myrainasia

OK, that title could use some work, but I seem to be stuck on the alliteration thing.  Besides it works for me.

Still being utterly charmed by Laos.  Every place I’ve seen has been beautiful and the people are, for the most part, quite lovely.  Laos is trying to upgrade its status as a tourist destination and I’m sure it will get there ultimately- but not quite yet.  This has pluses and minuses for the tourists here now.  The upside is that you don’t have people constantly hassling you with things to buy and tours to sign up for and tuk tuks to take you there…. The downside is that the Lao people don’t really understand a service economy.  They have something to sell, you want to buy, well, maybe we can work this out- or not.  No big deal either way.  You want to order food?  Someone will bring you a menu or take your order- eventually.  Toilet paper for the bathroom in your room?  Sometimes present on arrival; otherwise available on request.

So it’s all a lot more low key.  NB- at the risk of not being allowed back in Thailand, also must say that I don’t miss the cult worship of the royal family.  Whether out of true devotion or as a matter of law, pictures of the king of Thailand are on every street corner, in every store, home, etc.  Mourning bunting lined the streets of Bangkok and, to a lesser extent, all of the towns in Thailand, to commemorate the death of the king’s sister in January.  Struck me as interesting at the beginning.  Later felt like overkill.

Turning back to Laos- loved Luang Prabang.  It’s an absolutely charming UNESCO World Heritage Site town.  Easy enough to navigate on foot.  The French colonial heritage evident in much of the architecture is protected by the World Heritage designation. But entrepreneurialism is alive and well and the town is a mix of new and old.  The town is bordered by 2 rivers- the Mekong on one side and the other river (OK I forget) on the other side.  Restaurants and cafes line the Mekong and I accidentally bumped into sunset over the Mekong after exiting one of the temples one afternoon.  Sat down to drink an iced coffee and drink in the local scenery.  Lo and behold the sun began it’s downward descent and I began to drop into a trance- broken only by the need to photograph every new angle and color.  The photographs aren’t bad but I could not capture the burning crimson color of the last 20 minutes.  Lord knows I tried!

My last night in town I made the requisite sunset climb of over 300 steps to the top of the hill located in the middle of town and leading to Wat Phou Si.  The wat’s not that old and not that impressive- but the view stretching over the town and across the river- intense.  Then I dashed down (as opposed to the slow haul up) the steps to get to the performance at the Royal Ballet.  This was traditional Lao dance and really good, at least to my untrained eye.  (Wasn’t sure if it was going to be tourist shtick or real dance and was quite content that it was the latter and not the former.  In comparison- seeing the Russian ballet company on my trip last summer was a total downer- never would have imagined a Russian ballet company being such an embarassment- apparently they assumed the dumb tourists wouldn’t know any better.)  The performance started out with the performers coming into the audience and tying white strings on the wrists of all.  I believe this relates to pre Buddhist animist practices (I think I read something about this in Lonely Planet).  Either that or it’s to keep our hands from falling off.  Still wearing mine because I’m not sure what happens if you cut them off and I don’t want to tempt the spirits.

Had one really amusing dinner in Luang Prabang, marred only by the fact that it would have been more fun with others.  The restaurant served traditional Lao barbecue and I was the only western face there when I walked in.  Similar to the Korean barbecues, the table has a hole cut out in the middle for the placement of a bucket of hot coals.  On top of this is placed what looks like an upside down colander sitting on a large bowl.  Alternatively you could say there’s a hill surrounded by a moat.  They bring out a large plate of raw veggies and uncooked noodles, a plate of your “meat” of choice (beef, pork, chicken, fish or a combo), a bucket of water and various sauces and spices (I recognized only the garlic and chilies).  Prior to my food coming out I was surreptitiously (and later, blatantly) trying to see what the other tables were doing with all this food.  Regrettably, my eyesight was not good enough to actually figure this out.  Luckily one of the waitresses took pity on me and came over to my table to start the ball rolling (or, more specifically, to start the food cooking).   You fill the moat with water and start throwing in noodles, veggies and seasonings.  This gives you your soup. Then you put a piece of pork rind at the very top of the hill and lay the slices of raw meat around the sides of the hill.  When cooked to your satisfaction, these go into the soup.   It was sooooooooo good.  Unfortunately, I think the same amount of food comes out for 1 person as for 4.  I slurped it all down (leaving only a few lettuce leaves) and then rolled and sloshed by way back to my hotel.  I had a similar lunch on my bus trip to Vang Vieng and am pleased to report that my soup was much better.

