| Luang Prabang |
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| During my visits here in 1999, 2001, and 2004 I have seen a lot of changes to the tourist situation in Laos. Especially along the Mekong in the north and in small towns like Vang Vieng the impact of tourism has been profound. Still Laos remains a relatively quiet and slow-paced country, and it only takes a little initiative to leave the mob behind and find places of great peace and tradition. It's still one of the world's poorest countries, largely due to it's unfortunate past victimisation and current lack of foreign investment. Yet the majority of people are usually ready to offer a smile. Most people seem to start their Laos journey at Chiang Khong in Thailand, a four-hour drive from Chiangmai. The business of accomodating visitors and getting them on their way down the river in the morning is prevalent here. (I recommend the Bamboo Restaurant in Chiang Khong for excellent Mexican food and an extremely knowledgeable and entertaining host). |
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| The Nomkong Guesthouse is the most popular in Chiang Khong (because all the guesthouses in Chingmai send them there) and offers basic cheap rooms (200 baht) and a nice view of the Mae Naam Khong itself. |
| In the morning many people cross the river to Huay Xai in Laos and are slowly settled onto one of the waiting boats. This requires some patience. |
| ...and at last you're away on a two-day journey (hint - sit near the front of the boat where the engine noise is not so bad and you have less chance of being splashed with water. No they normally don't let people sit on the roof - the boat's unstable enough already! |
| A popular alternative is to take a speed boat. It reduces the two-day journey to about six hours so you're in Luang Prabang in time get a decent room before the previous days slow boat arrives. However it is very loud and very fast (and surprisingly in this climate you will get cold after a couple hours). |
| From the opposite bank there's not a lot to see of Luang Prabang - just the prominant "Phousi" hill with Wat Phousi at the summit and other slow boats lining the shore. |
| Early in the morning, monks go on their daily collection of alms (i.e. breakfast) |
| A girl collecting aquatic weeds which grow prolifically in the river and are a major food source. |
| After a 2-day slowboat ride, I am surprisingly exhausted and collapse in my guesthouse room |
| On the banks of the Mekong another magical Luang Prabang sunset transpires... |
| Many pictures of temples... |
| Laos bicycles (they're actually made in Thailand) |
| The temple grounds outside the window of my guesthouse |
| Two monks I met at Wat That - the one on the right is Buasi Souliya (a.k.a. "See") who I stayed in touch with for a few years. |
| Wat Xiang Thong is undoubtedly the most revered and oldest temple in Luang Prabang |
| Monks at Wat Xieng Thong |
| I visited this monkey nearly every day outside the Wat Xieng Thong grounds. He's very amusing, a bit sad, and of course will try to steal away anything you put within reach. |
| ...and the Mekong River |
| The beautiful Kuangsi waterfalls and surrounding park are a favourite on the Luang Prabang travel list. I've seen it three times with dramatic variations in the water level. Above in Feb 2004 it was just a trickle, while back in May '99 it was going crazy. |
| In the park near the waterfall is a caged area of the forest hosting a tiger and a few Asian black bears. They are the offspring of animals which have been killed illegally by poachers. These animals are not so much caged as they are fenced in, and have a lot of habitat to roam. I went into the bear enclosure and fed them by hand, until I ran out of food and one of the bears decided to seize my arm in his mouth and left me bleeding. Since I am still alive and not frothing at the mouth I am not worried about rabies - but be warned. |
| Another popular spot to visit is the Pak Ou cave about 20km up-river from the town, and the easiest way to get there is by boat. The cave contains hundreds of Buddha images dating back many centuries. |
| Of course if you take a boat to the caves, the driver is required to drop you at the nearby Hmong village where one is instantly greeted by villagers selling local crafts. The main attraction, however, seems to be the locally made whiskey which is often attractively bottled with a dead snake inside. You can watch the distilling process as it happens and of course try a free sample. |
| >> A young girl in traditional dress at the village... |
