Luang Prabang

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Day 1

We had reached Luang Prabang before Brad had even arrived at Phnom Penh airport for his flight to Melbourne. Our early morning departure to Bangkok and then another flight (I was slightly freaked out by the sight of propellers!!) to this beautiful UNESCO heritage town enabled us to spend the afternoon checking out the local flavours. It is the 'Bright' of Laos and I can understand why people fall in love with this place.

We quickly settled into what we thought was going to be our lodgings for the next three nights. Not a great room with a strong musty smell (rising damp?), but we thought we'd make do because it was in a nice position by the river.

Walking along a street which I later saw labelled on a map as 'Tourist Street', we stumbled across the final night of the Luang Prabang film festival. We managed to catch a 1927 silent film called Chang. An open air theatre was the perfect place to view this gem of early film making. With French titles and musicians from the south providing the soundtrack, it was a memorable evening. The directors had spent two or three years in the northern Laos jungles filming villagers going about their lives. This seemed to involve a lot of hunting (tigers, panthers or leopards and elephants) but had an element of humour too (some very cheeky monkeys). The director later went to Hollywood and made King Kong in 1933.

The night market was filled with the usual paraphernalia, although much of it looked like the stuff we saw in Sapa a few years ago. All that was missing were the toothless old ladies imploring us to buy and the cute as 'fluffy kittens' Hmong girls dressed to impress in traditional outfits. A tasty Laotian dinner completed our evening and we sauntered back to the smelly room for some snooze time.

Day 2

Bed Bugs! Heard of them, never seen them until this morning. Dean was scratching in a Guinness-like frenzy, complaining of his sleepless night. I peeled back the sheet, dreading what I'd find. Yep, little moving bodies obviously upset that their breakfast had been rudely interrupted. For once, Eleanor was spared and I didn't appear to have been attacked either (it must have been the DEET I lathered us in the night before - Dean showered before bed). Our luggage was still packed away in a little alcove, so I was pretty confident the bugs hadn't penetrated it. I have read of people who had to disinfect their entire contents and I didn't really want to have to do that. What to do now? Breakfast.

Our entire holiday has basically been dictated by our stomachs, so it was only natural that a meal in our bellies would comfort us. Ok, not really. There was nobody at reception, so we walked across the road to their breakfast area and proceeded to have one of the worst dining experiences so far. We were staying at the Fawlty Towers of Luang Prabang. You'd think it would be near impossible to ruin the morning meal. if the food and beverage situation wasn't dire enough, a number of people were in the process of dismantling the 'restaurant'. Literally. Everything was being taken to the one next door. If we'd have stayed seated any longer, we would have been picked up and relocated too. When we rode past it later, even the floorboards were gone. It was like it never existed...

Anyway, we had to solve the bed bug problem. A bad cup of coffee and inedible food was the least of our worries. Finally somebody at reception could 'receive' us. We explained our concerns and offered another room. Checking out the alternative, I found it to be just as smelly but couldn't find bed bugs. What I did see, however, was a footprint on the sheet and hairs of the short and curly kind when I turned back the covers. We decided to leave this quality establishment.

It only took 20 minutes to find somewhere else to lay our hats. Half the price, twice the size and no smell! back to happy times! Trying to get a wifi signal with our door open, we met a friendly Canadian family on a year long sojourn. After chatting for a couple of hours, we arranged to meet for dinner and a walk up Phu Si Hill (383 steps) at sunset. We spent the afternoon wandering the old town, admiring its French influenced charms.

Commencing our ascent of the 100 metre high Phu Si Hill at 5ish, we made it up just in time to take in the magnificent vista. Along with what seemed to be every tourist currently staying in Luang Prabang, so it was a bit squishy. Nevertheless, it was pretty spectacular once you muscled past a tripod or two. Going back down by candlelight just capped off a wonderful moment. Eating dinner by the river, we enjoyed a pleasant evening with our new Canadian friends.

