After two days sailing down river I had arrived at the UNESCO World Heritage city. This is one location which most tourists to Laos seem to head to.
The boat landing was just a ramp which we nosed slowly into until the boat gently ran aground. Waiting for us to disembark were numerous agents for guest houses and hotels. Although I had no booking or even really any idea where I would stay, it was not going to be a problem.
The first person to meet me was a friendly young man from Suk Dee GH. As we discussed prices half a dozen others began to offer their places. I actually enjoyed questioning and the general to and throw of the barginning. But in the end I choose the original place offered and headed off following the leader for about three blocks along the riverbank. Suk Dee was one block back from the river and in a nice location. The first room they showed me seemed too good for the price I was going to pay. It was. $US30 per night, but I was only going to pay $US10 per night. So I got an unstairs room, one block back, with a varandah and ensuite. A fan which was more than adequate as I was not paying for the air con unit which was also in the room. AC units tend to be set far too cool and during my stay the fan was all I needed.
The historic area of Luang Prabang is full of old colonial style buildings, most seem to now be guest houses and few are more than two stories high. There are lots of trees, many old and spreading, which provide welcome shade in the daily heat.
Except for a few main roads through the historic precint, most of the streets are narrow and there are numerous smaller lanes as well. Some of the lanes in particular are especially picturesque and photogenic. Growing on the side of one lane I discovered the largest bunch of bannanas that I believe I have ever seen. Of course I took a picture.
Once I had settled into my accommodation, I headed off for a walk around. I was only one block back from the main street which ran the whole length of the historic area and beyond. Just a block along from where I joined it I located the night market. This was the largest night market that I think I have ever come across. It ran down the street for the best part of five or six blocks, with some branches off into side streets. Besides stalls along each pavement,the middle of the road also had a double row of stalls. I found out after pushing agains the flow for a while, that the practice was to walk in one direction beside one pavement and the reverse on the other pavement. Most of the goods were spread out on mats on the ground. I do not recall any stalls with goods on tables. Many of the sellers were sitting on the ground, some others on low stools.
Most of the sellers had the same or very similar goods to sell. There are many scarves, even more T shirts, mixed souviners and every now and then a stall with something completely different. At the far end of the market I began to arrive at food stands. Most were specialising in fruitshakes coffee and cold drinks. However, the reall find, down a side allyway was the dinning area. Here various sellers had BBQ's with kebab style meats held on split bamboo strips – very efficient. Half chickens, duck, strips of pork, were common but there was one seller with BBQed buffalo liver which actually tasted quite good in a chewy sort of way. There were also cooked sassages including a buffalo one. Kebabs cost between 10,000 kip and 25,000 kip being the highest price I heard. Usually my meat cost the 10,000 kip. Next to each meat display, was set out a buffet range of salads, rice noodles, stir fries and sometimes fresh fruit. A help yourself plate full cost 10,000 kip. So for 20,000 kip a very satisfactory meal could be had for about $NZ3.25 – good value in anybodies' currency. I dinned here every night but one. Always the place was busy and seating in high demand. Not just locals but back packers and even small tour groups having an 'experience'. It was actually a very good way to have a meal at night.
On the first night after that I was walking back along the road and found some of the passengers from the slowboat at a street front winebar. So I joined the group and enjoyed French wine by the glass at about $4NZ. Great value! Several of the group had yet to book in anywhere so I ended up bringing them back to my guest house where they stayed for a couple of nights.
It was very enjoyable chatting over a glass of wine in that setting. Fun to watch all the activities going on about us. The group ended up drinking the wine bar out of bottles of Beer Lao.
I went back a second night later in my stay and drank on my own. How ever a two year old girl from one of the shop keepers who had been wandering around came and sat down at my table and started eating my peanuts. I didn't mid because they waiter had brought them along as a value added thing and having had a few I was going to have to pay for them anyway. As for the girl who had bought a book along with her – which she did seem to be proud and processive of, well she swopped tables when someone new came along. Perhaps they had better nibbles?