| On the first visit I kept seeing this golden Stupa on the horizon and somehow I had to check it out. It's called Wat Po Pa Pao and turned out to be a very less-than-ancient temple, bult in 1988, and the chedi exterior is not quite as gleaming gold as it appears from a distance but rather a tacky matted gold painted-on colour. However, inside is an excellent range of paintings, mostly images of "hell". |
| Many people who are vaguely familiar with Buddhism are shocked to see images conceptualising a sort of "hell". In my understanding from talking to many practicing Buddhists, however, it seems that it is not taken literally that, for example, if you eat meat in your life you will go to hell as a pig or a cow and be slaughtered, or if you commit adultery you will find yourself impaled on the tree of throns and have your flesh torn off, etc. Instead it is just a bit of a sensationalised reminder to be a nice person. I think I get the point. |
| Inside the National Museum are a few objects of interest, but my favourite is this piece of rock from the moon which was donated to the People of the Kingdom of Laos by US President Richard Nixon. "Oh and by the way, sorry about carpet bombing your country for the past three years..." |
| Photography is actually not permitted in the museum, but I snuck the moonrock picture as well as this one of the "Prabang" or Buddha image from which "Luang" (big) Prabang takes its name. It's one of the most coveted Buddha images in the realm - but many people believe this one is a fake and the real image has been sold(?) |
| On a less controversial note, it's back to normal daily life in peaceful Luang Prabang, and in this case it's rice cakes drying in the sun - a very common sight along the quiet back streets. |
| Scene from the backside of Phu Si Hill. Most tourists stick to the riverside area, but I was suprised to see that the city stretches a long way into the surrounding hills. |
| On my first visit, I heard music coming from one of the homes at the edge of the river (really bad singing actually) and it turned out to be a wedding party, with the usual rice whiskey and karaoke. The guy in the middle is blind, but is a fine keyboard player to accompany the otherwise note-imperfect karaoke music, but being drunk and singing off-key is what it's all about. |
| I was reading about the history of the Mekong at one point and learned that one of the earliest European explorers was Frenchman Henri Mouhot, who is credited with "re-discovering" the ruins at Angkor Wat after they have fallen into mythical status for centuries and lost to the outside world. Mouhot ended up stopping in Luang Prabang when he fell ill with Malaria and died there shortly after. I found his grave in the middle of forest after a long bike ride out of the city. It's not a bad spot to finish actually. |
| I learned a lot about traditional Laos lifestyle and values from my friend Vahn, who took me around to her old village outside of the city, which basically meant visiting every member of the village who has a new baby. |
| Lunag Prabang is still one of the best preserved cities along the tourist route in Northern Laos, but one thing that has changed is the nighly Hmong market which is laid out along the main road every evening. The selling previously took place around the Talat Dala (day market) area, but someone got the idea to follow the Chiang Mai concept of a night market catering mainly to tourists (i.e. high prices). I just hope this isn't the beginning of the end of peaceful non-commercialised life in Luang Prabang. It is now a UNESCO heritage site, so hopefully that means it will be well-preserved. |
| Every day there was a large flatbed pickup truck roaming to city with many young girls in traditional costume, people dressed as Ramayana characters, and young boys in monkey outfits and music playing and a man speaking through a loudspeaker. They handed out flyers advertising the nightly cultural show at the National Palace grounds. So on my last evening I went to the show and it was very entertaining and interesting - and for $7 (that's pretty steep) I don't mind supporting the performing arts. |
| Time to grab a local bus headed south to Vang Vieng... It's a gorgeous drive up and over very hilly and green terrain with many small villages and vast views along the way. |
| The 2nd half of the show takes place outside, in which members of various local tribal groups perform their own brand of traditional song and dance. Among them are a group who fill huge earthen jars with water and then pick them up in their teeth and dance around. The woman in this picture is the undisputed water jar dancing champion. I tried to do myself, and even with both arms I found it very difficult to lift the jar off the table, so don't mess with this lady or she could bite your head off. |