The Smith Family Vacation Part Two: Luang Prabang

After a week in Vientiane, my home away from home, we headed north to the old imperial capital of Laos, Luang Prabang. LP is now a UNESCO World Heritage site- a city of temples, flowers and food! We visited Kuang Si Waterfall, took a boat ride to the Pak Ou Caves, wandered around the ancient temples, climbed Mt Phou Si to see the sunset (twice!), visited the night market (many times!), had some foot massages, drank some beerlao and enjoyed this relaxing and beautiful city from the comfort of our really fantastic hotel, the Apsara Rive Droite.
Another day, another sunset..... this time from the top of Mount Phou Si
Temples and flowers
Monks in their saffron robes by the river
Dad and me in front of Kuang Si Waterfall
Walking the lovely streets of Luang Prabang


Our personal boat to our personal dock to our personal stairs to Luang Prabang proper

View from the hotel

The Smith Family Vacation Part One: Vientiane

Dad and Cindy were my final set of visitors to Southeast Asia... and they were fantastic people to spend a few weeks with -- they developed a love of Beerlao and watching sunsets, they were willing to trudge, hot and sweaty, all over tourist attractions, and they ate Lao food with a smile on their faces, usually. We had a great time starting from the very beginning with my now-perfected tour of Vientiane. We did all of the main sites: Patuxai, That Luang, Beerlao by the Mekong, sunsets. It was a lovely way for me to see all of my favorite sights one last time.
Patuxai Victory Gate
Dad enjoys some Lao food: grilled chicken, papaya salad, fresh rolls, tomato dip, beerlao.
Mekong Sunset
Cindy and Dad at the Buddha Park
Reclining Buddha, Buddha Park
That Luang