On the second evening in Luang Prabang, the 'boat group' invited me to join them at the market for a meal and then we went around to Lao Gardens – a bar a few blocks away. We missed the fashion show be were in time for the hip hop display. It did seem a bit of introduced American culture but the boys were pretty good at it. I think the young group members thought that I was a bit of a novelty as I was more than twice the age of most of them – perhaps even triple some ages? I didn't mind as it was a bit of a novelty for me as well and it did make an enjoyable way of filling in an evening. They were still enjoying the night when I decided that it was time to make my way back to the guest house. On night they climbed the hill to watch the sunset only to find that clouds blocked any view from the top.
The hill, Phu Si, is only 100 metres high, but it does dominate the township. It also makes an achievable spot to get good views of the town. That Chomsi, a 24 metre stupa crowns the hill top. There is a little temple there and a number of folk were doing devotions while I was on the summit. At night the stupa is illuminated.
Getting to the top involves a steep climb up a set of steps to reach the first terrace and the ticket office which you need to payt to actually go higher. But having got that far up, how many would decide not to keep on climbing? Clever marketing I thought.
From that point upwards the parth is less vertical but still a good test of fitness. I am glad I had improved my fitness before I set out on the trip. Most of the climb was through welcome shade providing trees but it was still hot, just without the direct sun.
From the summt I was able to sort out the various parts of the city and notice the greenery, the flatness and how low every building actually was. Looked very pleasant place. I watched a lizzard which was camera shy for a while which was a pity as it was worth a photo. There was a steady flow of folk arriving and takng pictures of themselves on the summit. I decided to go down by a different pathway as this would take me past some Wats which sounded interesting. This was a path less used. I did. Spend some time trying to get a picture of several very attractive butterflies but they would not oblige and land near me. A pity as they were different to our New Zealand ones and quite colourful. Actually on this trip I am spending a lot of time on similar efforts to 'capture the moment' Mostly it is the big winged butterflies. I want to get but it sees that I am only photographing smaller ones.
Half way down the track I came across a whole series of sparkly gold painted Buddha statues in various positions and poses. Quite an interesting collection and very modern.
I spotted a sign pointing to Buddha's footprint in a cave. Well the first cave I found didnt have it although there were shrines at the enterence and and another inside the cavern.
However along the path was a little window shaped box with a small gold footprint painted on indentations in the rock to give a sort of footprint. However, finally I located the correct cave but despite trying hard I could not discern a footprint in the gloomy interior. Oh well!
I did managed to get a few photos of monks around the area.
Back on ground level I explored the side of town away from the main street and discovered a guest house which was beside the Nam Khan river and had a large bamboo verandah built out over the bank. It had reclining couches and was a great place for a cool soft drink.
Ah the luxury!
But after a pleasant 30 minutes it was time to pay the bill and head out into the heat again.
During my wandering in this general area I came across a small shop and museum for the Yao minority group. This was all new to me and I was intrigued to look and the products on display – mostly textiles, and to wander through the small museum displaying items and photographs from Yao everyday life. The Yao are one of the hill tribes who had migrated from an area of China to settle in Laos. As a result their language is different to Lao and I discussed this with the young woman who ran the shop. I had been surprised to find their books were printed with Chinese characters.
Outside, at the rear of the shop/museum there was a full sized Yao village house in traditional village style and materials. It was not very large and was mostly just one room. In one corner there was an open fire with the various simple cooking pots and kitchen impliments. However, there was one small room partitioned off which was just large enough to contain a double bed.
Luang Prabang has at least two other museums. The main one is a National Museum and is housed in the Royal Palace which is located in the middle of the old town. Effectively there are several buildings to visit. There is a large Wat, the Palace itself, the Royal Garage, the Guards Building and the Royal Ballet building.
The theatre building had an interesting exhibition of the Mekong, emphasising the cultures and peoples who live along the river's course. Each aspect had a small area composed of text photos, comments from ordinary people and sample impliments etc. Appropriate music was playing quietly around the exhibits. Although the exhibition was well prepared and interesting, it did seem rather cramped for space.
