After a few months in Asia we were both really craving a good, fresh salad. And along came Laos. Simple. Natural. Fresh. Laap (or laab), was a nightly ritual for us. Perhaps the most famous Laotian dish, laap is made from chopped or thinly sliced meat or fish that is mixed with lime juice, fish sauce, mint, coriander, spring onion, chili and uncooked rice grains that have been dry fried and crushed. It is usually accompanied by vegetables including eggplant, fresh chilies, mustard leaves and lettuce. It can be eaten with ordinary rice or sticky rice and is usually eaten with fish/meat soup depending on the main ingredient being used.

We enjoyed eating this and all the other Lao food so much we decided to take a cooking course. And I can assure you, it’s as good as it is easy to make.

For more on Luang Prabang, Laos click here.

Luang Prabang is the greatest city in the world. Perhaps, that is an overstatement. With a population hovering around 100,000 it may not be large enough to be considered a city. Luang Prabang is then the greatest town in the world.

The dirty little secret is this – Laos and its cultural capital, Luang Prabang, need a marketing makeover. Sure, magazines like Conde Nast and National Geographic Traveler will give the city its due props with articles titled “Best Kept Secrets of Southeast Asia” and “SE Asia’s Hot List” but, please, this is petty patronization. This city, this town, should not be condensed so easily to stroke some pedantic travel expert’s ego. A UNESCO World Heritage site is not a secret. And for a place to be considered “hot” is to say that it will go out of style some time later. Luang Prabang should be visited now and later, again and again and again.

Certainly, Laura and I will be back. The town’s demure beauty captured our admiration from the moment we arrived. After traveling hard to outpace our Tibet-shortened Chinese visa, we were in need of a calm, quiet place to relax for a few days. Laura’s research and Wikitravel’s glowing recommendation brought us to one of the best places we’ve stayed yet – Thongbay Guesthouse – just on the outskirts of town.

From the get-go we had the feeling that a few days there would turn into several, which is exactly what happened. At Thongbay, we had a – OK, I’ll call it cute (it was) – bungalow all to ourselves on the shores of the Nam Khan river just before its intersection with the Mekong. Made of all wood with no real frills (no AC, no TV) other than exceptional service and breakfast on the veranda, the rustic locale was exactly what we were after.

We spent a total of 8 days in the good, ‘ole LP, but for brevity’s sake, I’ll give you run-down on what to see, eat and do the New York Times way – in 36 hours.

36 Hours in Luang Prabang

4 p.m. – Bike the Drive

It being a town, there is no need for maps or public transportation, just your two feet and some wheels. Laura and I rented bikes almost every day to get to and fro and this is undoubtedly the best way to cruise the town. One of the great charms of the town is its peninsular location, carved out by two rivers – the Mekong and the Nam Khan. Sandwiched in between are more than thirty Buddhist temples and a host of perfectly-preserved French colonial buildings, all easily navigable on two tires. Because the whole town of Luang Prabang is listed as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO, no new development is allowed, therefore keeping away much of the over-blown commercialism found in SE Asia’s other cities.

Cool off after your bike ride around town with SE Asia’s best iced coffee. Made with condensed milk and a healthy scoop of sugar it’s more of a liquid dessert than anything resembling coffee, but it’s a great pick-me-up on a hot day.

6 p.m. – Fire on the Mountain

With your new-found sugar high, ascend Luang Prabang’s highest point, Phou Si, a hill 100m high in the center of the old town with breathtaking views of the stupa-studded province. Atop the hill is a white-washed Buddhist temple, around which tourists gather to applaud the sunset over the Mekong, an absolute highlight of any trip to Luang Prabang.

8 p.m. – Night Market

Trust me; you will never visit a market as quiet as this one, not even if you’re shopping for caskets. Every night, artists and merchants set up shop on the main road running through the town’s artery to hawk their goods. If you’re coming from just about any neighboring country (especially Vietnam) you will be shocked at the lack of hassling and the quiet and reserved demeanor with which the Lao people conduct their business. Bargaining still occurs but it is by no means cut-throat and shouting won’t get you anywhere. In a country where “saving face” and maintaining a pleasant disposition are all important, the people are generally very laid-back. People come here to sell everything from misspelled Beerlao t-shirts to hand-woven purses to beautiful hand-painted prints and cards.

Walking through the market can certainly make one thirsty, and for this there is an almighty solution – Beerlao. Grab one of the green-and-yellow-labeled pilsners and take a seat at one of the communal tables in the alley running off the main market. Here is the nightly food market, made up of an exceptional array of food stalls, selling grilled fish, sausages, pork, corn and hot and spicy noodles, plenty of reason to indulge your taste buds and order another Beerlao.

As with most Buddhist cultures, Luang Prabang is not a late-night kind of place, so it’s early to bed because tomorrow you’ll be early to rise.

