Luang Prabang- a little Laotian/French cultural heritage
Luang Prabang, the ancient capital of the Siam, is a Unesco heritage site, and said to be one of the best preserved towns in southeast Asia. We arrived here a couple of days ago, after a grueling 3 hour ride in the back of a jumbo with 23 other people. The town is situated on the peninsula where the Mekong and the Nam Ou rivers meet. So it’s only a ten minute walk to either side to have a beautiful view of the river. We are staying in a quaint little neighborhood, mainly inhabited by guesthouses, that’s a mix of French colonial and Lao architecture. That’s to say that the buildings are low, usually 2 stories, built of wood with pretty balconies and slanted curvy roofs. We are paying for the atmosphere, our guesthouse is 7 times more expensive than we paid in Muang Ngoi Neua. We are paying a whopping $7 for a big clean room with a modern bathroom all to ourselves.
We arrived around 3 in the afternoon, it was stifling hot, and we hadn’t had lunch. So after dropping our bags and quickly slipping out of my filthy clothes and into a sundress, we went for lunch. We found a little restaurant playing French oldies that served cold fruit shakes and baguette sandwiches, I was in heaven. Then we took a walk along the river which was lined with pleasant little restaurants. We came back later for a beer and an appetizer, and then bought a quick, cheap dinner from a stall in the night market. We walked through the huge night market where they were selling beautiful handicrafts, and Fab winced when I suggested that maybe we should mail another box home. His policy now is that I can only buy what I plan to carry to Hong Kong. We’ll see about that…
Yesterday, we woke up early, before it got to hot, had a quick breakfast and set out on a walking tour recommended in our guide book. There are some spectacular wats (temples) to see and we spent the morning viewing most from the outside before climbing up Mount Phousi to see the views of the surrounding area. There were also a fair number of wats on Mount Phousi. After lunch and a short break, we visited the Royal Palace. The last king and queen were overthrown in the early 70’s when the Pathet Lao took control. They died in exile in a cave in the north, and the government turned their palace into a museum. The palace was modest by European standards, but the thrown room was quite impressive. The walls were decorated with Japanese glass murals depicting Lao folklore. Another room was decorated with murals depicting local life painted by a French artist. After the Royal Palace, we visited Wat Xieng Thong, Luang Prabang’s premier wat. It’s a collection of buildings including the main temple, several smaller shrines and a building housing the royal funerial carriage and the royal urns. The inside of the temple is decorated in painted glass and gold. We’ve visited a lot of wats, and this one was impressive. We had another quick meal at an outdoor buffet set up in the night market, 50 cents for a big plate of freshly prepared food, then we went for a little souvenir shopping.
This morning we shared a tuk-tuk with a British guy from our guesthouse to Kuang Si Waterfalls, about 30km south of Luang Prabang. We packed a picnic lunch and our swimsuits. The park had a number of easy hiking trails and a collection of lower turquoise pools to swim in. We had a wonderful time, swimming in the ice cold waters, a nice escape from the constant heat, and wandering threw the surrounding jungle.
Tonight is our last night in Luang Prabang. We are going to have a Lao massage to treat ourselves. Tomorrow we’ll make another 7 hour bus trip to Van Vieng.
Tags: BIG TRIP 2005-2006, In English 2005-2006
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