Monday, January 22, 2018

Laos : Day 10 : Walking Around Luang Prabang & Saffron Coffee

Today, I walked around Luang Prabang on my own.

My route

I started from my hotel, and I walked along Kitsalat Road. I went to the Traditional Arts and Ethnology Museum, but it being Monday, the museum was closed. Too bad. I made a turn into Kingkitsarath Road, and found D & T Supermarket here. I went in and surveyed the prices of some things that I could possibly buy - like the Dao 3 in 1 coffee and Lao candy. 

Walking along Kingkitsarah Road, I passed by many quaint hotels, backpackers and cafes ... and before long, I was walking along Nam Khan River.  

The Bamboo Bridge along Nam Khan River

The Bamboo Bridge is not a permanent edifice. It is built during the dry season and has to be removed during the rainy season, when the water level is too high and the current is too strong. To access the bridge, one has to pay LAK5,000. I did not go on the bridge. 

I walked further down the road .... 

Where Nam Khan meets Mekong River
There's another bamboo bridge here at the mouth of Nam Khan ....

There's a nice shady park and a cafe here .... and one could laze around to watch the lazy river flow. I walked further on along Mekong River. I walked past Vat Xieng Thong, past many more cafes, hotels, guesthouses. In one of the alleys, I found Vat Nong Sikhounmuang ... 

The temple looked pretty quiet around mid-morning ...

Walking on further .... I found Saffron Coffee. This coffee joint was recommended by my tour leader, and so I really wanted to try their coffee. 




I ordered a small cup of latte .... 



The coffee was very good. I sipped it slowly, spending at least 2 hours at this coffee shop. I did walk around town again, after my coffee.

After my coffee, I walked pretty much aimlessly at the main street - Sakkaline Road - and only realised that there were so many temples towards the end of street. I went into some and took a few shots of the temples. I also went to the Ock Pop Tok shop, where I could see many hand-woven textiles and crafts on sale. Later on, I went back to the hotel to rest.

My friends BW and CC had signed up for a cooking class at a restaurant called Tamarind.

Koy: minced meat and herb salad 
BW made this at the cooking class. It had lots of ingredients, among which were minced beef, garlic, shallots, coriander leaves, lemongrass, mint, dill, chilli and lots more ingredients.

I had Koy as my pre-dinner snack. Heh. It tasted alright to me. As per usual, we ventured to the night market that night. At our regular food street, we had ...

Rice noodle soup, LAK15,000

Stirfried noodle with chicken, LAK15,000
I ate this and it did not suit my palate. I think it was overladen with msg.

We walked to La Banneton for ice-cream ... 

Lime sorbet, LAK13,000
It was tangy and citrusy, quite delicious!

I washed everything down with a bottle of Beerlao

At the night market, I bought 4 pairs of elephant pants, 1 elephant shorts, 1 singlet, a key chain made from the aluminium that was left by the bombs and field tanks from the war, 2 scarves, and a pouch.

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