Wat He Pha Bang is a large and impressive building which somewhat distracts attention away from the Palace. It is tall with sweeping roof, and raised on a mound so that a dozen or so steps have to be climbed to enter it. Both outside but especially inside, the glitzy shine of gold against red paint is astonishing. I was somewhat staggered when I entred it. Numerous square gold columns stood at attention and the main feature was the gold palanquin which takes 16 men to parade a large statue of Buddha seated on a throne. Must be a very impressive time and I imagine it would be noisy with trumpets, drums and cymbles all playing together. It is a pity that no photography is permitted here or in any of the palace buildings.
The Royal Garage only contains five or six cars. Two are old 1960's vintage Lincoln Continentals which were gifted by the USA government. There is also a Ford Edsel model which is fairly rare and not a car that I can recall ever seeing 'in the flesh' as it were. I can recall when cars like these were all the rage and anyone owning one in NZ was the envy of everyone. I hate to think what the fuel consumption would be though.
In the Royal Guards quarters I was able to view an interesting photographic exhibition entitled 'The Floating Buddha”. Mostly in black and white many of the images where very engaing. Most were taken during a Buddhidt monks retreat which the French photographer was priviledged to attend and photograph. He took many thousands of shots so it would be surprising if he wasn't able to get some exhibition worthy images. The exhibition has also been released in book form. There were about 50 prints on show.
Most visitors only seemed to inspect the Wat and the Palace. The Palace reminded me of visiting a British stately home. The throne room and reception rooms are impressive enough with a couple thrones collections of swords and various objects related to receiving guests. I did hear it explained that the throne was onoy slightly raised as it was important that the king was not higher than the chief monk. The royal quarters are not large and are fairly dull. The dinning room with a table formally laid out in western style was interesting but I did wonder where the chopsticks where and what if a guest wanted to just use spoon and fork as is common here.
In other rooms there were displays of gifts presented the king by various countries. One from the USA included three small pieces of rock from the moon. They are mounted in a dome shaped piece of glass or plastic which I decided was designed to magnify what were really very tiny samples.
Overall the Palace is quite a short visit unless you try to read every lable – which I tried to do. Then I spent a little time to wandering around the pleasant but small formal garden.
The second museum is one devoted to the ethnic make up Laos. I had not realised how many different groups are part of the population. I was surprised to see that Laos is the most ethnicly diverse nation in the world with over 150 distinct groups. Some of course are very small groups.
Only a few of the groups had displays in place and the museum would be pushed for space to expand the exhibits. Of those that were there, I was interested to see the range of traditional clothing styles. There were eamples of several groups elaborate wedding costumes and marriage customs, elaborate beds and so forth. Athough the notice said 'no photographs' I was told I could taken pictures without using flash. So I did take a few.
I did discover that the Lowland Lao who live in the river valleys and flat land preceeded the later arrivals, some of whom didn't get into Laos until the 19th century. The various later arrivals took to living in the hills because that was where the spare land was located.
I have noticed as I have travelled around Laos that you still find folk, mostly women, wearing clothing which would reflect their traditional group. to
Noticed in Lonely Planet that there was a silk weaving set up which gave free tours. Visiting the OckPopTok shop near the guest house, I noted that they would run free tuktuk rides to take anyone out to the centre, which was about 10 or 15 minutes from the shop. So I arranged to be taken out and they were as good as their promise and ran a tuktuk both ways for me.
At the centre I meet my guide who took me through the collecting of silk worm cocoons, extracting the micro fine thread and spinning it to produce a stronger thread. Still very very thin though. We then went into the workshop where about a dozen looms were set up. Not all were threaded up or being used. They tend to set the looms up to make to order. The widest cloth that they can weave appears to be about one metre wide but they can do many more metres in length. It can take a week to set a loom up for a pattern and I wondered what fine eyesight the women must have to be able to thread up hundreds of rows of such a very fine thread.
From memory there are three different types of silk weaving but I don't have the details with me as I type. I may be able to insert them later. I was very pleased to be able to photograph and video the women working and they seemed happy with that.
