Living Lightly in Laos - for a while: After a brief intermission

8th November 2022

It takes a couple of days to slow down. After a journey dominated by compulsive clock-watching to ensure that we’re in the right place at the right time with the right documention I need to chill out and remember that I’m now in the right place.

I’d been feeling stressed in the lead-up to this trip. It felt important to not be complacent about arrangements and expect everything to be as it was when we left 2 years ago. The world has changed since March 2020.

In hindsight, however, the journey was relatively uneventful. On Tuesday afternoon the coach arrived to collect us from Ashley Road on time, we got through check-in at Heathrow, and the plane for Bangkok left at 9.30. Eleven or so hours later we landed at Suvarnabhumi airport and caught a shuttle bus to our hotel. All good so far.

The next morning it went a bit pear-shaped when we arrived at the airport for our 90-minute flight to Luang Prabang and were told that it had been cancelled! Maybe tomorrow!? After some hanging around someone came up with an alternative - there was a plane leaving from Don Muang Airport on the other side of Bangkok that afternoon. A 1-hour taxi ride, some creative ticketing and a quick message to Toui about the delay and we were back on track. Arrived at Luang Prabang’s lovely little airport at 3.20 on Thursday and Toui was there waiting for us. Ten minutes later we were “home”.

Since then, we’ve been settling in at the Greenhouse Studio and, as I say, slowing down to a more sensible pace of life.

There’s no doubt that Laos has suffered during the 2 years of the pandemic. Luang Prabang relies heavily on tourism - both high-end 5 star holidaymakers and budget backbackers - and losing that income completely has been devastating to businesses.

But the Laotian people are resilient. Some bar staff, cooks and waiters went back to their villages and worked in the fields to grow food. Families look after each other.

For us, there are some gaps. Sad to find that some of our favourite cafes have gone for good. But delighted to find the Red Bul Bar has re-opened, with owner and staff all happy to see us. BeerLao - the best beer in the world - doesn’t change!

This is our home from home for the next month - the Greenhouse Studio. Just one room, a bathroom and a terrace. What more do you need?

We're about 15 minutes' walk from the centre of Luang Prabang on the other side of the Nam Khan River, which we cross either via a temporary bamboo bridge or the old French bridge - which is nerve wracking the first time but gets easier! It's a long drop to the river below!

Lovely views from both bridges:

Phousi Mountain above with its temple on top. That's the centre of the city. You can see how green it is. Luang Prabang has many temples and classic French architecture

Being fairly near the Equator, dusk falls early every night at around 6. The sunsets are stunning. We love to sit on the banks of the Mekong and watch the sun go behind the mountains.

In the mornnigs we walk to buy our morning baguettes from the stall on the corner - "sawn kottee khop jai"

This is one of my favourite views from the local temple. It's the point where the Nam Khan River flows into the Mekong in the distance.

Tonight it's a full moon - which means a festival. People decorate houses and businesses - and cars - with these "dok mai" made of marigolds and bamboo leaves. These ones are on the pavement outside the local moto repair shop.