Day 2

6 a.m. – The Giving of the Alms

Visit in the morning and you will see lines of saffron-robed monks collecting their morning alms from the townspeople in a charitable display so beautiful to watch it will make you question why all acts of kindness couldn’t be this way. Beware, though, you will also see hordes of ugly tourists literally jogging down the street to snap photos of the collections, as it’s become tourist –chic (I say this having gone and taken pictures myself but, still, there is a respectful way of capturing the act and maintaining some distance).

8 a.m. – French Connection

After the monks collect their daily rations of rice, it’s time for you to get fed. Head to one of the many cafes in town and discover at least one redeeming quality of French colonialism – the food – over a breakfast of pain au chocolat and café au lait.

10 a.m. – Iron Chef

We had heard from many other travelers that Luang Prabang is a great place to take a Lao cooking course. We signed up and started off our all-day cooking course at Tamnak Lao by heading to the local food market to purchase fresh meats, vegetables and spices. This was a lot of fun and a great way to get off the tourist path and experience shopping in a local market.

With our English-speaking chef, Laura and I, along with about 8 others, learned to cook 6 recipes, including two Lao favorites – sticky rice, a glutinous rice used in northeastern Laos, and jeowbong, a spicy chili paste only made in Luang Prabang and typically eaten with dried buffalo skin.

The cooking class ended with a terrific lunch whipped up by none other than ourselves and included our personal favorite, laap, a minced chicken salad flavored with chili, mint, kaffir lime leaves and an assortment of vegetables.

4 p.m. – Go Chasing Waterfalls

About 30 minutes drive (you can either hire a moped or hop a local tuk-tuk) from town are Kuang Si Falls, a multi-tiered waterfall cascading several hundred feet down the mountainside. Laura and I made the trek up the mountain with a bunch of other travelers – Kiwis, Brits and Germans – to take advantage of the natural swimming pools on the upper terraces of the falls. You could spend all day here just chilling and drinking fruit smoothies, but after such a rough day you might be in need of a cocktail like we were.

6 p.m. – Slow Gin Fizzes

Sunsets in Luang Prabang are not just sunsets; they are events. There are a slew of bars practically begging you, by way of idyllic views over the Mekong, to enjoy the approaching sunset with a cocktail. Now Laura is not typically a cocktail drinker, but something about the fiery-red sun waiting to dip itself over the green jungle and into the river had her saying, “Everyone must believe in something. I believe I’ll have a drink.” Gin fizz was deemed the right choice for the moment. And there wasn’t anything slow about it. One turned to two and two to…time for dinner (or it’s going to be a very short night). If that cooking course taught you anything, it’s that there is no shortage of great food to be had in this town, so get ready.

8 p.m. – Frasian Fusion

With all due respect to the many wonderful restaurants of Laos’s capital, Vientiane, Luang Prabang would have to be considered the gastronomic center of the country. French-inspired but still distinctively Lao, Luang Prabang’s cuisine is superb. There are restaurants serving tasty Lao cuisine to suit every budget.

Laura and I chose wisely with a place called Tamarind, hidden in one of the side-streets on the Mekong side of town and specializing in traditional Lao food. This was one of the best meals we’ve had on our entire trip. We sampled sticky rice and dried, crispy seaweed, served with an assortment of veggie dips to start: a chunky tomato salsa, a smoky eggplant dip and a coriander chutney.

But the highlight was undoubtedly the lemongrass-stuffed chicken. The chicken is mixed with a variety of herbs and spices including garlic, ginger, kaffir lime and coriander, then stuffed inside a thick stalk of lemongrass, dipped in egg and flash-fried. The result – oh, dear baby Jesus! The crispy lemongrass covering gave an incredible scent and taste to the juicy and delectably-flavored chicken that was tucked inside. And with a side of peanut sauce for dipping and the local lao lao (rice whiskey) to tipple, you won’t regret eating here.

Day 3

11 a.m. – Longtail It Out of Town

All your bags are packed. You’re ready to go. Stop standing there and longtail it out of town. For centuries, the Mekong has been the lifeline and main means of transport for the Lao, Burmese, Chinese, Tibetan and Vietnamese that call the river’s shore their home. Karst mountains, wild elephants bathing, hairless, young monks washing their clothes – there is no better way to pay witness to Luang Prabang’s beautiful offerings than to take a boat down this world-renowned waterway. A fitting goodbye to 36 hours in the world’s greatest town.

For video highlights of Luang Prabang, click here.

Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR.

Next on our list of Laos adventures was a journey down the Mekong River. The Mekong is one of the world’s major rivers, weaving together the land and indigenous cultures of Tibet, southern China, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam and Laos. It’s also one of the best ways to get around in Southeast Asia.

In Laos, a journey down the Mekong is not a mere travel adventure pursuit. It’s an experience of daily life. Here in one of Asia’s poorest countries, many highways exist only in theory. The Mekong is often the sole means of transportation.

