Day 224 - Vang Vieng to Luang Prabang

We woke up earlier today than any other day in Laos. We were rewarded by the moon setting through the mist between 'our' karsts (it was very bright in real life - in the photo it's barely visible in between the smaller and larger dome shaped formations left of center).

By 9AM we were on the road again, heading for Luang Prabang. The road is mercifully paved, but it does switchback through mountains for almost the entire route. Because the curves side to side and the grades up and down, the less than 200Km trip takes nearly 6hours.

We were exhausted by the time we finally pulled into the minibus depot outside Luang Prabang. A part of Luang Prabang's status as a world heritage site forbids buses from entering the city. As a result, all buses stop about 4km outside of town, and weary travelers are forced to negotiate a tuk-tuk into the city proper.

That done, it is a simple matter to walk from guesthouse to guesthouse until one finds one with suitable rooms for a decent price. We (OK I) have decided to splash out a little for a western bed, hot shower, and blissfully solid walls. Even at those standards, a night at our guesthouse still costs less than a night at the movies in NYC.

After taking hot showers (our first in weeks), we headed out for dinner. We were looking for 'Dragon Girl' restaurant, listed in Lonely Planet in case N, a friend we met trekking, wanted to join us for dinner. After walking the length of the restaurants along the Mekong, we concluded that it must have gone out of business, and settled on an outdoor barbecue place with no name. As we grilled and cooked soup at our table, took in the location and the type of food, it slowly dawned on us that our 'no name' restaurant was in fact Dragon Grill. But of course everyone just referred to it as "Laos Barbecue restaurant". Oh wacky outdated Lonely Planet.

Thankfully our friend was not trying to find us, so we didn't doom her to a night of hungry wandering.