My Birthday in Luang Prabang, Laos

MY BIRTHDAY!!!!!

We woke up to rain.  Starting to realize why they call this the wet season.  Unfortunately, the rain didn’t make it any cooler.  We got back on our boat, to finish the trip to Luang Prabang.  Everyone sang me Happy Birthday.

It was an incredibly relaxing day.  More beautiful scenery, more awing views of life on the river, more spending time with new friends, and more hot wet stickiness.

Along the way, we stopped at the Pakou caves, to see an ancient holy cave with over 4,000 Buddha statues.  It was literally a small haven in the middle of a sheer rock face.  It was quite interesting.

We arrived in Luang Prabang around midday, checked in to Visoun Namsok-Ban.  Cute open-air style hotel.  Decent accommodations.  It is nice to have some sort of a/c again.  

The whole group got on some 1950’s era bicycles (baskets and all), and took a bike ride around this lovely quaint little city.  We stopped at a beautiful temple, called Xieng Thong, which used to be the gateway to the city. 

Again it was hot and humid, so Johnny brought us to a local food stand to enjoy the local refreshments.  The thing people drink here, for health and increased libido is called Snake Whiskey.  See the picture (I won’t disgust you with graphic details).

Me and some of the boys (not my snakephobic brother) took a birthday shot.  It was actually not half bad.  Had a strong whiskey taste, without some of the smokiness common to western spirits.

After we finished our bike ride, Jourdan and I went with some of the girls from the group to climb the local mountain, Mount Phusi, to get a great view of the whole city.  Along the way, there were some great Buddha statues.  The view was spectacular.  I set a bird free for good luck.

After a stroll through the local night market, and a brief foray with getting lost in the city (it is actually surprisingly safe here) we came back to shower and get ready for dinner.

We are both extremely surprised with how nice and accommodating all the people here are.  They are all happy all the time, and want nothing of possessions or increasing personal assets.

The whole group headed to Lao Lao garden for dinner.  I had way too many Lao Lao shots (sticky-rice whiskey).  Jourdan, Paul, and myself split a in table bbq/soup combination.  We were cooking up veggies, eggs, chicken, and water buffalo.  It was delicious. For a nice surprise, Hoover set it up for me to get some birthday cake, and then she gave me a birthday motorboat. :-D

We then headed next door to Hive bar, where the drinking continued, and the group implemented the “Mine Game” (if you say the word, you owe 10 pushups on the spot).

Halfway through the night, it started raining, and we all partied on the outdoor terrace in the rain.  GOOD TIMES!!!

Of course, due to Lao law, home by 12.

Us with Johnny