Utopia

We departed Hanoi on an ATR-72 turboprop for the one hour flight to the Mekong River city of Luang Prabang, Laos. The Satri House was another recommendation of my brother, Todd, and his wife, Niki who had made a family trip over a year ago at Christmas. The hotel was formerly the home of a Laotian Prince and was an oasis conveniently located conveniently to the downtown area.

Our tour guide, Mr. Lee, met us promptly at 9:30 the next morning for the day long tour which included some very interesting Buddhist temples, lunch at The Tamarind high above the Khan River and the hike up Mt. Phousi where a golden statue of Buddha overlooks the town.

We enjoyed 2 nice dinners during our visit at L'Elephant and The Blue Lagoon but our most interesting side trip was for cocktails at Utopia which was also recommended by F5, as we sometimes refer to Todd, Niki and their 3 kids. Our tuk tuk driver deposited us at an alleyway which we followed for 2 minutes to Utopia, high above the banks of the Khan River. Too late to participate in sunset Yoga, we instead opted to have a drink while watching some good volleyball in an intimate arena adjacent to the bar. The calming demeanor of the many backpackers suggested that had indeed found Utopia. Laid back as it was, we did not return later in the evening when the music starts and the pace picks up 'a little bit'. Interesting, indeed.

See the photos here.