Luang Prabang - A charming town beside the Mekong

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Day 358: Monday 22nd June - A charming town by the Mekong

When I left off my last blog, I was sharing a family room in a boutique hotel with Maria, a Spanish girl I’d met on the slowboat down the Mekong to Luang Prabang. After one of the worst night’s sleep on my trip, I’ve decided that arrangement has to come to an end. The problem is you see that my room is effectively outside on the veranda. In itself that isn’t a big deal but the hotel is next to a busy road and opposite a temple. I was awoken by the banging of the drums at the temple at 4am and then again at 6am when the traffic started. Before moving guesthouses I make sure I enjoy my first bath for about 8 months which is one of life’s small luxuries at the moment. I walk down the road to Cold River guesthouse - why did we get a tuk-tuk for the 200 metre walk last night??!! - where I take a room with a balcony overlooking the Nam Khan river for the same money as I paid last night to share a room. 80000 Kip (£6) a night is a bit of a splurge but it is time for a treat.

Today I spend wandering the relaxed town of Luang Prabang. I can’t believe it is the fourth largest city in Laos, but apparently it is despite being home to only 50,000 people. Nestled where the Nam Khan and Mekong Rivers meet, the town is clean and the streets are lined with palm trees and old French mansions. Luang Prabang is also a UNESCO world heritage site and home to a large number of temples as well as the royal palace.

I start my walk around Luang Prabang at Wat Wisunalat, across the road from my boutique hotel of last night. I am deterred from entering the main temple by the 20,000 kip (£1.50) charge which is pricey in comparison to temples in Thailand for example. Other temples around the town have similar charges so I limit my temple visits to the best one. At least I won’t get temple fatigue by the end of the day. I follow the Nam Khan River down to where it meets the Mekong where I see the French influence in the architecture of a number of villas and also watch some local men playing petanque beside the river.

A short walk from the river is Wat Xieng Thong, which is Luang Prabang’s most magnificent temple according to most sources. The temple also dates from the sixteenth century and is richly decorated but in my opinion suffers in comparison to Bangkok’s best temples. After getting my compulsory baguette and shake from a pair of friendly Lao women who I befriend and pop back to see every day of my stay in the city for at least one meal, I decide to visit the Royal Palace museum. The palace was originally constructed in 1904 as a residence for the King and his family. After the 1975 revolution when the monarchy was deposed the old palace was turned into a museum. The former palace is a lot less lavish and considerably smaller than other palaces I’ve seen around the world but still contains some impressive art as well as some interesting gifts from neighbouring countries.

On the way back to my guesthouse in the mid afternoon, Jan (who I met at the Elephant Conservation Centre in Thailand) spots me and runs after me. I sit and chat to Jan and Claudia for an hour in one of Luang Prabang’s many cafes. I’m not surprised I bumped into them again, I think my parting words to them were along the lines of ‘I’ll probably see you in Laos’. In the late afternoon, I climb Phou Si hill in central Luang Prabang. It is a steep climb to the top, passing numerous Golden Buddha images on the way. There are quite a few other people at the top of the hill who have had the same idea as me, and we sit and wait for the sun to set. In overcast conditions the sunset is disappointing but the panoramic views from the top of the hill certainly are not.

In the evening I meet Maria for dinner. We have a splurge and visit L’Elephant a French bistro. The food is good, the conversation as always is interesting but the prices hurt. You have to splurge once in a while but even flashpacker extraordinaire Maria isn’t falling for the Western prices for food and drinks. In the end we do the backpacker thing and enjoy the set menu (being the cheapest thing on the menu at £6) accompanied by water in the pleasant ambience of the restaurant. I can’t stop yawning after my disrupted night’s sleep last night.

Day 359: Tuesday 23rd June - Kuang Si Waterfalls

Yesterday I bumped into Ho-Yun and Ross in town and we talked about going to the waterfalls near Luang Prabang today. Charlie and Rachel, another English couple I met on the boat down the Mekong are also staying across the road from me are also interested in the trip. The five of us walk down into town get a packed lunch from my sandwich woman and then take a sawngthaew to the falls.

Kuang Si Falls are about 30km from Luang Prabang and on the windy roads it must take the best part of an hour to get there. The waterfalls are well worth the visit. Kuang Si is a multi-tiered waterfall, with a series of cool turquoise-green pools. We cool down in the cold waters from the midday sun, before a sudden downpour in the early afternoon brings an end to our fun. We shelter from the rain watching the rescued Asiatic bears in the sanctuary at the bottom of the waterfalls for half an hour or so, before returning to Luang Prabang.

In the evening after getting some good food from the night market, I meet the other four at their guesthouse. They’ve just been treated to a complimentary meal accompanied with Lao Lao (rice whiskey) by the owner of their guesthouse. I’m offered several shots of Lao Lao when I arrive from the friendly guesthouse owner, Somphon. After the bottle of Lao Lao is finished, the five of us, along with a few others from their guesthouse walk along the road to Utopia, a bar which overlooks the Nam Khan River. Super-chilled out it is a great spot, a cool bar and a great way to end the day.

