Since the room was not ready, I had no chance to shower. Arrival was in the early afternoon and I found that despite the guava juice and a minimalist snack on the flight, I was hungry. The solution was a plate of spring rolls and a large Beer Lao. After wandering the main street looking at the changes since my last visit, I returned to the hotel. My room was ready. It was located in the annex. To reach it one proceeds down a back alleyway at the hotel, down the side street about 100 meters and off the street opposite one of the local laundries and motobike rentals. The annex is a two story structure that sits considerably back from the street. It backs directly on the playground of the elementary school. Despite this fact, it is only noisy during the day. The desk clerk and I moved my luggage, after I removed some valuables from the safe. The room was pretty much like the one I had during the previous visit. I do not recall it having a telephone. It definitely did not have a television. It was air conditioned. The bed was two singles pushed together to make a king witha mosquito net above. The size of the bath was something I had forgotten, one of the smallest baths since a stay in a cheap hotel in Rome a few years back. But it had a shower, soap, shampoo, body wash and towels. Shower completed, I took the requisite afternoon nap.

Something else that I did not remember was that the hotel does not have a pool. I thought it had one, but the area is now a patio, that is, if there ever was one. I guess one could go to the resort to swim.

During my wanderings, I had sought out Naga Creations http://www.frommers.com/destinations...412010031.html - 45k -(yes, I thought it was Naga Design) which is owned by a young Frenchman, Fabrice. He was out when I went by in the afternoon, but was expected later in the evening. Last visit he (actually, his mother) sold me some Murano glass beads for Marsha's jewelry-making hobby. She parted with them quite reluctantly and I had seen others in their inventory. Hoping that they still had some in stock, I wanted to visit. The other reason for a visit is that the family is fascinating. They have lived in Europe, Africa and Asia. Dad works in Africa. Mom is normally either in Laos or Paris. I believe that she may actually be the investor in the store and owns much of the stock.

On the way, I had a non-memorable light meal at one of the local pizza parlors, they serve Lao food and I had that. Fabrice was in, but he was busy helping some American women toting high limit credit cards. He was quite busy adding things to the growing pile of jewelry in front of them so I spent the time until he was free looking at his stock. When he was somewhat free, he looked over at me and said: "I remember you. How are you? May I get you something to drink?". We settled on a Coke Light. He was drinking G&Ts along with the 2 women customers. Finally one of them settled up. The other requested that he hold her large number of items until the next day so she could think about her choices.

Now it was my turn. Fabrice thanked me for waiting patiently and we proceeded to the crux of our business. Did he still have Murano glass beads and what other unique items might be hidden in the stock? He had some including one type that I regretted not buying on the previous trip. Marsha was quite pleased with what she has seen so far, a deep maroon tear drop shaped item. The rest are reserved for various special occasions such as anniversaries, birthdays and xmas.

When I left the hotel, the sky looked quite dark and threatening, but the umbrella remained in the outside pocket of the suitcase. While we were talking the sky opened, the wind blew severely and a solid sheet of rain fell on the shop roof. Soon torrents of water were coming through the ceiling as we placed buckets and glasses under some of the worst areas.

What ensued over the next two hours of unrelenting rain was an education on the local economy, rents, leasehold requirements, doing business in Laos and numerous other topics. Luang Prabang has a high season, a shoulder season and a "no visitor" season. March is shoulder and business is acceptable, not great. The two American ladies were an aberration as most sales are small. Naga Creations has expanded to a second store selling higher end jewelry produced by local people following Fabrice's designs. He has a number of direct employees in the two stores, although, IMO, the ones in the main store are much better than the "high-end" ones. YMMV. He stated that rents have increased significanctly with some over $1000 a month. None of the Western owners will pay more than $1000, but some locals are paying as much as $1300. Fabrice is in a good position as he prepaid 5 years of rent when he arrived in Luang Prabang. He stated that the locals paying such high rents cannot survive because they have to work 2-3 weeks of the month just to pay the rent. Most stores have similar souvenir products. There are lots of travel agents, many of whom are also internet cafes. There are also many restaurants catering to the tourist. Reality is that most Lao citizens cannot afford the prices.

We talked about the leaking roof. It is his responsibility to maintain the building. Most of the buildings on the main street have been added to over the years. The workmanship is normally shoddy. Thus roofs leak and there is no way to fix them economically since many of the buildings are attached to each other. This may be a World Heritage Site, but setbacks, building codes, planners and regulations have not yet arrived. He told me about his neighbor who decided the way to stop her roof leaks was to divert all the water to his. He came by in the middle of the night and cut off the top of the supports to lower her roof, problem sort of solved.

Luang Prabang has changed significantly IMHO for the worse since my last visit. There is a building and remodeling boom. One hears Skil Saws and hammers all day. Prosperity has brought traffic-new motorbikes, new sontaews, more cars, noise and pollution. Prices have essentially doubled in two years. The cup of Lao espresso that was $.60 is now $1.20. Restaurant prices have escalated. Shops have raised their prices, but not enough to keep up with increased cost because of competition. Bear in mind that prices are still cheap by our standards, but they are out of line with most of the country. Wages apparently have not risen.

The wonderful thing about Fabrice's businesses is that they are creating jobs for locals where none existed. He is a microcosm in a developing economy.