From Jeddah to Bangkok to Luang Prabang

Jeddah to Bangkok (January 27)

John has a restless sleep but I sleep like a rock. After a delicious Arabic and western buffet breakfast at our Jeddah hotel we pack up and take the elevator to the lobby.

We are on the 5th floor but the elevator takes us to the 7th instead of ground. Suddenly the elevator stops and the lights go out. No emergency lighting just complete darkness. Oh this could be ugly! Fortunately a minute later the lights go on and we arrive in the lobby where we grab an Uber to the airport. Once again the seatbelts in the Uber don’t work. They don’t seem to be big on seatbelts in Saudi Arabia.

There appears to be a lot of stray cats in Jeddah. As I’ve noted before, cities all over the world are usually cat cities or dog cities. Jeddah is a cat city.

The flight to Bangkok is only about half full so John and I have an empty seat between us. John gets his window seat so he is able to take some shots of Jeddah from the air. I am prepared with good books and downloaded Prime and Netflix episodes so the 7.5 hour flight to Bangkok passes quickly. We arrive just before midnight. And, oh joy, oh bliss, both checked bags arrive (although the handle of one is no longer properly working).

We grab a cab from this airport and have a 38 minute drive to our hotel by the other Bangkok airport where we catch a flight tomorrow to Laos.

Bangkok to Luang Prabang, Laos (January 28)

After a few hours sleep we head to the airport for the 1.5 hour flight to Luang Prabang in Laos.

Our taxi driver is super friendly and chatters on the ride to the airport. I understand only about half of what he says but smile and nod in what I hope are all the right places.

You never know how long check-in will take at any airport. Sometimes we are greeted by chaos with line-ups everywhere and fears of not getting to our gate in time.

Then we have this morning… from the time our taxi leaves the hotel at 10:30am, arrives at the airport, to check-in with AirAsia, going through passport control and then security takes only 30 minutes. We arrive at our gate over 2.5 hours before our flight.

While waiting in the departure lounge we are “entertained” by a woman passenger singing to music on her phone. With her husband sitting attentively beside her, she sings with full voice while tapping out the beat with her hands on her seat. Please see video.

Arrival at Luang Prabang, Laos
 

Upon arrival, we move quickly through the Luang Prabang airport and take a shuttle taxi to the city.

Luang Prabang is charming and filled with life. I don’t see any chain stores here and it is not built up. Monks are along the street, temples, massage spas and a fusion of Thai/South-East Asian and European architecture all built in a beautiful city along the Mekong River. And we are staying right in the middle of it.

First Evening in Luang Prabang

We check into our accommodations and head a few steps down to the river where we grab a seat at a bar, order two local bottles of beer ($1.15 CAD each) and watch the sun set behind the mountains. Many boats along the river have people in them also enjoying the sunset. I take a deep breath and savour the moment.

It cools down quickly and we stop back at our hotel to get warmer tops before heading to the main street.

The night market is in progress. We planned to go to a restaurant but got tempted by a BBQ stall in the market. You have the choice of all manner of skewers of vegetable, fish, meat, shrimp, snails, noodles and balls of unknown origin. At the stall we chose you grab a big silver bowl and pick your skewers, pay and they give you a number on a stand then deliver to your table. It came out to $15 for both of us. It is delicious (even though I don’t know what everything is). We both left fully satisfied.

We then walk through the merchandise stalls. I buy an adorable pair of flowey pants ($5 CAD) and a spoon made from part of a deactivated bomb.

From 1964-1973, Laos was the most heavily bombed place in the world. Many of these bombs still lie hidden. They continue searching to find and deactivate more bombs. Click here to find more details about this.

There is now a project that turns these bombs into spoons and other items…therefore making something that kills into something that feeds.

After four long days of travel (January 25-28), there is only one way for us to end the evening…with a massage. ($10 CAD plus tip).