We began our river journey in Luang Prabang, one of Southeast Asia’s loveliest cities (more to come soon on this gem!). We boarded an old, wooden river boat that sits about eight passengers. The boat is a low-rider, with your head just peaking out above the river once you are aboard. Passengers sit two-by-two, giving everyone in the boat a good view for the scenic ride.

Our boat journey was a full day, 8-hour ride and along the way, we experienced some of the most dramatic scenery Laos is said to offer. Karst mountains towered above us. Stilted, bamboo villages peaked out of jungled mountains. And the windy, beige ribbon they call the Mekong is the center of life.

The Mekong River seems to bring everyone together. We watched fisherman hide from the sun under baboo hats while casting their nets in the muddy river. We saw herds of buffalo wading at the shoreline. In the mist of the early morning, we watched in awe as a group of wild elephants gathered at the water’s edge to take a mud bath. And as the day unfolded, women gathered at the water’s edge to beat their laundry on the rocky shore aside a group of tangerine-clad novice monks taking an afternoon dip.

After experiencing some of the most spectacular river terrain my eyes have seen, we arrived at our final destination – the rustic, riverside village of Nong Kiau. From here we’d spend two days soaking up the spectacular scenery of the Mekong River.

Nong Kiau is a little settlement surrounded by vertical limestone mountains, dense forest and, of course, the Mekong River. There are a handful of bamboo bungalows tucked into the mountainside, where we made our home for a couple days. With hardly any other sounds other than the songs of hundreds of birds and cicadas, we found this to be the single most peaceful place we’ve encountered in all of our journey.

Here in serene Nong Kiau and on our scenic boat ride down the Mekong, we became even more enamored with the unspoiled gem of Laos.

Laos is a forgotten land. Like most, I didn’t know much about it before setting foot in the country. I knew it was at one time French occupied and that it usually earns a fleeting spot on many Southeast Asia travelers’ itineraries. I could tell, however, within the first moments of entering the country that is was a special place that would soon earn a top spot on my list.

On the drive from the border I was awestruck by the natural beauty of the country. Lush forests blanket rolling hills dotted with stilted bamboo huts. Thick jungles tower over muddy rivers where hill tribe villagers call home. Pools of water reflect a vibrant blue sky in endless fields of palm-fringed rice paddies.

Dubbed the “Jewel of the Mekong,” we were soon discovering Laos was in fact one of the great jewels of Asia. Our first stop in Luang Nam Tha confirmed the notion.

Luang Nam Tha is a small town based at the foothills of the jungle-covered mountains. It’s considered the most ethnically diverse area in all of Laos based on the countless number of ethnic minorities inhabiting the surrounding mountains. The combination of a privileged geographic location and strong ties to its tribal heritage has helped Luang Nam Tha become the ecotourism destination of the country.

The whole town is set along one paved road. It has a nice selection of cafes and restaurants to choose from as well as a lively night market serving up some of Laos’ spicy favorites. It was here we were introduced to the laid-back SE Asia vibe, discovered the gentle, innocent charm of the Laos people and celebrated the fact that some French traditions – strong coffee and fresh baguettes – still live on.

The real adventure of Luang Nam Tha, however, lies along the paths in the hills beyond. We embarked on a one day, guided trek through the mountains. Our day began on the back of tuk-tuk (the name given to rickshaws all over Asia due to the sound of their churning motors), which dropped us off at a village along a river. From here we met our guide and other members of our group – an Israeli and two Japanese guys. We crossed the river in a small boat and were then lead straight up the mountain.

The trek was certainly intense and gave me new-found admiration for the soldiers who fought in similar topography, not far from here, in the Vietnam War. Words can’t describe how thick and dense these jungles are. Vines, branches, prickly leaves, monster-size ants and all kinds of creepy crawlers cover your body the moment you enter the jungle. The heat is stifling. It’s so dense you don’t know where to plant your feet and when you do the mountains are so steep you find yourself falling down more than standing up.

At the top of the mountain it was time to reward ourselves. Here our guide prepared a feast. On the floor of the jungle, he built a fire to cook pieces of buffalo meat attached to bamboo sticks he’d picked up along the way. On the dirt floor, he laid out a palm leaf to serve as our lunch table. He put out eggs and bean sprouts and spread dollops of green chili paste on the green palm leaf. When the meat was ready it was time to chow. He handed out what looked like tightly-wrapped presents, but what turned out to be sticky rice wrapped in banana leaves. We were told to open them up, use our hands and dig in. It was a true jungle experience.

With our tummies full of tough buffalo meat and spicy chilies, we made our way down the mountain to the river’s edge. Here we came upon a group of village children taking their daily bath in the river. As the sun began to set, we too dunked ourselves in for a swim. It was an idyllic way to end a memorable day in the pristine, feral jungle.