Laos - Languid and Lovely - January, 2017

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Laos – languid and lovely – January, 2017



It’s New Year’s Day and I’m about to experience yet another new airline, Lao Airlines. I can only hope and pray they don’t follow the lead of Shanghai Airlines and China Eastern by either damaging my suitcase further, or totally losing it altogether! Fingers, eyes and toes crossed both my luggage and I make the trip. Not sure how much longer my “new” suitcase will last. The second of the 4 spinner wheels broke off this morning – at least the bag doesn’t list to an awkward angle any more. The way this trip is going, I’ll need to buy a new one before I make the transpacific flights home. Too bad they don’t manufacture titanium ones – that just might survive my traveling lifestyle.



A relaxing morning to pack and get ready to bid adieu to Thailand. It’s a cool, grey, overcast day which makes it easier for traveling – I expect the airport to be a zoo, so cooler weather is always welcome. I’m flying one of those “held together with scotch tape and good wishes” planes which seats 70 – a torture trip for an hour at least – oh happy days, NOT. We took off on time with a completely full flight, but I don’t like prop planes and never will, so when the hour’s flight finally ended, I was thrilled. The airport is a mini Disneyland but thankfully not many people were arriving in Luang Prabang at the same time, so I was thru customs and immigration in about an hour total, complete with shiny new visa stamp. A light rain was falling with heavy mists over the mountains as I rode in the van to my hotel for the next two nights, La Palais Juliana, rated as a 5-star and located just outside the city center.



When guests arrive, the hotel performs what is known as the Baci ceremony which is done to celebrate a special event, whether a marriage, a homecoming, a welcome, a birth, or one of the annual festivals. A mother is given a baci after she has recovered from childbirth, the sick are given bacis to facilitate a cure, officials are honored by bacis, and novice monks are wished luck with a baci before entering the temple. The ceremony can take place any day of the week and all year long, preferably before noon or before sunset. The term more commonly used is su kwan, which means “calling of the soul”. This lasted approximately an hour and ended with a couple of shots of rice whiskey which, at 45%!p(MISSING)roof, got my stay here off to a bang!



Very early the next morning (and I’m talking 3am wakeup here), I had the opportunity to participate in yet another special ceremony, this time it was one of the most ancient Lao traditions of alms-giving to the monks. This required being stationed along a roadside where, just around 6am, at least 200 orange-robed monks walked silently past the throng waiting to deposit food (mainly sticky rice) into their baskets, which constitutes their sustenance for the day. This happens every day of the week, rain or shine. With shaved heads, bare feet and one shoulder covered, these monks and novices walk in complete silence, in spite of camera flashes going off in their faces as tourists record this incredible event (see my pix on the blogsite). It had started in full dark well before dawn, and ended about an hour and half later in full daylight. Was it worth sacrificing a couple of hours of sleep to witness this? You betcha it was!



Before returning to the hotel for a late breakfast, made a stroll thru a local fresh market, where nearby farmers bring their produce to sell to the local community. There was everything from vegetables, to fruits, to fish (still live in buckets of water), meat, handicrafts, rice of every description from white thru dark brown, and food being cooked over open fires for the morning meal. What a hoot. I managed to record it all via my trusty Nikon. I did get to practice my “negotiating skills” once more, and picked up two beautiful Laotian silk scarves. The seller wanted $4.00 each – I got both for that same price.



From the market, made my way down to the Mekong River for a cruise to visit the Pak Ou Caves, which are one of the most treasured religious symbols of Luang Prabang Province. Several legends tell stories of this site where, over the years, thousands of statues of Buddha have been deposited – last count was around 4,000 with new ones arriving every year. Situated upstream about 20 miles from Luang Prabang, the caves are accessible by tuk tuk or by boat. The entrance to the caves is a masterpiece, as it is situated within a vertical cliff (which confirmed climbers will really enjoy), in the middle of a luxuriant jungle. The stairs, even though they are steep, are well looked after and equipped for many visitors. This site, which is primarily a religious one, is visited by tourists on a daily basis, so don’t expect to be on your own for meditation.



Now it was close to lunchtime, and what better way to eat and enjoy the scenery, than with a buffet meal on the boat? While chowing down on Lao cuisine specialties, I watched the deep green jungle encroach on the river banks – in places so deep, virtually impenetrable with steep, mist-covered mountains as a backdrop. This river is known as a trans-boundary river in Southeast Asia and is the world’s 12^th longest one, at approximately 2,700 miles in length.



