Brian and I have been really fortunate that for the last eight months of travel, including two months in India, neither of us have gotten sick. We knew it was bound to happen, but there was always this tiny part of me that thought, “hey, maybe we’ll make it the whole 12 months!” WRONG!

I got sick. Real sick. But the thing was, it wasn’t food poisoning. And without diving too deep into unnecessary detail (like I typically do), I didn’t have any stomach issues at all. Actually, if you must know, it was quite the opposite. What I had was the Laotian Plague, and it took me out for three days and unfortunately day one was a long travel day. I spent two hours in an overcrowded boat with no seats; sat at a bus station for an hour; and then sat in the smallest seat in a minivan on the most pathetic excuse for a road for our five hour transport to Luang Prabang. It was hell. Brian knew it was bad when he witnessed me losing my appetite for the first time in my life. This was serious.

Convinced I had Dengue and knowing I had to sit in a van for the next five hours I did the only thing that could make matters worse. I started to cry. Uncontrollably. Like strangers staring at me crying. And everytime a kind passerby stopped to make sure I was okay, I just started crying more. My head felt like a stampede of elephants just trampled over me. I was sure I was experiencing early onset arthritis everywhere. And my body was radiating heat like a summer day in Louisiana. I was the girl on fire, and it was nothing like Katniss Everdeen. 

We finally arrived at our guesthouse in Luang Prabang, Villa Merry III, and it took everything in me to crawl up the (beautiful) stairs to get into bed. And that is where I stayed for the next three days. Brian was my savior. We were in beautiful Luang Prabang and he sat (a safe distance) next to me trying everything to bring down my 102 fever. When 800mg of Ibuprofen didn’t work, he sat up all night replacing cold towels on my forehead while I fought back tears and refused to eat (and still miraculously managed to gain weight). It wasn’t until Brian noticed how bloodshot my eyes were and my fever had reached 103 that he said it was time to go to the hospital. In which I reacted like a five year old girl, kicking, screaming, and refusing to go. 

And to make matters worse, I had to hide my sickness from my parents! Sorry mom and dad, it was for your own good! And I know you don’t read our blog anyway (love you too guys!). Finally, after three days of horizontal rest, binge watching Orange is the New Black, and developing several bed sores, I finally felt like myself again. Plus we had to switch guest houses because they didn’t have any more availability. We sauntered over to Villa Merry I, somehow even more beautiful than Villa Merry III, and finally started exploring this beautiful French Colonial town.

Luang Prabang was exactly how Brian and I envisioned Pondicherry, India before we visited a few months ago (which in fairness, some parts were, but it paled in comparison to Luang Prabang). Its quaint, charming, and picture perfect. We walked along the riverside, admiring both the Mekong and Nam Khan Rivers.

We rented bikes and enjoyed lunch at Tamarind Restaurant, which the internet claims to be the best Lao Pha in Luang Prabang (it was pretty good). We even biked over to the provincial hospital and then had to continue biking to a private clinic after communication complications to get our final installment of our Rabies vaccine! It took us three attempts to find the right clinic with the correct vaccine formula, including a very confusing moment when I was speaking with a nurse. It went something like this: “Hi, I have had my two rabies and need my third.” Nurse: “You’ve already had two babies and you need a third?” Hmm…not quite.

We spent our days walking around town, falling in love with pupples, and taking in warm sunsets on the lazy patio of the preferred backpackers hangout, Utopia. We even shared a never-ending coconut from the same place Obama visited in 2016, and proceeded to take touristy selfies with the life-size cutout that was proudly propped outside of the Sunset View restaurant. 

In an effort to makeup for my three days without food, Brian and I proceeded to eat at every single food market several times a day. We were on a roll. It’s a marathon people, not a race. Right?

One of the things we had wanted to participate in was the Alms Giving ceremony in Luang Prabang. Waking up before sunrise to observe the saffron robed Buddhist monks receive their offerings from their community felt like a must see activity when we were researching this UNESCO protected town.

We started reading more about the ceremony wanting to remain respectful. Could we participate without adding to the spectacle of tourists and their shuttering cameras? From what we read, this beautiful tradition has already turned into a tourist attraction.

We spoke to our guesthouse about it and the owner told us that her mother goes every morning and while we shouldn’t offer up Alms since we aren’t buddhist, she would be happy to take us with her to observe on one of the quieter, unknown streets. We asked about taking photos and they said as long as we kept it to a minimum and of course didn’t use the flash.

In the end I stayed home, mostly because I didn’t feel 100% and the 4:30am wake up call felt more like torture than a chance to watch something beautiful. Brian ended up going with our adopted grandmother and said after witnessing the ceremony for a little while he did feel comfortable enough to take a few pictures to share with me. While we still have mixed feelings about it all, Brian did say that it was a very unique thing to experience. I’m not sure why our guesthouse took us in like this. Maybe it was because they saw how sick I was or perhaps it was because we were the only ones there and spent a lot of time together, but either way, we were very grateful for the invitation.

Since I fell ill in Luang Prabang, we ended up spending a couple extra nights before finally heading out to one of our last big ticket items, an excursion Brian and I went back and forth on A LOT, an overnight visit to an Elephant Sanctuary.

We’ll share our experience with these beautiful gentle giants on the next post!

S+B

PS. We applied for our Vietnamese visa at the consulate in Luang Prabang. It was super easy. We show up with one passport photo, filled out the form, and paid. We paid $30 each for the standard three day processing but there are faster options (2 day, $40 and 1 day $60; however, I’ve seen posts stating higher prices since). The best part: no appointments necessary! Note that if you travel to Vietnam by air, you can get a visa on arrival.