King's Birthday- trip to Laos.
on Mary In Cambodia (Cambodia), 19/May/2010 14:21, 34 days ago
The King’s birthday, trip to LaosKing Norodom’s Birthday is celebrated in Cambodia on 13/14/15thof May. As 15thwas Saturday this year, the third day was carried over to Monday, giving us a 5 day break.I took the opportunity to travel outside Cambodia to a neighbouring country. A colleague and I flew to Luang Prabang in northern Laos.Luang Prabang was declared a UNESCO town in 1992, because of its 32 pagodas. Unlike Angkor Wat in Cambodia, all these are living, working Buddhist monasteries. Everywhere we went there were saffron robed monks of all ages. They were very friendly and anxious to talk to us. Many of them were students and we were easy targets for practising their English. Their alms collecting at 5.30 am each morning has become one of the town’s best tourist attractions. There are pagodas on every street corner and one on top of a hill overlooking the town.Luang prabang is a very beautiful little town on the banks of the Mekong, surrounded by hills. The river is used to full advantage. There are sunset trips, boat trips to caves, crossings to weaving and whiskey making villages, as well as bear and elephant watching trips. It has a thriving night market selling the famous Laos silk, as well as many other locally made craftsOutside the town there is another tourist attraction in the form of a series of waterfalls. These are very popular swimming areas, especially as we couldn’t find a hotel with a pool.       Though a little more expensive than Cambodia, every place was very clean and we found some great restaurants with wonderful views, serving tasty food.Only an hour from Siem Reap, it was a good choice for a short break.