So much to do and see in Luang Prubang, Laos

David was right. We love Luang Prubang. This may be the most friendly, fun city we’ve been to – it’s brimming with temples, culture, delicious food, possible adventures, massage spas, and more. There’s a morning and night market to explore. We’ve loved walking along, eating at restaurants next to, and being on the Mekong River:

  
  
  
The sights we’ve seen include the Pak Ou Caves, filled with Buddha statues:

  
  
From the Elephant Conservation Center in Sayaboury (where we had an overnight stay in a bungalow), we learned so much about elephants from kind, committed people who work or volunteer there.  It was flat out fun, too:

  
 

And here’s the sunset from the top of Mount Phousi, a three hundred step journey in the middle of the city:

  

And there are these moments:

  
  
  
We have a trek out to a waterfall and a bikeride/kayaking adventure on the horizon this week before we leave for Beijing  on Thursday. We feel lucky to have found two cool organizations doing good work in this area:  Big Brother Mouse where we’ve been volunteering in the evenings, speaking English with motivated, inspiring young Laotians and Peace Bombs, which makes gifts (that we’re buying 🙂 ) out of the metal of unexploded bombs the US dropped on Laos duing the Vietnam War. To find out the horror of what our country did to this country, click here for a short video, coincidentally narrated by Tracey Samuelson (Nobles ’01).

Thanks for caring about what we’re up to – we miss our family and friends!