October 23, 2025
Our first full day in Laos. As soon as we walked outside for breakfast, we could tell the weather was going to be much more pleasant. The air was not humid and it felt much crisper than anywhere we have been for almost two months.
The hotel grounds were sprawling and right on the Mekong River. Our breakfast was slightly above average and I was able to get my normal omelet, everywhere in Asia they come in the shape of a torpedo. The kids were pleased with the bread and pastry selection.
After breakfast we met Pan and were off to the Luang Prabang National Museum. It was a short drive right into town from our hotel. On the way Pan made a few backhanded comments about the Chinese tourist we would encounter. He said there were always a lot of them because of a high-speed trade from China into Laos. The Chinese government has invested a lot into Laos according to the internet and Pan, Belt and Roads Initiative. That investment had not bought any of Pan’s affection. Maybe it was a show for his American tourist, but I don’t think this level of faking would be possible. Pan did not like the Chinese people and even threw some shade at the Koreans throughout our day!
To be fair the when we were at the Luang Prabang National Museum the middle-aged Chinese men would stand so close to the boys and just stare at them. Kayleen pointed her phone at one man and snapped a photo of him but he didn’t take a hint. We had to rent pants to enter part of the museum and remove our shoes. While leaving out shoes outside Pan tucked them away in a corner after saying the Chinese might steal them!
We were not allowed to take pictures inside but we saw different rooms where the kings from past generations conducted their business and lived life. There were displays with different artifacts throughout and we saw the king’s bedroom, which was separate from the queens. Pan had a lot of good things to say about the king from two, maybe three, generations ago but his son who was the last king before the position went away got a big thumbs down. As we walked through it was getting crowded and as Pan would push through the crowd to lead us, I would see him wave his hand in front of his nose or pinch it shut as he would get close to Chinese tour groups!
As we left the museum and headed to our boat ride on the Mekong we stopped for coffee and the boys snagged little ice creams that seemed like bon bons. At this point I am pretty clueless most days about exactly what we are doing on any tours. We glance quickly at the schedule to see if there are long drives or we need to bring a change of clothes but that’s about it. The ride up the Mekong was very long but fortunately the weather was beautiful and we had the boat to ourselves. We attempted to play Uno but it was too breezy so instead we just sat on the front of the boat. Harry Potter listening for Kayleen, Ollie, and I, animal podcasts for Lenny, and Pokémon catching later on for Lenny and I.
After our stop for lunch, we headed to the Pak Ou caves and had the boys do push-ups on the boat to get out some energy as we went. Their behavior was not great at lunch but we let them get an ice cream at the end anyway. Lenny exclaimed, “this will power me up and cool me down!” The caves are home to thousands of Buddha statues of all shapes and sizes. Passing fisherman and merchants used to stop and add a Buddha for good luck but now it is mostly a tourist site. It was cool to see and our kind of stop as it was only 15-20 minutes!
Now that we were heading with the river current, we were really flying. Our captain drove the boat right in the middle of the river to get the full power of the current, on the way up the river we stayed to the side to avoid it. We got out at a small village to walk to a shop where they made different paper products by hand. It all started with the soaking and cooking of mulberry tree bark until it is a watery pulp that could be spread into large rectangular screens. The process was cool to see but Lenny was very tired and uninterest. We saw how they would add flowers to the paper and then dry it. Kayleen picked out a few small things to buy, we would have liked to buy more but we are low on space, while I monitored Lenny. He ended up in timeout outside for fear he was going to destroy some of the larger paper artworks.
We got back to the hotel after a long day out. Pan wished use a restful evening as we would be up early to meet him for our offering to the local monks. He said it was lucky the hotel was mostly empty and not filled with loud groups of Chinese that would keep us awake!