Took one day trip out of Luang Prabang- a boat ride back up the Mekong to see the caves at Pak Ou in the morning and a minivan to the waterfalls in the afternoon.  The caves were filled with lots of little Buddhas and were interesting, but hardly the most outstanding sight in Laos.  On the way we made a stop at “Whiskey Village”.  This is a village outside of Luang Prabang where they brew the Laotian whiskey.  Don’t drink whiskey under the best of circumstances and was not really interested in tasting the Laotian version at 10 am.  Did enjoy the bottles that contained various creepy crawlers such as cobras, scorpions, geckos, etc.  These would have made interesting souvenirs but the thought crossed my mind of one of these bottles breaking in your suitcase.  Now that would make an interesting conversation with the folks at customs.  The waterfalls were supposedly gorgeous, but as we arrived it started to rain and I lost interest in swimming in the pristine pools.  Sad because almost every afternoon the only thing I can think about is jumping into a pool, but since there is usually no pool around I end up taking a shower.  Finally, a pool, and I wasn’t interested.  Stopped to see the bear rescue sanctuary at the entrance to the park.

Should write about the museum in Luang Prabang.  Was royal house before communism.  The museum was small but lovely.  However I kept questioning the concept of showing  where the king of Lao lived since the advent of communism ended the monarchy and, in all probability, the lives of some monarchs.  Seemed a bit weird.

Had trouble deciding where to go from Luang Prabang.  Had good recommendations for some areas further north but it seemed that heading north would result in having to track back through Luang Prabang to continue south.  And I hate backtracking.  Most people were going to Vang Vieng.  Just to be a little different (the story of my life), I decided I would go to Phonsovan- a town to the southeast of LP, famous for its access to the Plain of Jars (a large area with lots of large and very old jar, the provenance of which is unknown).  I bought a ticket for a VIP bus (toilets, A/C and assured lunch break) from a travel agent in town.  Got to the bus station the next morning.  Took one of the tuk tuks that looks like a motor scooter with a side car.  Went to the ticket window, showed my ticket, and the agent pointed me to a waiting bus.  Whoa- one second here!  This did not look like a VIP bus.  All of the windows were open (not a good sign for working A/C).  No downstairs level for toilet.  So back to the ticket agent.  Me: I have ticket for VIP bus (it actually said this on the ticket).  His response was to push some money through the grate (refund, I assume, for the difference between VIP bus and regular bus).  Me:  But where is the VIP bus?  Agent: No VIP bus today to Phonsovan.  (I guess he thought I wouldn’t notice the different bus.  I guess his next thought was that I was concerned about the money.  Money hell- my major concern was the A/C.  I have a 3 hour limit on pretending I’m a local who doesn’t need A/C.  I was NOT doing 10 hours on a traveling sauna.)  So quick change to the VIP bus to Vang Vieng which was leaving at 9 am and off to Vang Vieng with all of the other tourists.  No regrets whatsoever about Vang Vieng;  just a touch sorry to have missed Phonsovan.

Although I’m still in the process of downloading about 400 photos (after Bangkok I am skittish about letting the photos back up), I am fast loosing my ability to amuse so I will sign off here and report on Vang Vieng soon.  Next stop Vientiane.

Tags: 1, Laos, Luang Prabang, Vang Vieng

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