Last night we headed out for dinner and ended up stumbling upon some festivities for the Kings Birthday which is a national holiday in Thailand. There were fireworks, traditional dancers, and other things of that sort. It was pretty cool! We also happened to come across a fish pedicure spa so we decided to get one done. It was probably the weirdest 15 minutes ever, the feeling was almost like ticklish vibrations, but it made our feet very soft!
Today we woke up early and headed up to Doi Suthep which is a temple on top of the mountain in Chiang Mai. To get to the top you take a 45 minute taxi ride and then climb 320 stairs. At the top it was pretty busy, filled with tourists and other local people coming to pray. It was cool to see some traditional monk ceremonies, and also we got blessed in a ceremony with holy water and received white thread bracelets that were blessed by monks that are supposed to bring good luck and fortune. At the top of the mountain there is amazing panoramic views of Chiang Mai.
Our ride back down the mountain was terrible, traffic was held up because of a graduation at the local university and a 45 minute ride quickly turned into a 2 hour ride. We were getting scared we’d have to walk instead down the mountain which would take forever.
Once we finally got down, we had to quickly catch a cab to the airport and head out for our flight to Laos. Our check-in was extra easy with Laos Airlines, and our plane ride only took about an hour. Luang Prabang’s airport is super small, so we were the only plane arriving at that time, making it pretty easy to get our visas and enter the country.
We are now in Luang Prabang at our hostel, Liberty Guesthouse which is pretty nice. It’s nice to have our own private room and bathroom again! Luang Prabang is very small, and is easy to walk across the whole city. Once we arrived we headed out to find a restaurant that our hostel recommended, Lao Lao Garden which was really cool, all outside and candlelit. After dinner we walked up to the night market that happens every night and is filled with local handicrafts and other things. It’s huge!! We ended up buying some souvenirs and had to cut ourselves off because a backpack can only fit so much.
Tomorrow we are off on a tour around Luang Prabang!
withlovexo
No Comments