I visited the showroom but with prices over one million kips I was not prepared to buy something on the off chance that I would get a suitable piece. However, sitting near the showroom was a young woman from one of the minority groups weaving on a traditional body loom. In this process she had the lengths of thread tied around her back and her feet held a stick with the other end attached. She used her legs to maintain or release the tension as she worked. We had a good discussion about her work and her background.
In answer to my question, my guide told me that the women can or do earn between $US 50 and 100 per week. This is equal or better than the average wage earned by town workers. It seems that payment depends on amount produced but the more complicated patterns get paid more as they take longer to finish. I asked an American woman volunteer at the centre about the amount and she confirmed that it seemed about correct.
Two of the BIG attractions of Luang Prabang are to visit a waterfall and to visit an elephant centre. There are numerous variations on these offerered by the various booking agents around town. Elephants can be a half day, a full day or stay over night or even longer. There are activities based around the elephant centre or there are jungle treks riding elephants. On the full day and longer you not only ride and elephant but you also get to help wash one.
There are two main waterfalls to visit. One is higher but both seem to be composed of a series of steps and pools. One is closer to town than the other.
I finally decided that I could visit Luang Prabang without doing one or both. So in the spirit of keeping the price down I booked and Elephant Village half day trip which was to include an hour ride and a boat ride to visit the lower waterfall. Even at half a day it still cost $US42, which was more than my guesthouse charge for five nights accommodation – and there would be a few dollars change.
Well come the day and an 8:30am pick up say a van of eight heading for Elephant Village about 14 kms from town. The Village is set up to rescue and care for old work elephants, mostly from the timber industry. On arrival at the village there was one elephant around the Elephant Hospital and Feeding area. Day visitors get to feed an elephant – one elephant by the look of it. After coffee we boarded a local style longboat with an engine and a long shart to the propeller. The shaft can be lifted in shallow water. It was a quick ride across the river to the elephant 'trekking' area. There were other groups there beside us and as they only have 11 elephants in total and they were not all at this place, there was some competition to get a ride first. The longer you waited the shorter the time for other activities. Well in the end part of our group got elephants and three of us had to wait till they came back on 'our' elephants. There was a seat on the back of the elephant which would carry two normal sized adults. When our elephants came back there was a move to fit three of us onto one elephant -another group was waiting too. However the other couple objected, rightly so and we went off on two elephants, which is why I became the only solo rider. And no I did resist the invitation to sit on the elephants neck and control it
The hour was made up of 30 minutes actual riding and 30 minutes waiting. The ride itself was somewhat exciting as the movement of the seat reflected the moving of the elephant's legs. As a result there was a steady swinging side to side and up and down. It was a novel experience and one move thing to add to my list os 'experiencies'. We went over some open ground – actually harvested gardens of local farmers, before riding through open forest which seemed more like a plantation or certainly regrowth. At a point near the turnaround we handed our cameras to the 'driver' and he dropped off the elephant to take our photographs – lots of them. The elephant being creatures of habit just carried on along the path, which shows how often they have done this.
Back at the boat and it was a short run down to the falls. We first spied areas of rushing water cascading out of the vegetation on the bank. That was quite spectacular on its own. Having landed we went up the path to the falls themselves. Here there was another group of elephants giving rides for a different trip company. At the falls there were food stalls and a small changing hut. Various bridges and walkways took you over parts of the falls which were descending like a series of giant steps or stairs. As people were walking over the steps the water was only around angle deep. But it was quite forcefull and looked impressive rushing over the rim of each of the very wide steps.
There was a pool area deep enough to swim in – well push against the current. Watching the others venture in, I stopped taking photographs and went and changed. It was good fun fighting against the current and then moving out to the side to go upstream again. Overhead was a flying fox which people were riding along to drop into a pool and ther was also a rope swing. We only had 30 minutes before it was back to the boat and a quick ride back to Elephant Village for a buffet lunch. Along the way we passed local farmers and fishermen doing their daily work and ignoring the regular passage of camera snapping tourists.
I guess in the end was quite happy to have spent the money for both experiences were memorable. I would have liked to have spent longer at the falls however. Perhaps next visit! Oh, and perhaps I could find out who gives the elephant rides at the falls.
