Luang Prabang, Laos: A two day gentle step into central SE Asia. Say Wat?

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21 to 22 Dec: Luang Prabang (note: given the number of photos a number appear towards the bottom of the page).



I arrived in Luang Pragang (LP) around 2pm local time (21 Dec) and headed to my accommodation in town. After settling in and unpacking I tried to grab some sleep, but found I was too wound-up and hot to make any headway on this front so I threw on some mosquito repellent and made my way into the main part of town to do a bit of exploration and grab dinner.



LP is a UNESCO World Heritage Town, situated at the confluence of two rivers, known for its temples (Wats), simple traditional wooden homes and colonial French architecture. My short 15 minute walk left me in no doubt as to why LP had been given this distinction. There was a treat for all your senses in this ancient town – the sights (architecture, colours, newness against dilapidated and worn out etc…), sounds (birds, vendors, kids, dogs and pigs competing for attention, clanging of bells, tuk tuk horns…), smells (the pleasurable and fragrant, the pungent, even revolting occasional wafts of open stagnate sewers and the always present smell of hundreds of small wood burning cooking fires) and on and on one could go describing those initial small happy discoveries for the senses.



As I arrived on the main market street it was nearing sunset and the hundred or so vendors were setting up their small tent stalls to sell their locally made goods to the tourists who were forced to snake their way on tiptoes through the narrow passages around the vendors, buys and wares for sale. I was too tired to take much interest in the multitude of offerings and knew that I would be back here at the end of my trip to blow some money on some of these mementos.



The most impressive temple I saw in the light of the setting sun that evening was Ho Prabang. It’s steeply downward swooping roofs and deeply carved gable end painted in gold and accentuated in other colours literally glowed in the setting sun. I contemplated this ever changing sight that would have delighted a mannerist painter for 20 minutes.



With my last bit of effort I made my way to dinner and my first BeerLoa (which turned out to be my favourite beer of all the local beers I tried on this adventure). On my way back to the room I purchased my boat ticket for my 8 hour excursion up river scheduled for the 23^rd – I found that in Laos one must always book anything well in advance of your intended date of travel – for if you waited until the last minute you may find yourself stranded or put in the most undesirable seating position on the mode of transport.



I got back to my room by about 9pm and sleep quickly took me. That first night my ears were assailed thought the night be even more sounds – the local neighbourhood dogs were insufferable through the night and I learned the monks in the town begin making their waking noises around 4am; though I must say the sounds of the lone drums or bells was a pleasant respite from the barking and crowing of the roosters.



The 22nd was a cruisy day for me in LP. I woke at a sensible time and had breakfast at my accommodation. The morning started out warm but heavily overcast (though it didn’t rain that day or on any of my other 20 days of travel). I found generally each morning in Loas the weather started out very similarly – overcast (I can best describe the look/feel of the clouds similar to those that you see in the Pacific Northwest at lower level elevations before a snowfall –dark grey, solid cloud layer that appears to hang stilly just overhead and if you were able to reach far enough you could almost scoop a dollop of cloud out like you might scope a serving of ice cream); within a few hours and no later than noon or so these clouds would burn off to a nearly clear blue sky.



My sightseeing started with a tour of the Royal Palace Museum – originally the kings’ home for 80 or so years until the late 1970 when there was a revolution and the royalty was given the boot. Not a great deal of wow factor in the museum, but worth a 45min visit. Highlights include, the royal reception room that was decorated around the 60’s by Japanese glass mosaic artists with assorted scenes from Loas’s history – the predominant colour being a deep red/brown/orange glass. I most excited when I discovered in the room where they displayed a number of gifts made by international governments to the royal family that amongst the gifts included moon rocks and plaques from the US government from the Apollo 11 and 17 missions – funny I had to go all the way to the jungles of Laos to get an opportunity to stand within 6 inches of real moon rocks.



Next stop was Wat Xieng Thong temple – possibly the most beautiful temple in all of Laos. Also known as The Temple of the Golden City, it was built in 1560 by King Setththirath (there will be a spelling and pronunciation test after this blog) and continued to act as the royal temple right up to the ‘70’s. I understand that the temple has been rebuilt a couple of times over this period, but the complex’s layout and buildings generally have maintained their shape/configuration over time. Being the royal temple you can image great care and detail has always been shown to the site.



