Shopping

Carrying $US is very useful in Luang Phrabang. Most prices we asked for, may it be for food, merchandise or anything, were given to us in $US.
We are a couple of non-shoppers so haggling for lower prices with the vendors was a lot of work for us. We've bought some things for as low as 70% off but the guilt hit us afterwards. Especially when thinking about the dollar conversion. We always ask for prices in Kip, so hundreds of thousands Kip going down to tens of thousands Kip wouldn't sound so bad of a deal. But in dollars, haggling to pay $1.50 for a $3 pair of pants sounds cruel.

Food

There's a lot of good food here, especially on the streets. We had some kind of noodle dish here, similar to pad thai in Thailand, and some weird pierogies. They're very tasty, only they were served to us on a "recycled" plate.
The sandwich vendors hang out in front of the higher priced tourist hotels so the sandwiches there are made pretty much in western style... also because of their french influence.