Bird’s Nest Bevarage – 25% bird’s nest

Si Phan Don. The name literally translates as ‘four thousand islands’.

Here the Mekong, until now a wide expanse of water, branches out into an intricate web of channels producing a 14km wide mosaic of sandbars (see definition below), islets and islands numbering in the thousands.

Don Khong is the largest and most populous of the islands. In the last few years it has even attained the luxury of 24-hour electricity, but it still boasts a largely authentic traditional Laos lifestyle.

We were dropped by the boat at a small collection of guesthouses overlooking the riverbank. We checked into our chosen guesthouse and crashed out, exhausted from the journey. Around four o clock in the afternoon (whoops) we woke and decided to cycle around the island after speaking to three Irish girls who had just undertaken a similar journey. In our groggy state we failed to listen when they informed us how long it had taken.

We set off during daylight and admired the laid-back, sedate and traditional island life.

The road wound through rice paddies and lush green fields with grazing waterbuffalows. Every few kilometres we would cycle through a rustic village, just a few wooden shacks populated by people busying themselves with daily chores; women pumping water, and washing clothes in the river, children bathing by the roadside with a bucket, men threshing grain and other examples of subsistence farming.

Children would come running out of their houses and shout “good morning”. They were too cute to correct. Mothers would point us out to their kids r bring them over to us when we stopped. They were all so friendly.

It was clear that foreigners are still a novelty for these people.

After an hour we stopped for a break. A short distance across a field stood a small monastery. We watched as the sun set behind the roof silhouetting the building and the palm trees against a sky of bright reds, oranges and purples while the bells of the temple tolled.

The journey (very) turned ugly from then on.

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For days we debated what to do. Visit the Plain of Jars or not.
Should i visit another archeological site of world importance or take the stunning journey back to Vientiane. It’s not often in life that one is faced with such choices every day. These are the stresses i am faced with while travelling. How awful i’m sure you’ll agree.

The Plain of Jars is a large group of historic, cultural sites consisting of thousands of ancient stone jars, some two metres tall, scattered over large fields. Archeological authorities are still unsure of their raison d’etre, but it has been hypothesised they once contained the cremated human remains.

Sounded fascinating. Unfortunately this mysterious site was situated eight hours east of Luang Prubang and required backtracking that eight hours to Luang Prubang when we were already travelling 12 hours back from LP to Vientiane to reach the south of the country – all because the road from the Plain of Jars (Phonsovan) down south is a notoriously dangerous Special Military Zone where a low level insurgency and secretive counter operations are being waged.

Moreover, the Plain of Jars remains a dangerous site of unexploded bombs which still cause injuries every week. I did not trust my feet.

So we spent another day in Luang Prubang and visited the Royal Palace Museum. Originally, as the name suggests this building was the royal palace, residence of King Si Savanguang. Since the revolution it has been converted into a museum.

The museum pieces were a mixture of Laos art and Buddhist relics including the Phra Bang (from which the town takes its name), a Buddha cast of a gold, silver and bronze alloy. The secretary’s reception room is filled with diplomatic gifts from a variety of countries grouped into “socialist” and “capitalist” countries.

The palace, a museum piece in itself, surprised me. Built in 1904 and reflecting the dominant newer styles of the time the buildings is a hybrid structure commissioned by the French colonial administration, mixing French and Lao architecture. Fleur-de-ly emblems and french mirrors, three headed elephants and Lao embroidered silk; a deliberate synthesis to cement the (unequal) relationship.

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Wats are peppered liberally throughout Luang Prubang. Down every alley, side street, hidden behind small walls and gardens of frangipan and palm lie small, rustic temples. The wats house a large number of monks who are heavily present thoughout town ... [Continue reading this entry]

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