ATTN: KATHIE
 

kathie----please remind me where i can see pictures of your laos trip....anything you want to add about the pansea? i'm leaning toward that

bob

Bob, here's the website: www.marlandc.com

The photos of the trip to Lombok have recently been added.

We loved the Pansea. You like nice pools - their pool is wonderful! We spent every morning out, generally ate in town (the balcony of the Villa Santi was our favorite), then back to the hotel in the afternoon to rest and swim while it was warmest. The Pansea rate will include your breakfast. I highly recommend you do at least one dinner there - their food was fabulous!

thanks kathie....karen is wondering about your reaction to the caves and the whole boat ride thing...was it good and worthwhile? or was it a waste...

also about fabrics....could you review for us ([email protected]) your best buy places and what you bought...i remember that you were not too happy with the canadian woman's shop---santi?? is this true....i just read a review about it and the man reviewing talked about one $2500 scarf....hard to believe in asia unless it is woven with gold thread...thanks

bob

I loved the Pak Ou caves. They've been a Buddhist pilgrimage spot for hundreds of years. The boat trip on the river was great - very atmospheric. I'd recommend that you hire a boat to yourselves rather than going with a group. There is a lao-lao village across the river from the caves that most boats stop at - don't bother. They have poor quality goods and the pricces are higher than you would pay elsewhere.

I bought hand-woven silks from the co-op at the silk-weaving village just outside of LP. They are lovely and currently hang on the walls of my dining room. Learn a bit about the weavings first. These are traditional geometric patterns in many colors. The best quality weavings are two-sided (look finished on both sides). You can bargain with the weavers. You can also walk into the village andd watch weaving.

There is a shop in town that has lovely, very expensive items that are made in "decorator" colors and patterns. That is, the shop owner has ordered particular changes in the traditional patterns. I didn't like the fact that they were not the traditional patterns and colors and I thought the prices were way too high. I bought good-sized weavings, the highest quality for about US$20 each. At the store in town (I think it was called something like Oopic) a much smaller weaving in similar quality was about US$100.

thanks kathie....i'm hoping that we will stay at pansea but there are a couple of others that look nice as well...is there any disadvantage of staying out of town??

Bob, when we were first planning our trip, all the advice I heard was to stay in town. I found a couple of small places in town that sounded like good possibilities, but was unable to book them even 6 months in advance! I'm pretty choosy about rooms, and there were many places I just wasn't willing to consider.

While I wouldn't stay at one of the places that is really out of town, the Pansea on the edge of town was perfect. Their shuttle will take you there any time, and the return trip will cost you less than US$.50. The view from the Pansea (Mt. Phousi)is fabulous.

We haven't decided on this year's destination. One of the places on our short list is a return to Luang Prabang. And if we do return, we'd stay again at the Pansea. Oh, yes, I guess it's now called La Residence Phou Vao. We booked at asiahotels.com

Kathie -- I've been keeping track of all your reports. You're giving me lots of new ideas :)

thanks kathie...villa santi resort was the other possibility outside the town...??

bob

Bob, the Villa Santi resort is quite a bit farther out of town. I'm sure it's lovely.

Virgo, I'm glad I'm giving you some ideas!