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Published: August 19th 2007
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We've spent quite a while here now. Not as long as your average two-weeks-in-the-sun break, but the longest I think we've stayed put and relaxed anywhere thus far. I really like many things about Luang Prabang, and would heartily reccomend it to other people - but not too many as even since we've arrived here it seems to be filling up with more tourists everyday. I know I'm a big fat hypocritical tourist myself, but it's my blog so it's allowed!
I don't feel like listing every day and what we did on that day as usual, I've got all that written down on my paper book and I even bore myself doing it that way all of the time. I'm just going to list some of the things that we've done, places we've visited and that I love about being here.
I knew before we arrived that Laos had been under French control for a lot of it's history, and would have certain French tendencies that we hadn't seen anywhere else so far in SE Asia. I was not prepared for all of the baguette stalls on the markets. In the places where we've been before in SE
Luang Prabang's main street
Tropical climate? So much rain on this day! Asia noodles have replaced sandwiches as an afternoon meal (and they do here for the majority of locals) and it's so unusual seeing Subway-esque stalls along the market selling huge sandwiches for 50p (expensive for here, but very filling). On the food subjest, there's also many places here selling crepes, which I'm not fussed on at home on pancake day but are really nice over here. Cheap too! Tuk tuks and mopeds (the transport of choice around here - due to it's heritage site status big busses are banned in the centre, but there are also some minibuses and cars) drive on the other side of the road to us at home - the other Asian places we've been have been under Brit control and drive on our side. This was confusing at first (road crossing here is an adventure in itself anyway!) but you get used to it just as you do in Europe.
The other-side-of-the-road issue became properly apparent yesterday when we rented bikes and decided to tour the city at length. It isn't a big place centrally, but we rode over the Nam Kahn bridge and explored the slightly more rural side (though it seemed to
Fruit shake time...
They recycle glass bottles here straight away, so it for buy a drink from a shop they'll pour it into a plastic bag and you carry that around. be where all of the trading and selling for things over here was sorted. My lungs also still feel traumatised from the petrol fumes) and the airport site for when we fly on Tuesday. As far as I know only Laos Airlines and Bangkok Airways fly here regularly, so it is an understandably small airport. Interesting to see up closed though, and I met some friendly ducks washing in a puddle outside. Our main problem with the biking was the unrelenting sun - we got through so many bottles of water but it never felt like enough.
We've had slight drizzle here a few times, but mostly the weather has been beautiful. Punishing, but beautiful! There are certain things we need to carry around at all times (passports, money etc) and even carrying a light backpack produces perspiration more suited to an intense workout. We have been doing as the locals do and dressing respectfully (have seen too many men looking wrong in vests and women working the Ibiza bikini denim skirt/bikini top/vest combo to know that it's best avoided in such a modest place) and this tends to be cooler. We had one day of rain on the
The night market
Full of beautiful handmade items - the lighting really is as lovely as it looks. 14th, and it was just constant harsh rain that I haven't seen since the campervan escapades of Australia. Everytime we went outside we'd get drenched immediately so we visited the Luang Prabang National Museum on this day in order to stay indoors (we planned too anyway). It is within the palace where the Royal family used to live - and has been left just as they had it. The main reception room has a mirrored mural on the wall which looks stunning, and highly labour-intensive. There's also many Buddha ornaments and statues around from different eras. Aaron was so impressed (and is so camera happy) that he almost got himself kicked out/his camera confiscated for taking pictures in there.
We have visited many temples whilst we've been here - and I've taken many pictures but couldn't possible say which is which. The tow near our hostel - Wat Choumkhong and Wot Xieng Muan are both quite old and ornate. The latter one is a school for the monks where they learn the crafts that monks have traditionally done over here for centuries. You can watch them learn, and it's really interesting. We met a nice couple who were teaching
some of them origami, which descended into paper aeroplanes at one point. There were also four cute kittens who live there who the monks look after. On the 16th we went up Phousi, which is the highest hill in the centre and looked over the whole place. It was a tough climb in the heat, but a spectacular view. There was a temple up there, which is very tranquil, a cave which was quite scary (you had to crawl in and it was just us there) and the best thing was Buddha's footprint. It's housed in a small rectangle building, and is a massive footprint. We weren't expecting it to be so big - but then we didn't really know what to expect.
We have seen many instances of traditional Laos culture just by being here - such as the food and clothing, but have sought out specific things as well. Last night we went and saw a performance by the Children's Cultural Centre which was titled 'Preserving our Health and Heritage' and contained three Epok puppet shows, four ehtnic dances and two short plays. The Centre is an after-school club where the children can go to learn traditional
cultural aspects of life here. There was great music played throughout, and all of the performers were really good. The language barrier didn't even matter, because the emotion was conveyed through the dancing and the omnipresent music. This morning we got up at 5:45am in order to watch the ceremony where the monks from all of the temples receive gifts of rice from the people who live here. I know very little about it as yet (our guidebooks say nothing - sort it out Lonely Planet/Rough Guide!) but it was great to observe all of the monks in their orange robes walking around Luang Prabang at such a peaceful hour.
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