Evening in Luang Prabang

Dropped off on the Luang Prabang riverfront in the pitch dark, I finally found my hotel, Villa Meuang Lao, up a narrow dark street, lush and overgrown with plants and trees. Every building has just two stories, all white with dark wood beams and frames, the gold-lettered wood signs and house numbers luminous in the low light. 

Lots of little restaurants line the main drag, and tuck in among the greenery of the dimly lit side streets. Some clearly for Westerners, serving imported beer, pizza, pasta, whathaveyou. The night market features local artisans' crafts and textiles in addition to the standard market fare -- trinkets, elephant pants, pop-up cards of intricately cut paper, and anything decorative that can be made from a coconut. The local goods, while not dirt cheap - and why should they be? - were of a quality and value I didn't find again on my travels. I bought a few beautiful cotton and silk scarves which, in NYC, would cost 5-10 times what I paid. On a side street, a long row of food stalls and communal tables -- noodles to order, various creatures grilled on sticks. 

A delicious dinner at Khaiphen, a Friends International restaurant. www.friends-international.org

I opted for dinner at Khaiphaen, the Luang Prabang outpost of the Friends International restaurants. Friends' TREE Alliance, a partnership program that trains street kids in the hospitality industry, helps young people develop skills that can change their destiny. Unlike my years working in the restaurant business, waiting tables is a noble calling here. I ate at 3 of their restaurants on this trip - two in Lao PDR and one in Cambodia -- and each has its own menu of delicious, creative local cuisine. The kids wait on you with their trainer hovering just a few steps away. They work very hard to please, to the point that three kids might come by in succession to remove a dish, shyly giggling when they realize it's already been taken.