Here in the bright sunlight (by now the clouds had burnt off) the glass mosaics dazzled as one moved around the buildings (the gable end of the temple that doesn’t have a point of entry is covered in its entirety with the tree of life – a visual image that get reproduced all throughout LP, but none is grander than this one in my mind). Inside the main temple you make your way of a central set of steps (of course after you’ve removed your shoes) into a deep and shaded portico – all the surfaces of the portico are painted a deep black colour and then decorated with painted gold symbols and decoration. Through the main entry door you slightly stoop your head into the even darker main room – allowing yourself a minute for your eyes to grow accustomed to the dark interior (lit only by a couple door openings around the perimeter and a few slits in the building roof envelope that allows shafts of light into the space. The roof void quickly rises above you in the same swooping form mentioned at the earlier temple. In front of you stand six large circumference columns – perhaps 2.5 feet in diameter (I couldn’t determine if these were a single timber log or brick columns surfaced with a fine plaster).As with the portico all the surfaces were painted in dark colours. Situated in the second bay of columns sits a large seated Buddha statue placed on a raised platform; in front of the platform a number of candles and incense burners.



The transition from light to dark, the noticeable natural coolness of the space compared to the heat and humidity of the outside, the quiet contemplation of the space, the geometry of the space greater width and height that seeming depth to the statue (seemingly pulling you and the Buddha together in perspective) and finally the fragrant smell of the candles and incense that had been burning in these space for unknown eons could transport anyone on a spiritual journey (even if they weren’t a religious person).



By this stage of the mid-afternoon I’m hot, tired and extremely thirsty. I find a small café that looks like their food should be as hygienically safe as one can get in a third world country – towards the end of the trip I became less concerned about this to my own peril 😞 This is where I have one of my most memorable communication mix-ups with a non-English speaker. I order a fresh orange juice (no ice) and fresh fruit salad. Ten minutes later the juice appears, but no fruit salad… I’m not worried as I’ve got all the time in the world and have started recording the last 24 hours in my journal. Another 30 mins go by quickly and I realise that I am yet to receive the salad. By this time I’ve lost interest in food and want to move on so I start to make signs of packing up. Seeing me make signs that I’d like the bill the waitress comes over with an invoice that includes the fruit salad. I make hand gestures and slowly try to simply explain the fact that I’ve not received my salad (as I only have an empty glass of juice in front of me). I get a confused looking “yes” from her (the all too well known “yes” that travellers get worldwide when one doesn’t want to displease you, but they clearly have no idea what you’re talking about) and she turned around and takes one step away. Just as quickly, she turns back around with a look of clarity on her face, she collects the bill and says “OK” and then walks back to the kitchen. At this time I’m not certain if the “OK” means I’m going to get the salad or the revised bill – but I decide for the fun of it to see how this turns out (at this time I’m betting that she’s going to get the salad).



Another 15 minutes pass and I realise that I’m going to need to force the issue and likely just pay for the salad as in the grand scheme of things it’s something like US$1.25 and not worth creating an international incident. She sees me making my way to the counter and comes back out with the original bill unchanged. We have the same 30 second dialogue about the missing salad and I’m still getting the same friendly smile followed by her repeating “yes, fruit salad”. I notice another person behind the counter and I figure I’ll try them and if all else fails I’ll just pay the bill. It works out that this person does understand a bit more English and is able to ask the two wait/kitchen staff if either of them made a fruit salad. The look of shy embarrassment from the both when they realised that neither had made the salad was priceless.



By this time (about 4pm) I was feeling the jetlag and lack of sound sleep and headed back to my accommodation for the evening – in advance of my early start up the river. I get a repeat of the acoustic performance from the night before, but sleep much better.

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Photos

My first accomodation in LP
Great place: Sabadee Guesthouse

Most homes and businesses had mini alters like this in their front yard.
They would pay daily omage by leaving small offerings along with candles and or insence.

Ho Prabang
This was the temple I saw on my first night in LP and watched the sunset on it. The tents you see are just 1/10th of the vendor stalls set up along the main street each evening.