If the map was any indicator, we were about to embark into the real mountainous North today. We heard from other travelers that there was a new road going over a mountain pass instead of following the Mekong and that it would not be used by buses for the steep incline. Obviously we were quite excited about this.

Before we could find out however, there were a bunch of minor annoyances in our way. First, the drive chain was covered in a thick sandy layer of grit and had to be cleaned. Before packing, I fixed up our luggage racks a bit and when we finally were ready to leave, Nina’s headset finally gave out after playing up for a while. This is the forth or fifth one to break on the trip – and the final spare. As much as we love the cheaper wired intercom, it is getting a bit ridiculous. Later that night I went over all the old (and broken ones) again – and at least found one where only one of the earpieces is dead. That will have to do until we can get our hands on replacements later on, probably Oman.

So without Nina being able to talk to me, we were finally on our way to tackle the mountains. It would be an understatement to say that we were not disappointed. A beautiful, new road, almost no traffic and stunning mountain scenery awaited us. As an added bonus, it was sunny but nice and cool up here. The road winds up to about 1600m, goes through a high valley in the mountains and then drops back down on the other side towards the Mekong valley and Luang Prabang.

A minor condolence to our one-sided silence was that we had all the reason to finish the third book of our audiobook trilogy.

Just 35km before our hotel, we decided on a cheap lunch at a roadside stop. It turned out that we had chosen the shop right next to a local school and were briefly swarmed by all the kids running off the school yard. Though, to our surprise, everyone left equally quickly at a single stern word from the lady in the shop. Nina got to use the “I only eat vegetables” line in Lao out from the Lonely Planet and we were ushered to sit with a nod and a smile. Sitting there while our food was prepared was fascinating and relaxing. The boys played gao in the schoolyard (volleyball played with a rattan ball and feet only) and the girls dared to venture over in pairs to buy fizzy drinks in plastic bags (and stare at us for a little bit).

Nina’s comment: The waiting time for our food was longer than expected but obviously, the lady didn’t expect anyone to stop for lunch so everything was prepared fresh. So fresh indeed that she called over two of the school kids, sent them off and they returned with a basket full of freshly cut green vegetables. For their service, the school kids were rewarded with a tiny sweet treat while the vegetables landed in the wok for us.

The food was good, hearty and cheap as chips for Laos. Although there was a bit of a learning curve with our first encounter with sticky rice. And eating with your hands.

Our hotel turned out to be as amazing as expected. We went two euros higher to upgrade from backpacker crash pad to grown up villa thing. Worth it!

All the frustrations, wayside distractions and the long lunch break meant that we only arrived at 3pm. A bit of a break was needed (and a shower) before we texted Josy and Peter who also made their way to Luang Prabang today. Flo showed the first signs of feeling unwell so we made it a date to meet up for sunset and then have dinner together.

The most popular sunset spot is from the top of Phu Si, a hill which sports a temple. You actually have to pay an entrance fee to get to the “viewing platform” which is part of the temple. When we arrived, it was already crowded. Looking out over the town was still pretty and Flo even managed to snatch sunset pictures. We only met Peter as Josy was feeling off and rather stayed in the hostel. He mostly took pictures of the crowd but seemed to enjoy it nonetheless.

Coming back down the steps of the temple, you are immediately emerged in the artisans’ night market. It is a handicraft market for tourists but most things are beautiful anyway. I am totally in love with the indigo cloth as the colour is simply amazing. If we could transport anything, I would buy an indigo blue scarf for myself. Otherwise, I could think of at least three people who would have been happy with a present from this market. 🙂

It wasn’t easy to escape the “claws” of the handicraft market but it was getting late and we were hungry. Somewhere close was supposed to be a food market and, once we found it, we had a vegetarian buffet for a very decent price. Usually, you can’t get a lot of food for 15.000kip per person while here, you were allowed to fill up a whole plate. As a bonus, we got talking to a turkish traveler from Ankara. We love meeting travelers from less obvious countries – especially if they are from countries that we will visit ourselves, like she was.

Before heading home, we stopped at a stall with baked goods so I could have a chocolate brownie for dessert and Peter bought some goodies for poor Josy.