I think that this was the evening when I did not go to the Night Market for dinner. Instead I treated myself to a meal at the Sonphao Restaurant, which was just a 100 metres or so along the road from my guest house. I had discovered it one morning when looking for breakfast and was impressed with the ambience and service. I had been the only perosn having breakfast then and the service was imressive. The interior of the establishment looked very French with nice light wood tables looking rather like IKEA products and check tables cloths. Generally a sort of minimalist look to the place which with its light airy feel, I rather enjoyed.
Well each evening they run a dinner performance of Lao dancing in the upstairs area. I went along and found just four other dinner guests. The performers all seemed like teenagers but it is hard to tell ages here. There were three musicians playing traditional instruments including the curved wooden xylophone. The young women dancers prefromed four dances each with a costume change. Interesting to watch but each was quite short. Amzingly the final dance merged into a tune that seemed to me to be Old Lang Sign and once they started holding hands I new I was correct. I felt that this was really out of place and not appropriate. When they finished they got each of the guests or pairs to pose with them for a photograph.
There are a lot of Wats in Luang Prabang. A Wat is a Buddhist temple complex. There are a lot of wats in Laos as well. Within stone throw of my guesthouse there were five or six large wats. Mind you you would have to be a good stone thrower!
But it almost seemed like there was a wat down every street. There weren't of course, but there were a lot. That meant there were lots of monks and lots of novices in the area . They stood out in their saffron coloured robes.
I found it not only photogenic seeing the monks on the street but I was also intrigued by what they did. I sort of asumed that munks were conservative and shunned modern activites and devices. But what did I see? Monks with the earpods listening to mp3 players, monks with cell phones, monks using their laptops in coffee bars and of course monks with umbrellas. Some up as the walked along, some up as they rode bicycles along the road. They may not of all been monks some could have been novices. But it was often hard to tell as a novice can become a monk at 20 years of age. I also thought that you couldn't photograph them but none objected if I asked. Many were happy to talk and practice their English. They were happy to explain what being a novice entailed and discuss their daily routines.
So all in all there are hundreds of monks and novices in the city. And that brings me to the main tourist activity. Every morning then monks and novices do as Buddhist monks do everywhere, they go out along streets seeking offerings of food for their daily needs. In Luang Prabang, this activity has become a 'must see' tourist event.
Monks rise at 4:30am for the first prayers of the day. Then about 6am they go out collecting. One morning I went down to the main street to watch the line of monks collect offerings. I was rather amazed to see the crowds of tourists there and more arriveing in over full tuktuks. Vendors were offering tourists boxes of sticky rice fruit and other items of food to offer monks. Along the pavement people were shoulder to shoulder kneeing with their offering containers. Many were obviusly locals, but there were lots of tourists in the line as well. I went down the next morning as well and the whole tourist 'thing' was repeated. The second morning I went to the start of the line and round rows of neatly set out stools with a teatowel on each and baskets of food. Suddenly a row of tuktuks arrive and out pile a whole tour group of Japanese complete with a guide really shouting out instruyctions – and they had their own photographers to record their participation. Next to them was another tour group.
Promptly at 6:30am the first group of monks and novices begin to go along the line whie monks from other wats converge and joiin in what seemed to be a regular order of positioning.
As the monk passes each kneeling person he opens the lid of his collecting basket and a small portion of cooked rice is put in. There may be other items as well. As they pass along the line their supply of rice steadily increases. I noticed that everyy now and then a monk would check through his basked and remove wrapped items which he either threw into collectin bins or into baskets carried by boys marching along on their other side. My theory was that they didn't want commercially produced items, but it could also have just been that these items took up too much room and the rice collection would not meet their requirements for the day.
Now the tourists. Like me they all want to get that special photograph that time will prove to be a great classic shot. But even in the off season there were an awfull lot with cameras. Point and shoot, compacts, expensive silngle lens reflexes with various lenghts of lens attached. With flash and without. Most were on the road side but plenty were behing the givers line. It was the photo opportunity of their tour.