Day 3

Up bright and early to see the procession of monks receiving alms. It would have been another beautiful moment if not for a raucous Russian family who felt the need to walk up and down, laugh and speak loudly amongst themselves and basically behave inappropriately. After breakfast, the Canadians said their goodbyes and we set off for the Big Brother Mouse program. Just up the road from us, it is a place which encourages reading and education in Laos. This particular branch also holds conversation times in the mornings and evenings where English speaking foreigners help anybody who would like to practise their English speaking and reading skills. It was a really fantastic experience and we got to meet some novice monks and learn a little about their lives. I decided to go back the next day because it was enjoyable and the kids (mainly 15-22 year old boys) were enthusiastic and friendly.

We hired some bikes and within minutes, met a British couple who we'd spoken with outside Bed Bug central the day before. Setting up a dinner date, we then cycled out to yet another market. Maybe our holiday should be entitled, "Marketing in South East Asia". This one didn't really cater for tourists, but it provided us with a glimpse into the Lao world of fruit, vegetables, butchery and homewares. Just like their nearest neighbours, Laos enjoys a fondness for freshly killed livestock. Dean had a little trouble parking his treadly, so Eleanor and I left him to work it out while we parked ours in the cycle parking bay for about 25 cents. Dean soon realised the error of his ways and joined us in the parking lot.
We couldn't locate anything appetising in the market (birds scratching and pecking on the rice bowls weren't particularly enticing), so we cycled back towards the old town, stopping at a roadside 'cafe'. A choice between soup or noodles, with Dean and Eleanor opting for soup and myself choosing the noodles. It seems par for the course that many places will offer a menu but source some items from elsewhere. In this case, my noodles came from a place across the road. Wherever it comes from, it's usually delicious. This cafe specialised in soup and across the road, it probably was the noodles specialist.
Meeting up with the English couple for dinner at another riverside eaterie, we spent an enjoyable and entertaining evening once again.

Day 4

Eleanor and Dean departed for their two day elephant adventure; what sounded like a wonderful experience of riding, washing and learning about these saggy baggy creatures.
Eleanor's story: Dad and I woke up and headed straight to Elephant Camp! When we got there, we got an orange sticker and learned the basic skills of controling an elephant! The first thing we did with an elephant was feed them some Bananas. You had to place the Bananas in the nostrils of the trunk, while hiding the other bananas! The second thing you did with the Elephants was ride them for two minutes around a stable thing. You had to sit right up on the neck with your knees on the ears and your hands on the Elephant head! Getting down was my hardest, because you had say 'Song'. which meant the elephant's right leg would bend a little to make a step thing for me to put my foot on to get down. You also had to hold the Elephant's right ear with your right hand and slide down!
In the rest of the afternoon, we rode the back of the elephant on a chair around the river and in the river, swam in a freezing cold water fall, went on another Elephant ride for 10 minutes around the jungle, fed the Elephants again and jumped in the resort swimming pool!

We woke up the very next day and suprisingly the 95% deet mosquito spray worked! We headed off on a boat to the other side of the river where we met the Elephants and jumped on them to go to the river to wash them! The Elephants really wanted a wash so they rushed to get in and went to the middle of the river and dad and I started to wash them! Mine was the only one that could go under water and hold its breath for about 30 long seconds! So my Elephant ducked under water so the water could go up to my stomach and came up again! Elephants have really long hair, so trying to find the actual skin was a bit difficult! Dad's elephant kept getting its trunk into the air and smacking it on the water so it made a giant splash!! My Mahout told me to try to stand up on its back and it was fine on the first try but on the second try it was a lot harder, because the Elephant was moving and I fell but luckily I fell on its back, not in the water!! The washing time was over and we hopped on the boat to travel back to our hotel. We gathered all our belongings and headed off to breakfast.

Jane's day: I stopped in at Big Brother mouse in the morning once again. I absolutely enjoy the fact that 15 year old boys are keen to learn. There's lots of laughing and charades and I'm finding out about what it's like to live in a small village in the Laos countryside. In the afternoon I walked around the old town, through quaint little alleys, stopping for coffee and a cake in a nice French bakery. Invited to dine with the hilarious English couple, I gladly accepted their kind offer and spent much of the evening laughing at their escapades.