To complete my day of sightseeing, the Royal Palace Museum was next on the list. This was built in 1904 during the French colonial era, for King Sisavang Vong and his family. The site for the palace was chosen so that official visitors to Luang Prabang could disembark from their river voyages directly below the palace and be received there. After the death of King Sisavang Vong, the Crown Prince Savang Vatthana and his family were the last to occupy the grounds. In 1975, the monarchy was overthrown by the communists and the Royal Family were taken to re-education camps. The palace was then converted into the national museum we see today.



It had been a long day and I was more than ready to return to the hotel following this and collapse for a couple of hours. It’s another early morning wakeup call tomorrow for the flight to my third and final stop on this southeast Asia sojourn. I had thought about getting dinner at the hotel but really wasn’t hungry enough, so I passed. Around 7pm, the skies opened and we had a mini monsoon going on. Perfect time to step out onto the balcony and watch as the rain pounded against the palm trees and thick vegetation surrounding the hotel – it was a wall of water, adding to the already high humidity level. It was coming down in buckets, but considering this region of the world, not that surprising.







A little bit of history:



Laos has a rich history stretching back 10,000 years. At its height, it ruled over present day Laos and much of neighboring northern Thailand. Landlocked and laid-back, it’s a unique spin on the Southeast Asia experience. Here Buddhism permeates every facet of life, change comes slowly, and cities bed down early. The perfect place to break from office politics or put a pause in a hyperactive travel agenda, this land of mountains, mists and untamed natural beauty tempts with unrivalled peace and serenity. The country virtually demands that you open your heart, open your mind, and let the genuine faith and generous hospitality of Laos replenish your soul. How much of all this I actually absorbed during my time here, remains to be seen!



Languid and lovely Luang Prabang (literate translation “Royal Buddha Image”) is one of the most alluring places in Southeast Asia, consisting of 58 villages – 33 of which comprise the world heritage site. Nowhere else can lay claim to the city's old-world romance of gilded wats, saffron-clad monks, faded Indochinese villas and exquisite Gallic cuisine. It's a unique place where time seems to stand still amid the breakneck pace of the surrounding region. This UNESCO-protected gem, which sits at the sacred confluence of the Mekong River and the Nam Khan (Khan River) in the heart of the northern Laos mountainous region, has rightfully gained mythical status as a travelers’ Shangri La. Since its airport opened a decade ago, the town has seen a flood of investment, with once-leprous French villas being revived as fabulous – though affordable – boutique hotels. Considered by many travelers and writers as being the heart of Laotian culture, the tiny town is encircled by mountains. Here visitors are subjected to an inflamed economic bubble that does not apply to the rest of the country. Being Laos' premier tourist destination and (arguably) Southeast Asia's most beautiful spot, ironically tourists will pay more for the innate pleasures of eating, drinking and sleeping than they would in the country's capital city Vientiane. There is a legend which states the Lord Buddha smiled when he rested here during his travels, and prophesized that it would one day be the site of a rich and powerful city.



Luang Prabang was the ancient royal capital of the Lan Xang Kingdom until King Phothisarat moved the administrative seat to Vientiane in 1545. Regardless, it has continued to overlook Vientiane as the destination of choice with its amalgamation of crumbling French architecture, glistening temples and extensive natural beauty. Even the hardest of hearts would have a struggle not to warm up to the place. The town's entire historical section is dedicated to tourism, with everything from former royal palaces to over 33 Wats (temples), on the tourist trail. This former Royal capital remains the main center for Buddhist learning in Laos and is the perfect location for spiritual contemplation. Cascading waterfalls, scaling peaks and the milky-brown waters of the Mekong River provide ample opportunity to swim, climb and sail your way through Luang Prabang.



It is only as recent as 1989 that Laos opened up to tourism and the country that had previously been cut off from the rest of Southeast Asia, developed a small but steady economy based on tourism and regional trade. This small and gentle town where most locals are asleep by 10pm, is now one of the richest and most visited provinces in Laos. It's one of the few places where you feel that this is the genuine article and one that retains its unique ambiance.



Off to the airport by 8am on yet another “fly by the seat of your pants” airline with those whirling propeller blades up front – time for prayer obviously! LOL. This flight can’t be over soon enough for me. Little did I know I was on booked on a puddle jumper, with a 20-minute layover in Paksi in southern Laos, very close to the Cambodian border. Total air time was just over 2 hours and finally, Laos is in my rear-view mirror.



Now I’m ready to take on my last stop in Southeast Asia…..stay tuned for further adventures.

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