When I told ChatGPT that I would be visiting Luang Prabang for 7 nights the AI was upset. Usually people spend a few nights there and move on to other destinations. Why did I do it? I am that kind of a traveler who will sit in at one place, explore it and then go back home. I know I cannot see everything that is there in the world so I might stay put, enjoy myself and and not run from here to there.
So, on the fifth day after breakfast I came out of my hotel and I had no agenda. I ambled to the Mekong Riverside and I visited a coffee shop called Saffron, it is highly recommended on the internet. But then coffee is wasted on me because all coffee taste same to me. It is at a nice location though. They have riverfront seating and the coffee, well was coffee. They have good confectionery for sure. I sat there for quite some time. When I walked out I met a boatman who asked if I would you like to visit some of the nearby villages? I had nothing to do so I decided why not. I looked that the map and thought Ban Chan, the pottery village looks the most interesting.
So I hired the boat. I was the only tourist when I visited the village. It was a small beautiful village, but while I was coming back, right by the banks of the Mekong, the kids from the village were playing in their backyard, the Mekong!
I had often seen them on my earlier excursions on the river. Faloating on the Mekong River in a slow boat was favorite part of the trip. But this time I was right there with the kids.
So, I said down with my feet in water and I thoroughly enjoyed watching the kids play. They didn’t mind my filming them. I was so wistful when I would see the kids playing by the river bank and our boat passing in the middle. I even cursed myself a little for not bringing my DSLR with the zoom lens. But then my trip to Ban Chan changed everything. I got my heart’s wish.
I wonder how it is to grow by a river or by a beach or in the mountains! I have always lived in landlocked places, plains mostly. I often ponder- do people think differently when they have a big river or a beach or a mountains in their backyard? I don’t know the answer. I, of course, love it when I go on holidays and wake up in such locations.
But I know holidays are very different than living in a place. I hope I will find out one day even if I live for a month in such a place!
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