RTW Trip Day #43: An Unexpected Hotel Room Upgrade and Big Brother Mouse

10 November 2025

Steps: 9,065

This morning we left the Living Land Farm Homestay after breakfast and took a tuk tuk to our hotel for the next five nights, the Namkhan Hotel. This was a bit of a splurge for us compared to many of the places we’re staying on this trip, so we were excited to get to the hotel and see what it was like.

The Namkhan Hotel

Prior to us arriving, I had emailed the hotel to let them know about our 100 day trip, and to see if there was anything that they could do to make our stay extra special.

When we arrived and checked in, we were told that we’d been upgraded to a riverfront villa! It was such a thoughtful gesture and very much appreciated after spending the last 42 days in close quarters together.

The girls’ faces absolutely lit up when we opened the door - it was priceless! The villa is stunning, and the views from each of the bedrooms are beautiful, looking out over the river. Plus, we’re only a minute’s walk from the swimming pool, which of course the girls are happy about.

After spending some time in the pool, we caught the free shuttle into town and had a quick drink at a restaurant along the river.

The Old Town of Luang Prabang is such a walkable area, with charming side streets everywhere. The whole place has a lovely European influence that blends so well with Lao architecture and atmosphere.

Big Brother Mouse

This afternoon we visited Big Brother Mouse in Luang Prabang, which is a local organization that helps young people learn to read by publishing books in Lao and English.

In Laos, many children grow up without access to books at home or in school, and as a result, many children grow up never learning to read properly.

Big Brother Mouse works to change that by creating colourful, engaging books and making them available to rural villages to make reading fun and accessible.

They also run daily drop-in sessions where students can practice their English through casual conversations with visitors, which is what we did.

We spent an hour and a half chatting with teenagers about school, sports, and daily life in Laos, while they asked us questions about life in Canada. It was such a fun and meaningful experience, and the students were so eager to learn and improve, many arriving with notebooks full of prepared questions.

They were particularly keen to speak with us as we were native English speakers and travelling with children, which made it easier for them to relate.

One of the students we met had travelled over an hour just to come and practice their English. It just goes to show when programs like this are available, the children really do want to learn.

Jessica especially loved talking with three teenage girls and said it was one of the best things she’s done on our trip, as we got to learn about Lao children's lives as well as helping them learn.

Luang Prabang Night Market

After visiting Big Brother Mouse, we went for dinner at BOUANG, a lovely restaurant on the main street. It even had a kids’ menu, which is quite rare in Asia, and the menu had creative twists on Asian dishes like stir fry red curry and green curry gnocchi. The food was excellent, and we all agreed we’d happily eat there again later in the week.

After dinner, we walked along the main street through the Luang Prabang Night Market. This market is easily the best one we’ve been to so far on our travels, as the vendors were selling some beautiful handmade items and it was a much calmer atmosphere than most markets in Asia where you’re constantly being called over by vendors.

We were all quite tired, so we didn’t stay too long, but we’re planning to go back another night to pick up some gifts and maybe a few clothes. There’s also a large outdoor food court as part of the Night Market that we plan to try one evening, as it gives everyone the chance to order exactly what they want.

When it was time to head back, we couldn’t find a driver on Loca, so we ended up negotiating a ride on a tuk tuk - which turned out to be a rather bumpy trip back to the hotel!

Previous Day #42: The Living Land Farm Rice Experience

Next Day #44: Candle Making Craft and the Luang Prabang Night Market

Read About Our Itinerary here