Laos Post #3: 2 - 13 June 2018 Luang Prabang, Laos

2 - 13 June 2018
Luang Prabang, Laos

We had a quiet day (June 7) following the Elephant Village visit. Eliza was still feeling a little under the weather in the tummy department. After some school at the house, we took the bikes and rode across the bike bridge into town.

We found the restaurant, after several loops of looking, and settled in for Eliza’s birthday dinner. The air con was super cold, encouraging good sibling snuggle time.





The food was not great, especially the pasta bolognese which is usually a winner for the kids. That’s what we get for ordering western food in Laos!

The next day, June 8, we visited the Lao Friends Hospital for Children. The hospital is entirely free of charge and runs on donations. Lao Friends was started by Friends Without a Border, a non-profit organization which opened a similar hospital in Siem Reap, Angkor Friends Hospital. The idea is that within 7-10 years, the hospital will become independently run, as Angkor Friends is now. For now, the Medical Director is American and there are several physician volunteers working at all times. The volunteers come from Australia, New Zealand, the UK, and the US. Eventually, all the physicians, nurses and other staff will be Lao. Most of the Lao physicians work at the hospital directly after medical school. Very few physicians do a residency. The hospital plans to support a few of the physicians through pediatric residency in Vientiane, the capital of Lao PDR (People’s Democratic Republic).







We do not have photos of our visit, in order to protect the patients’ privacy. We got the above photo from the website, fwab.org

We were given a tour, which included two urgent care rooms, a 25 bed inpatient ward which was all one room, and an 8 bed NICU (a set of twins shared one of the beds). One of the babies was a 29 weeker (estimated) who was about 1800 grams. He was born on 5 June and arrived at the hospital on 6 June. Upon arrival, he was put on oxygen. He was in an open crib, which was different from being in Boston, because at this hospital there is no air conditioning so the room temperature is much more conducive to helping the babies stay warm. We spent time talking with the Medical Director. We learned that the parents are required to stay with the children who are hospitalized.

After an afternoon of trip school and jewelry school (the girls and I return to the jewelry shop to make another piece of jewelry - anklets for L and E and earrings for K), we head next door for dinner at Boss Burgers. Brian and the kids claim these are the “Best Burgers in Asia,” and I thoroughly enjoyed my veggie burger with hummus!





We visit the Kouang Si waterfall on Saturday, June 9. We start the day off right with breakfast at Saffron Coffee, which was recommended on TripAdvisor. We met up with our friend Theresa, who the girls and I met at the jewelry shop the day before. She is from Maryland and is working for a summer trip company, Rustic Pathways, which has service trips in Southeast Asia.





We also run into the Executive Director of Friends without a Border at breakfast. Later we see the administrative assistant from the hospital at one of the restaurants as we walk by. Luang Prabang is beginning to feel like a small town!





Our first stop is to see the bears who have been rescued from Chinese poachers who capture the bears to use their bile. They believe that bear bile is a remedy for many illnesses. The bears are not free, but they are safe in the enclosure at the base of the waterfall.





There were three levels of pools. This is the second pool.




We have made it to the top pool. The kids are hot, so I (Katie) and the kids go back to swim while Brian hikes to the top of the waterfall.

Brian’s view from the top of the falls.

Checking out the scene and figuring out the best way to get into the chilly water.

The kids decide walking into this pool might be the best route.




The sisters are helping Hayden take the final plunge!






The water is beautifully blue and there are fish that eat the dead skin off your feet, if you dangle your feet in the “right spots” where the water is shallow and still. Lydia and I (Katie) chose to keep our feet in the flowing water. Eliza, Hayden and Brian, on the other hand (foot!), enjoyed the fish pedicures.

See the Kuoang Si Waterfall vlog an up-close look at the fish nibbling on feet!

We have Mr. Sompheang, our van driver, drop us off in town so we can go to Indigo Coffee to pick up some treats. Hayden gets the mocha muffin, which he’s been wanting since he saw one while at the Night Market a couple nights ago.

We head home back across the bamboo bridge.

On Sunday, June 10, we have another “home” morning of school and trying to work on vlogs/blogs. The internet is spotty and sometimes not connected at all, so the work is slow. (Which is the reason I am writing this on June 25 in Krabi, Thailand, the place with the best internet yet).




