I think I can explain a lot of what I feel about Luang Prabang right now with the use of this picture:

Yep, a place where it is necessary to advertise that the school is drug free. It’s more worrying that there are other schools in town that lack this sign.

Ah, but it is good to feel the influence of French colonisation though. Baguettte, cheese and coffee are abundant here and I find comfort in that.

Apparently this is a UNESCO world heritage site. As far as I can tell the reason for this is that the city still shows elements from each era that used to rule it. This does however give the city a bit of a Banff type feeling. And unlike in Thailand where people just by default smile at you, the Laotians look at you with confusion. But they’re trying.

My best experience here was going to this place called “big brother mouse” which teaches Laos people English for free, they ask for Westerners to come and help people with their English. It was really refreshing to talk to some teenagers who were so excited about the future of Laos, having moved from little bamboo villages in the jungle to come to Luang Prabang to study. They were all very smart as far as I could tell and I even got to teach them a little bit about science and evolution!

Second best experience was the Kuang Si waterfall, easily the most impressive waterfall I have ever seen, and if you Dodge some do not enter signs you even get to go for a swim in a pool in the middle of this massive fall, with water cascading down below you and coming pouring in from above. I have no pictures though so you’ll have to Google it yourself!

For now, I’m planning on making a choice that will my mother will not appreciate, but it will allow me to have more fun and be more independent. We will see if it works out though.

Chilling at the bottom of the falls:

Some random old stuff in downtown Luang Prabang: