Luang Prabang

So off to Luang Prabang we went. Walter, Alex and Eva getting us there one last time to meet up with them. As is probably often the case when coming up on the end of something and transition to another, I remarked more than once that we should have spent more time in LP during our two years here. Granted, this was my 4th visit to LP, but it is a nice weekend away from Vientiane.

Vone has never been to Luang Prabang. We asked if she would want to go, and spend part of her weekend taking care of Jack and Eva. She readily agreed, spending her mornings and afternoons exploring what could be considered the center of Lao culture, her evenings taking care of two babies while their parents enjoyed long, luxurious meals at some really great restaurants.


Our friend John Dingley was in LP for work, so we met up the first night for dinner at the Blue Lagoon. Great food, lovely setting, good company, all that. John was even kind enough to pick us up at the airport. The Parrs arrived earlier in the day and were all moved in to the Sala Prabang, a nice hotel, but for the price, I would stay at the Apsara every time. Too bad it was full.

After dinner, Katherine went to tend to Jack (Eva sleeps from about 7:30 pm on, so is an easy baby in that respect) and we headed to a wine bar on the main strip. I ran into our friend Pino, the owner of La Opera in Vientiane, and met the owner of the wine bar, Keo. He also owns a guesthouse, and tried to talk us into moving, or at least staying with him next time. Keo sat down with us for a while to talk about his love of America and wine. Then he gave us a discount on our bill. Nice guy.

Saturday morning we went for a walk around town, introducing Jack to the temples and old architecture of the town.

Lunch on the river, with the obligatory Beer Lao.

Jack introduced to Jimi, the 2 month old next door to our hotel. They didn't really seem to care. I wonder what little babies think about all these forced interactions where parents force feelings and thoughts onto their kids about other kids? Not much, I bet.