Luang Prabang, Laos, July 25th - 28th

Luang Prabang is a city of ~30K people, at the joining of the Mekong and Khan rivers- the least developed and commercial place we've visited thus far. The natural landmarks around the city were by far the highlights. Our favorite spot was the Kuang Si waterfall, a series of terraced pools with pale blue water and a large falls area where we hiked to the top.
We reconnected with Mack and Meredith and spent a full day on the river with them visiting weaving, paper making and whiskey villages and seeing the Pak Ou Buddha caves, an upper and
lower cave formation housing 4,000 Buddha images rescued from the 67 of 68 temples burned down around Luang Prabang by the Chinese in the late 19th century.
During the first part of our stay, we didn't get a good feel for Laotian food, but the turning point was our dinner at Tamarind (great recommendation Beeland!). Curries and coconut milk based sauces aren't as prevalent as in Thai cooking. Each meal is served with some variety of sticky rice (to be eaten with your fingers) and many fresh herbs / aromatics are used but generally with a milder spice level. Few highlights were minced chicken baked in lemongrass, long bean salads and fish steamed in banana leaves with dill/basil.