Sanctuary in Luang Prabang, Laos
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![Home Alone](https://steemitimages.com/640x0/https://img.travelfeed.io/jeremiahcustis%2F20200714T055810731Z-20200709_184645.jpg)
My friend from Germany is the only guest staying at this hotel due to the virus. I wouldn't have even known about this place if he hadn't invited me over for some beer.
![entrance](https://steemitimages.com/640x0/https://img.travelfeed.io/jeremiahcustis%2F20200714T060129673Z-20200709_185128.jpg)
I've walked or driven by several times, but because of the sign, I always thought it was a religious place and just ignored it. It's not religious, but it's quite expensive.
![discount](https://steemitimages.com/640x0/https://img.travelfeed.io/jeremiahcustis%2F20200714T060334491Z-20200709_184803.jpg)
My buddy and his girlfriend are the only guests staying here, so they got an 80% discount.
![Mai Too Restaurant](https://steemitimages.com/640x0/https://img.travelfeed.io/jeremiahcustis%2F20200714T060418654Z-20200709_185209.jpg)
![Nice, but empty.](https://steemitimages.com/640x0/https://img.travelfeed.io/jeremiahcustis%2F20200714T060510056Z-20200709_184911.jpg)
Around here, mid-level and cheaper businesses are doing fine, but these fancy places have become bare.
![pond](https://steemitimages.com/640x0/https://img.travelfeed.io/jeremiahcustis%2F20200714T060556511Z-20200709_181429.jpg)
![Seating for No One](https://steemitimages.com/640x0/https://img.travelfeed.io/jeremiahcustis%2F20200714T060732300Z-20200709_185009.jpg)
It may be a sad story for the hotel owner, but my friend feels like royalty staying here alone.
![Beautiful Roof](https://steemitimages.com/640x0/https://img.travelfeed.io/jeremiahcustis%2F20200714T060812410Z-20200709_184844.jpg)
You may appreciate the lovely pond, but I can only see a beautiful, but dumb roof. It collects way more than enough solar energy a day to run everything. I would like to have a hotel just like this, except that the roofs will collect solar energy like Elon Musk's roofs do. It could be marketed as a green off-grid place to stay.
![supermarket](https://steemitimages.com/640x0/https://img.travelfeed.io/jeremiahcustis%2F20200714T060933325Z-20200709_185424.jpg)
If you do fancy staying at this hotel, it's south-east of the Dara Market.
![How far from home?](https://steemitimages.com/640x0/https://img.travelfeed.io/jeremiahcustis%2F20200714T061043818Z-20200711_184606.jpg)
I personally despise America. The food tastes like GMO shit, the people are fat, dumb, and judgmental. Everything is fake, including the religion, the news, the financial system, and the whole "American Dream". I'm glad it's all over 13,000 kilometers away from here.
![Haunted Bar](https://steemitimages.com/640x0/https://img.travelfeed.io/jeremiahcustis%2F20200714T061210925Z-20200711_183746.jpg)
This is a sad picture because I really wanted to do a post about this place after it re-opened after the lockdown.
![Hive Bar](https://steemitimages.com/640x0/https://img.travelfeed.io/jeremiahcustis%2F20200714T061305649Z-20200711_183601.jpg)
I was planning on showing the owner our HIVE community and how to post here, but it looks like it is another unnecessary lockdown casualty. Things feel almost normal here in Laos, there just aren't any Chinese tourists, and a third of the businesses never came back.
![New Restaurant](https://steemitimages.com/640x0/https://img.travelfeed.io/jeremiahcustis%2F20200714T061344949Z-20200711_145133.jpg)
This travel blog has been a great motivator for me to try new places. I'm a creature of habit and love to go to the same spot and eat the same thing every day, but I've been trying new places a lot now.
![”Resfaurnt”](https://steemitimages.com/640x0/https://img.travelfeed.io/jeremiahcustis%2F20200714T061519714Z-20200711_145146.jpg)
The artist got the Laos spelling right, but not the English, because fuck spelling right?
![playtime](https://steemitimages.com/640x0/https://img.travelfeed.io/jeremiahcustis%2F20200714T061612748Z-20200711_145301.jpg)
The staff was warm and friendly. It was nice of them to think of the kids.
![Riverside View](https://steemitimages.com/640x0/https://img.travelfeed.io/jeremiahcustis%2F20200714T061649382Z-20200711_145350.jpg)
I've swum across the Mekong river before but decided not to join my friend this time. I was super hungry and was already drunk so we just enjoyed our food and beer while we tried to keep an eye on him.
![menu](https://steemitimages.com/640x0/https://img.travelfeed.io/jeremiahcustis%2F20200714T061825192Z-20200711_145628.jpg)
I always get mad at my friends who have something like this printed before checking with a native speaker. I mean come on, how hard is to ask someone to check it for a minute before you go and permanently make it look like you don't give a shit?
![Start the swim.](https://steemitimages.com/640x0/https://img.travelfeed.io/jeremiahcustis%2F20200714T061906873Z-20200711_152517.jpg)
My friend probably got HIV and Covid-19 by swimming in this river, but that's how you boost your immune system right?
![Small Dot](https://steemitimages.com/640x0/https://img.travelfeed.io/jeremiahcustis%2F20200714T061938391Z-20200711_152744.jpg)
You can barely see him in the center of the shot here. His head is just a small little dot.
![Jet Ski Time](https://steemitimages.com/640x0/https://img.travelfeed.io/jeremiahcustis%2F20200714T062004171Z-20200711_152902.jpg)
The lifeguards were at the same restaurant as us, so maybe they could jet ski to him in time if he cramped up, but he was fine. I still follow my military training of always having a swim buddy and told him not to swim alone, but he didn't listen or care.
![The End](https://steemitimages.com/640x0/https://img.travelfeed.io/jeremiahcustis%2F20200714T062039828Z-20200711_182049.jpg)
Thanks for checking out another restaurant with us today here in Luang Prabang. Don't swim across rivers alone!
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Beautiful Place!