Luang Prabang is beautifully located between the Mekong and Nam Khaen River and surrounded by lush green mountains and ample vegetation. It is one of the few places like Hoi An in Vietnam, Rangoon in Myanmar and maybe the Old French Town in Hanoi in Asia were the feel of colonial Asia still lives; especially at night one can feel for a brief moment 50 years back in time and one feels like wearing khakis and a jungle hat. Most of the colonial houses are still standing and some of them are carefully restored. The shops and streets are lit up at night with ambient light instead of the usual neon lights. The old town of Luang Prabang boasts many small and very pleasant guesthouses and restaurants for all budgets and there are too many Wats (temples) to count. In short, it is very easy to fall in love with Luang Prabang. 
On my first day I roamed the little back-alleys and strolled on the riverbank of the elegant Mekong. I then hired a boat and crossed the slowly moving and deep brown Mekong in order to visit an abandoned Wat on the other side. Wat Chom Phet sits on a little hill and offers a great view of green Luang Prabang with its hills. Actually it is quite difficult to spot the city and its houses among all the trees as no high-risers have destroyed the colonial layout of the city. I climbed the few steps to old and abandoned Wat Chom Phet and offered some flowers to the Buddha. Local children then led me to the neighbouring, also abandoned, Wat Longk Houng that was restored by the French in 1995 for 50’000$. In ten years the jungle has slowly taken over the Wat again with its elegant monk houses, long and small meditation hall and airy common roam. The odd monk still visits the Wat and the massive drum still hangs in the bell tower, waiting for the monks to return. Why the Wat was abandoned is not clear but two German motorcyclists we met the night before told us, that the Wats are haunted. They visited the Wat two days before with a friend of theirs who is also part of their motorcycle tour group. Against the advice of the local kids he removed a few stones and sure enough five hours later he had a motorcycle accident and broke his leg. After some negotiating with the police and paying 150$ they were then able to book him a flight for Bangkok for medical care. The Germans for their part learned their lesson about haunted places and I was so wise to buy some offerings for the Buddha. The locals kids were divided if there are pees (ghosts) or not. One girl said the ghosts are good, as long as undisturbed. A two minutes stroll from the Wat a small cave can be found. The children led me to it and one of them had the key to the locked gate for the cave. The cave even boasted lights and the kids made me climb various sections of the cave and I thoroughly started to perspire due to the humid and oxygen-poor air. Mutilated Buddha sculptures could be found all over the cave and it saw even some massive stalactites.
After a hour of roaming around the Wats and the cave I took the longboat back across the river and this was the best part of they day: the Mekong at sunset. I will not even try to describe what a magnificent spectacle that was. I will leave that to more prolific poets than me! And yes, I fell also in love with Luang Prabang.
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