Our slow boat ride from Pak Beng to Luang Prabang the second day was just as relaxing and enjoyable as the first! We loved being able to read, play backgammon, and talk with our new friends, the Gouldings, the Wests, and Xayphone. We stopped at a couple caves near Luang Prabang that were used for worshipping Buddha and got to look at all the statues and carvings. The hike up to the upper cave was fun. We spent so much time relaxing on the boat; it was nice to get out for a bit and have some activity. On the river, we passed a couple large bridges being built with huge columns in the water. We all thought this looked out of place; we hadn’t seen anything else so modern in Laos. We realized that this bridge is part of China’s multi-trillion dollar Belt and Road project that we learned about a few months ago when we were in the Balkans! The Belt and Road project is a development strategy employed by the Chinese to connect many European, Middle Eastern, African, and other Asian countries to China for more efficient trade routes and opportunities. A couple of the pictures below show the bridge being built.
It was great to chat to you too! Yet another great blog post!
Thank you so much! We’re so happy to hear from you. Have fun on your travels!!