Another chill day in Luang Prabang – chill by way of hanging out, not the temperatures, to be sure. But, nothing we didn’t expect, and we are prepared with our 2nd set of clothing for the trip (India was pretty cool, except for Mumbai, so we packed both our cold weather gear and our hot weather gear and are prepared for just about any situation).
This morning we had wanted to try to take a ferry across the river to the Wat Chomphet and the little village surrounding the wat. Tara recommends this in her house guide, and we’ve found some information in a couple of guide books. We head off to the river a little before 9, hoping to figure out how to get across to the other banks. But, as it did last year, the river crossing totally defeats us! It is really hard to figure out where the correct boat docks are located, there aren’t really any signs, and there are tons of individual boat owners trying to bargain with you to take you across. We do find one sign that says to Wat Chompet, it’s down by the ferry dock, but we aren’t quite sure if it is the right one, and we aren’t in agreement about the names of the wat or the village, so in the end? We jettison the whole outing and head back to the house – with the added bonus of being able to visit the morning market.
The morning market is as its name implies, only in the morning. This is where the locals come to buy their meat, seafood and produce every day. The market is chock full with gorgeous fresh seafood, meat being butchered in front of our eyes, vibrantly colored produce and cooked and fried food offerings galore. It is a cornucopia of food! We wander through all the stalls, stopping here and there, but finally buying 2 skewers of what looks like bacon, which we will use for lunch with the eggs we bought. The sweet lady at the stall pantomimes to us, asking us if we want the bacon heated up? No. How about the bamboo skewers? No, you can take those off. Too fun! In the end, it’s pretty pricey, but what the heck. The experience is worth it – and oh by the way – it is mighty tasty with our fried egg lunch!
The rest of the afternoon is spent hanging out, doing nothing in particular. We take a little walk down the street, trying to ascertain exactly how far Rosella’s fusion restaurant is, but we never make it that far. We do, though, pass by Joli’s Pizza Fire Wood. Wood fired pizza, yeah, Laotian style. Lost in translation… but at least they have a great picture of the wood fire pizza oven.
Tonight’s dinner is at the Bamboo cafe, located away from the main drag of Luang Prabang, on a little side street across from a hostel. We arrive early (as always) and the family is eating at one of the big tables. They break away to seat us, which we thank them for profusely. We order our drinks, then in a bit order dinner – Larb Moo (minced pork salad) for Ed and Tam Mak Hoong (green papaya salad) for me. Finally, papaya salad! The girls running the place are so cute – they cook, they cut the papaya, they do everything in the open kitchen right across the dining area. The whole meal is great, and we leave feeling very satisfied. Since it is still early – and not raining – we head back to the night market, shopping through the stalls, buying bracelets and UXO souvenirs and those bamboo straws I should have bought last year!
As we are making our way back to the end of the market, we decide to stop for a drink at the Indigo house terrace bar, a rooftop bar overlooking Sisavangvong road and the whole of the night market. It’s a long climb up to the rooftop, and we can’t imagine staying in any of these rooms opening off the open stairway that resonates with the noise from the bar – but we’re here for the drinks and the ambience, not a hotel stay. We luck out and find 2 seats at a bar shelf, overlooking the end of the night market, and order our drinks. This is a great place to just hang out and relax, watching all the people come and go down below us. We end up having a couple of beers and wines while we watch the comings and goings of Jitneys and taxis, and the ebb and flow of night market humanity.
Finally we take our leave, weaving our way though the market stalls and shoppers to our much quieter and peaceful little neighborhood house. The rest of the night is spent on the patio, under the fan, chilling out.
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