A favorite breakfast of pancakes with chocolate spread (that spread to Lydia’s nose) and bananas.

After the morning doing school, we head into town on our bikes. We don’t have a picture of crossing the bike bridge because it was all I (Katie) could do to ride the bike without falling off the 3-plank wide track we needed to stay on. The first time we crossed, there were two tourists walking but stopped on the bike section of the bridge. The had opened a map wide and their arms and the map were blocking the path. The kids and Brian swerved around them. I had to stop and walk my bike the rest of the way, as far on the side of the bridge as I could.

Hayden rode with Lydia on the back of his bike and Eliza had Brian. I could barely manage to bike and watch the safety hazard of my whole family biking through traffic without helmets! Ugh.

The 5000kip bridge fee was looking pretty good to the pediatrician mother!

Just as we set our biking, it starts to rain. The good news is fewer motorbikes are on the road the bad news is that the roads are slippery, and Katie is wearing a white shirt (good news if you ask the kids - they think it is hilarious!)

We first visit the UXO museum. UXO stands for Unexploded Ordnance.






We learn that Laos is the most heavily bombed per capita country in the world ever. The Ho Chi Minh trail, the path taken by the North Vietnamese communists to get to the South Vietnam, went through Laos. So the Americans dropped millions of bombs in Laos. One third of the bombs never exploded. There are many bombs all over Laos that have yet to explode. They are in the rice fields and in the ground. There is a program that is trying to educate people, especially children, to recognize and keep away from the bombs. We watched several videos, including one depicting three children who were seriously injured by a bomb they found while playing, digging for worms, building a fire. This video is shown to children around Laos to educate them.



The bombs are as small as a tennis ball and called bombies. A larger bomb holds about 100 bombies which would scatter while the bomb was falling. This picture shows a big bomb with all of the bombies inside.

They have made a bomb garden which was actually quite pretty. We were feeling sad to learn about the bombs in Laos. We had not known this before coming here.

We bike around the town, which is a peninsula with the Mekong River on one side and the Nam Khan river on the other. The Nam Khan flows into the Mekong at the tip of the peninsula.

Our next stop is the mango smoothie stand.




Kaup Jai Lai Lai for the fabulous and huge mango smoothies!




We are enjoying the view of the Mekong River while waiting for our early dinner at Saffron Coffee.

We visit Big Brother Mouse, an organization that welcomes native English speakers to meet up with Lao youth for the Lao to practice their English skills. Brian sat at a table and talked with two students, while the kids and Katie had a group of people. They spoke English to varying degrees and sometimes they had no idea how to answer our questions. Our students were mostly in their late teens and were either in high school or university. Some of the students were from remote villages and in Luang Prabang for the summer to improve their English. They stayed in a dorm and took classes. 

Brian was surprised that no one in his group knew about the Olympics.  He spent some time trying to describe what it was.  Few of them had cell phones and almost know one had access to a television.

As kids they would spend most of their time fishing, playing in the rivers, or working for the families.

When there is a lull in conversation, I suggest that the kids perform the cup song. The students seemed to enjoy it, even if they do not understand the words.

Monday, June 11




It’s rise and shine at 6:10 AM to see the saffron monks doing their alms gathering. Hayden’s sleeping position (across the bed) guarantees he will not have to share a bed on this trip!

I am not sure it’s intentional, but it is effective.




We see the monks walk past our house collecting food from the local Buddhist women. We have some good videos and other pictures from the next day when Katie and Brian woke up early again to watch from our bedroom window.

The monks gather the food in metal canisters and are also given plastic bags of food. The women cannot touch the monks so they put the food directly into the canisters.

After walking their route, in bare feet, they bring the food back to their respective monasteries to eat breakfast. They share any extra food with the local poor.

We didn’t see the alms procession in town but we have read that it has become a tourist attraction with some tourist putting their cameras right in the monks’ faces. We decided we would rather watch from afar. But it did feel a little intrusive even to have a camera out at all.






We cross the bamboo bridge toward town so we can climb up Mount Phousi. Brian and I have been wanting to go up to the top. The kids have not! Everyone is still hesitant about the heat, and even though it is 6:30 AM, it is very muggy and hot. And now we have two grump-ity children (H and E). We have learned that Lydia is a morning person, or maybe it’s just that she is 8 years old and not yet nearing her teenage years. We do appreciate her morning cheer. Eight is great!

