From Luang Prabang to Vang Vieng

We took the long and bumpy 6 hour drive from Luang Prabang to Vang Vieng.  We took dramamine so we were fine and it was surprisingly nice.  We even saw a monkey although he was chained up which wasn't nice.

Same for the goats.

There were look outs and cool places to stop...

The lunch was very good.  It is super cloudy so you can't see that we are at the top of the mountain.

More driving...

Then we got to the most disgusting hotel...  What was our travel agent thinking...

It took 5 minutes to go on Trip Advisor, find the best hotel in the area which was 5 minutes down the street, call them from the front desk (awkward!) and have them come pick us up.  The new place is beautiful!!! And only $100 per night.  They even showed up in our room right as we got in with a bottle of wine for our honeymoon.

Jen was happy!

Then we had an okay dinner at a fun place in town.

Everyone in the town watched Friends in the bars.  Seriously!

More Friends...

Last Look at Luang Prabang

Our last day in Luang Prabang...

First we went to the Royal Palace (the king was removed during the Vietnam war so the palace is modern and beautiful)...

No pictures allowed...

The adjoining temple...

Then we walked to the temple at the top of the mountain called Phnom Bakheng--it was quite a hike

But worth the hike...

Buddha's foot print...

Then we crossed a rickety bamboo bridge...

And went to one last temple where the king's funeral was held...

We were pretty templed-out at this point but it was still very nice--this was used in the funeral procession for the king...

This is what the inside of the Royal Palace looks like...

Tree of Life!!!

Jen's favorite local gluten-free snack or these rice cakes made from sticky rice...

Lot's of French restaurants--I had a bagel too--it was delightful....

Then to the night market...

And to the best restaurant we went in Laos called Tamarind--they were fully booked but we got in by talking to the host who was a kid from Connecticut--it was excellent...