could have prepared for, we had a great first day in Laos. Looking forward to tomorrow.