We make the children stop for a 5otm picture, looking across the Nam Khan at the bamboo bridge toward our side of town.



Here is pic of the Nam Khan going the other way, with the bike bridge in the far background. There is also a car bridge further up the river, so there is a way to get to our side of town by car!




This is the sign that is outside of all the wats (temples) explaining that we need to: Keep quiet. Be respectful. Dress properly (keep shoulders and knees covered). The children’s and Brian’s knee coverage seemed less crucial than Katie’s.




The legend goes that this is Buddha’s footprint, in the stone.





A glimpse of two monks, probably on their way to eat breakfast.




The first wat stop.




A gathering of Buddhas on our way up the hill.




The view from the top. You can see the bike bridge crossing the Nam Khan River and our side of town.




The view of the busier side of Luang Prabang. It is hazy and hot.




There will be no smiles from this tweenager but you can see the Mekong River on the right side of the pic.




A wat with a cool roof (we do not actually visit!)

Next stop, Indigo Coffee. Yes, we bribed the children with treats.





Eliza and I get a javacado (coffee, avocado and cinnamon) shake to go. Theresa had recommended it!

I ask them to make Eliza’s with a half the amount of coffee (1 shot of espresso not 2). I figure if she’s going to drink it, better to do it first thing in the morning. Even hearing that she is going to have caffeine, she brightens up and chats about going “bing!” And laughs about bringing a coffee to school and going “bing!” and all of her teachers wondering why she is so hyper! Eliza is back to her happy self!





Eliza has gone “bing!”

We stop (again) at Saffron Coffee (3rd time in 3 days) so Hayden can get a bacon, egg and cheese bagel.






Lydia and Brian go to get her a chocolate croissant and meet us at the bridge. We are rushing to get back across before the lady starts collecting the bridge fee at 8:30 AM.

Yes, we are weirdly obsessed with not paying the very minimal fee! We agree that we mostly are annoyed because she was rude to us and seemed to accuse us of crossing “all the time” even though we took the bike bridge for many days to avoid crossing!




Another 5otm pic..

We make our way back across the bamboo bridge toward our side. The sad part of today’s story is that Eliza tripped while climbing the stairs after the bridge, and half of her javacado shake (she had been saving it) spilled!

She was really mad and upset, and kind of felt bad for herself that the shake she was so looking forward to spilled, and she threw up on her birthday, and the restaurant we went to on her birthday didn’t have the food she wanted... She went back to the house, up to her room, took a shower, organized all the kids’ stuff, then started her schoolwork. An hour or so later, she felt better. I guess “outer order = inner calm” works for her, too (like her mom).




The kids’ room, post-clean up.





Katie and Brian’s room, not cleaned up!




A photo of the Greenhouse kitchen.

The next morning, June 12, Katie and Brian get up early to check out the alms procession from our bedroom window. They walk by anytime between 6:10 and 6:30 AM.









Our last day in Luang Prabang. We bike up the road to the paper making and silk weaving village.




Shelves of natural silk dyes




Silk worms

Making paper in a village near Luang Prabang




Paper drying. We had the opportunity to add flowers and leaves to the paper at one of the shops.

While the girls browsed a bit, Hayden and Brian biked further up the road for some exercise. It was cooler today with a light rain.




A pretty house that reminds Katie of a house one might see in Charleston, South Carolina
Notice the trash out front, a common sight even in “nicer” spots.

Lydia and Katie stopped at the jewelry shop one last time. Lydia needed to fix her bracelet because the silk thread broke. Katie wanted to make her raw amethyst ring.




It started to pour once we arrived. We enjoyed another cool afternoon on the slanted porch.

This is the Lao amethyst ring (on Eliza’s hand):

Here’s a pic of the jewelry shop at night.




One more dinner in Luang Prabang.








June 13 is departure day.





A super crazy fast tuk tuk ride to the airport, with the luggage thrown on the roof!




We’ve arrived at the Luang Prabang Airport in one piece.

The computer system was down so everything had to be written by hand. Luckily we arrived early and were the second group in line.





Farewell LAOS!

Next stop: Chiang Mai, Thailand