Utopia

Everyone who visits Luang Prabang eventually ends up at Utopia.

Utopia is a restaurant/cafe/bar/yoga studio/lounge/general hang out spot along the river in Luang Prabang. It's a small city, very laid-back, very peaceful, very quiet. There's no real nightlife to speak of (which is a good thing to me), so most tourists and expats will come to Utopia to hang out when they have some free time.

Utopia is an ope-air lounge area built along the river. Everyone sits on traditional Lao-style pillows on the wooden deck that extends over the muddy slow-moving waters. With the cool breeze blowing in from the surrounding mountains, it's the perfect place to relax.

It's a funky little place with lots of comfortable places to sit. It's the rainy season now, so it's not so hot outside. The weather has actually been really perfect - in the 80s F mostly, and a little bit breezy.

Utopia, like Smile Beach or Koh Rong Island, is the sort of place that makes you lose track of time. You can spend an hour or more just watching the birds flying over the river, or looking up at the clouds in the sky. A place like Luang Prabang kind of forces you to slow down and appreciate the little things.

this cloud looks like a rubber duck!

I'm glad we've got the chance to spend two weeks in Luang Prabang. The truth is, there isn't that much to do here. It's a really small town. Even though it's stuffed full of UNESCO World Heritage Sites, it's compact enough that you can do most everything in a couple of days. Staying longer is a great way to really immerse yourself in the town and get to know it a bit better. And it gives us time to do things like spend an afternoon with an iced coffee at Utopia. Even though we've done nearly all of the touristy things, I don't feel bored. There's always something beautiful or interesting to see in Luang Prabang.