"April in Laos", the lesser known Count Basie song...

We spent four days in and around Luang Prabang, a small city in northern Laos. It is mid-April, the hottest month of the year, in one of the hottest parts of the world. Still, we had an amazing experience and a great time.

"Suvarnabhumi" is pronounced "soo-waan-a-boom" - rhymes with "You wanna room?"

Inside BKK - Suvarnabhumi Int'l Airport

Just landed at LPQ - Luang Prabang, Laos

Day 1 - We arrived at about noon and checked in to our guesthouse, the Sala Prabang Mekong Riverview. That was a good afternoon to explore the city center on foot.

From our upstairs bedroom

The Sala Prabang

Welcome. Pulling off that handwriting took a lot of effort!

I loved that we were literally on the Mekong River

Bullet point #4: "The sun sets to get dark" - can't argue.

LP is a UNESCO World Heritage site - joining the Statue of Liberty, the Giza Pyramids, and 930 others

You renounce all desire and bodily pleasures and then spend your time in a temple with this on the walls. And I read somewhere that this culture doesn't appreciate irony. I say "mai chai" (Not true)

The city center was also the main venue for celebrating New Year's, as all SE Asian countries seem to do in mid-April. How do we celebrate New Year's around here? Water, water everywhere! It is literally a three-day free-for-all in the Art of Water Warfare.

Kids, teens, adults, Buddhist monks, police, military. No one is exempt, certainly not Farang like us. It turned out to be a truly great time to be outside in the 100 degree afternoon heat. The holiday has its roots in Buddhist tradition, and so of course, it's all good.