Day 5

Once again, I spent the morning at Big Brother Mouse, conversing with youngsters in stilted English and reading books with way too many Australianisms (Mem Fox and books about the beach are quite difficult to explain). When a young, blonde American girl walked in, I did lose a few kids!
Eleanor and Dean returned around lunchtime, so we walked along the riverside for another serving of soup and noodles. With full bellies, we had a lazy afternoon; Dean snoozing and Eleanor and I checking out the Handicraft Festival, which looked suspiciously like the night market stalls.
On the other side of the old town is a lively area where the curfew doesn't apply (and thus the backpacker crowd is contained). Dean was eager to investigate this little pocket of Luang Prabang, and we set off to have a look before dinner. At one bar, Dean joined a game of beach volleyball, which was quite amusing. Having heard about a delicious pizza at the Scandinavian bakery, we ate dinner Western-style.

Day 6

The previous few days were spent discussing options after Luang Prabang; a tour of the Eastern part of Laos or onto Thailand? Despite wanting to go elsewhere in Laos, we concluded that touring Northern Thailand would be easier. Driving around Laos would involve a lot of bus time on dodgy roads. Thailand has a train system and maybe an improved ability to cope with my special needs (as Dean kindly refers to my wanting a half decent bathroom facility). Therefore Dean booked us passage on a boat which would take two days to reach the Thai border.
A morning session at Big Brother mouse, where Eleanor was enlisted to help two girls with their ABCs. Lots of novice monks in attendance today, too. Before lunch we wandered through some Wats, admiring the mosaic work and murals. Baguettes for lunch at the French backery and then a visit to a nearby waterfall.
To get to the waterfall, we managed to track down a driver who would take us for a reasonable price in the back of his truck. Before leaving town, he was spruiking for more customers by calling out his window, finally picking up a young man from Hawaii on the outskirts. A couple of villagers also jumped in a few hundred metres up the road, loaded up with shopping, firewood and a small brazier. For 35km, the engine wheezed its way up the mountain. At one stage, the driver opened his window and stuck his head out, gulping in breaths of fresh air as the fumes engulfed his little cabin. The villagers were offloaded just before we exited the 'Little engine that could'. Arranging to meet the driver in a couple of hours, we made our way through the bear rescue centre to the bottom of the waterfalls.
The water looked icy, so we thought a hike up to the top would provide us with enough incentive for a swim. Hike! Usually on tourist trails they are leisurely, well worn paths offering very little challenge to the cardio-vascular system. Not this one. We basically launched into a vertical assault soon after the crumbling brick steps ended at the base. Scrambling up a steep incline in thongs (or flip flops as the rest of the world insists on calling them), with no idea of what we would find at the top, I was hoping an alternative route on the descent did exist. Dean was confident there was because he saw it on a map. Apparently you could walk a loop, but this map could have been drawn prior to the last landslide, which would have wiped any trail off the mountain. The path we were on was just hanging on to the side. One more downpour could easily see it washed away.
Once at the top, we caught our breaths and hunted around for clues as to where a path could be to the other side. Sloshing our way through the forest (and praying the leeches were asleep), we came across a swimming hole. A rickety bamboo fence ensured you wouldn't go over the waterfall. Dean waded across but didn't find evidence of a path down the other side. We had to go down the way we came up!
With wobbly legs, I made it down safely, only stumbling occasionally. Like mountain goats, Dean and Eleanor nimbly made their way down, laughing at my misfortune. I opted out of the refreshing dip at the bottom, instead watching Dean and Eleanor avoid rocks and large nibbling fish.
The journey down the mountain saw us pass schoolkids on their way home, waving and cheering like we were rockstars. The scenery was magnificent as we wound our way along the narrow roads. Arriving back just before sunset, we had an earliesh night after another delicious meal at our favourite riverside eatery. Setting our alarm to 6am, we were ready to leave this beautiful town in the morning.

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Photos

Dean joined the volleyball team
Would the VIT recognise this as professional development?

Dean and Eleanor having a swim
At the 'bear' waterfall.

One of my favourite signs
A perfect example of how literal translations into English don't always work out.

Look! No hands.
At elephant camp.

Sharing a ride
Elephant camp

Some father-daughter bonding time
At elephant camp.

Building the bridge
After rainy season, the bridge is rebuilt each year.