OK it all sounds like lots of pictures will be shown to their friends. The only thing is that there are leaflets out and notices around suggesting that photographs are taken from a distance and not close to the monks and not to get in their way. The problem was though if you did stand back to take a picture you line of sight was going to be blocked by some other picture taker.
I was not all that happy with the shots I took on the first morning, which is why I went back the second time. I chose to be near the start of the line because the toursit crowd was a little less, but also because I would have time to slip back the block to the road my guest house was on. I worked out that at least some of the groups would be returning along there and that gyess proved correct. There was hardly a tourist in sight but there were some local folk with offerings. I thing I got my best shots here and the pictures I like the best are just of the line of monks approaching along a tree lined roadway.
I did go into a lot of wats and wander around and in several I had the chance to chat to novices. I thought that was a priviledge and not something that the average tourist got to do. I think it was partly because I didn't rush, I was not in a group and I was old and that interested them. I was often asked my age and always were was I from. My age was the surprise. So I got treated with real respect. I made a point of always thanking them for talking to me and teling them how much I had enjoyed it. I was even invited in one wat to came back at 6pm and join the monks for their prayers. Well not so much 'join' but to attend and although I greatfully declined for a good reason I do feel it was an opportunity missed.
The big Wat with the tourists most visit is a monastry. Wat Kieng Thong is located right at the end of the peninsula which the town is built on. It costs 20,000 kip admission but there is a lot to see and hear. I was there around 4pm and right on the hour the big drum sounded. I went across to the drum building or tower to watch and listen. Beside the big drum there were gongs and cymbels being played. I suppose to the Buddhist there was a meaning but to me it just sounded like a loud noise. Well, perhaps not quite that. There was a rhythm to it and a pattern of rise and fall of the sounds. It went on for about 10 minutes. It was overall and impressive display done largely by novices.
Once the drumming was over the large crowds of tourists quite quickly headed off frpm the Wat. There had been a fair number there leading up to 4pm and I had overheard their temple guide busily explaining the workings of the temple and of Buddhism in general during my wander around the ornate sim, the large main building or temple. Once again there were steps leading up to it as with all sims I visited. This gave it a commanding position in the complex. Of course there was a large statue of Buddha at the far end and various other smaller statues around it. There were decorative carved panels along the walls and of course the outside walls and window frames were equally decorative. Gold colouring dominated.
Across the courtyard was another large building. Its name translates as 'The Carriage House'. This building, contained the large gilt decorated carriage which was used to to carry large urns of the remains of Lao royalty. I could imagine it in a funeral procession. It would have looked rater over powering to the ordinary spectator. Royal spendour even in death. There were a number of the naga snakes with their many tongues, usually on each corner of the carriage. The naga snake is a very dominant symbol in every temple and is included in many statues of Buddha.
Around the Wat complex were several other smaller temples or shrines. One contained a reclining Buddha.
One of the striking features of the buildings and near the main enterance was the coloured mirror glass patterns and figures on them. The walls were a mass of small figures and objects such as wagons and farm impliments all portraying scenes from daily life and from Lao legend. I hadn't seen anything exactly like this at other temples. I did take lots of cose photos isolating out particular scenes. Attached to the end wall of the sim was a full sized coloured glass tree of life, which quite a few of the young Asian visitors got themselves photographed in front of.
I stayed around the complex until most visitors had left and the stall holders were most packed up for the night. By now it was quiet and peaceful. Monks and novices were going about their routines and there was a general late afternoon or early evening tranquility.
Time to leave Luang Prabang and move on to the next destination. It had been very pleasant stay. The old town area at least had a very layed back, unhurried and relaxing feel about it. The many old buildings gave it a sense of timelessness. The lines of old house shops were still just that. In the late afternoon as twilght gathered, the families could often be seen sitting together inside the shop or out on the roadside eating a meal. Children would be playing games on the pavement while the main street continued its normal traffic and people movements.
Down the lanes off the main streets, the smell of cooking would be wafting through the air. At the riverside the boat owners would be trying to get a final passenger or two and the tables of the various bars ad resturants on the riverside would be slowly filling with guests.
Yes for once I felt a little reluctant to be moving on and I could fully understand how some travellers would revise their itineraries and stay longer.
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