Day 360: Wednesday 24th June - Big Brother Mouse

My alarm goes off at 5am, but I can’t drag myself out of bed to watch the monks rice parade. It will have to wait until tomorrow instead. Today, I was going to take a trip to the Pak Ou Caves, but the tours are expensive and sound touristy. Mike and Trudi gave me a better idea when I saw them a couple of nights ago. They participated in Big Brother Mouse, a project based in Luang Prabang which publishes books that make it fun and easy for Lao people to learn to read. Books are rare in Laos and even rarer in villages where most people live.

Life travelling alone can make you selfish; you have nobody to consider but yourself. It is time to give something back. I give two hours of my time to talk to local teenagers and help them with their English. They are at different levels, some have been learning English for a matter of months, others for over a year. After the session is over I spend what I would probably have done booking the tour to the caves on several books to give away to Laos children and families I meet during my next couple of weeks in Laos. A very worthwhile project, and I am pleased to have been able to contribute in my little way of hopefully improving literacy rates in this country.

The afternoon is a scorcher, which I sit out of in a cafe using the free wi-fi. I find Charlie and Rachel in Utopia bar and chill out with them over a cheeky beer in the early evening. I love Utopia bar, overlooking the Nam Khan river it is definitely one of my favourite bars on my travels. On my way out to dinner I spot Ho-Yun and Ross in an internet cafe. They confirm that they are heading to Phonsavon tomorrow morning. They have booked a mini-bus whereas I will get the public bus, but we’ll try to meet up once we get there. Speaking of meeting up with people; as I’m walking back through Luang Prabang in the evening I spot Carly and Matt who I roomed with in Darwin, Australia. They were working there when I was there and they started travelling a month ago. I knew they were heading to Southeast Asia and were doing a similar route to me but never expected to meet up with them. They are now the fourth set of people I’ve seen on different continents!

Day 361: Thursday 25th June - Rising early to watch the Monks rice parade
This morning I make sure I get up out of bed when my alarm goes off at 5am. I really want to see the monks rice parade as I leave Luang Prabang later, this will be my last chance. I wake the guesthouse owner up as I struggle to work my way through all the locks on the door, and then when I get down to the middle of town to watch the parade I’ve gone and left my memory card for my camera back in the guesthouse. It is 5:40am, 20 minutes before the scheduled parade, I have a choice to make: stay put and guarantee seeing the rice parade, or run back to the guesthouse and get my memory card. I decide to risk the latter as I’ve already seen monks collecting rice on my way down and I really want to get some shots of it. I make it back down with a few minutes to spare and watch a line of saffron robed monks walk through the main street collecting rice off the local people as they pass.
I have a final walk through the tranquil streets of the town, and get a baguette and a Laos Coffee (super strong and sweet once they ass the condensed milk), two great things about this city before collecting my bag and making my way to the bus station. Having learnt from experience, I make sure I arrive at least an hour before the departure time, and have an entertaining wait for the bus to depart as they load a pick up trailer full of boxes of engine oil on to the bus which fill the aisle from the back of the bus to where I am sitting 4 rows from the front. The best is yet to come; shortly before the bus leaves Luang Prabang, a motorbike is loaded on to the front of the bus, taking the remaining free aisle space! Only in Laos!!!!!!
I’ve really enjoyed my time in Luang Prabang. Probably the most sophisticated and photogenic city I have visited to date in Southeast Asia it is a wonderful place to kick back for a few days and chill out. There’s nothing particularly amazing to see in the city, no one must see attraction. Rather, the attraction is the town itself; elegant, charming, clean and more than a bit French. I could stay here longer quite easily, it is one of those places. However, I’ve tentatively agreed to meet Mike and Trudi again early next week in Vang Vieng and in the meantime there’s a few places in the East of Laos that I want to have a look at to get a feel for the history of the country.
Heading east I’ve also made a decision. I have a flight in four days from Hong Kong to London, the last leg of my round the world ticket. If I am to use it I will have to start making my way towards Hong Kong. My decision, however, is to travel to east Laos and continue into my second year on my journey. The decision hasn’t been unanimous - I miss my friends and family very much and there have been times in Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand when I have been homesick. In balance though continuing to travel appeals more. There is still much of the world I want to see, I know I will regret it if I don’t see it at this opportunity and I still haven’t found an answer to the question of what I do when I’ve finished reacquainting myself with my family and friends after the first few weeks - I’m not ready to continue my career just yet. How long the journey continues is uncertain. I can detect at times travel weariness which is unsurprising and with each month on the road there will come a point when the pull of home impossible to ignore. I hope to finish next year in South Africa but I think the best is to just treasure each day, each week, each marvellous experience on this remarkable journey.

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