Luang Prabang

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Our next stop was the town of Luang Probang in the centre of northern Laos. This town is a world heritage site and it’s hardly surprising. Its magnificent surroundings of mountains and river create the perfect setting for this beautiful town. Luang Prabang's buildings are heavily influenced by French colonial architecture. Bakeries spring up all over the place amongst the pretty French designs. On our first day, we enjoyed a walking tour of the town mapped out for us by our guidebook. We looked in at the Royal Palace and observed a multitude of Wats. The most special being a steep climb to the top of a hill, where a picturesque Wat overlooked the whole of the Luang Prabang Province. In the evening we perused the night market. The stalls were laid out on the floor, running up narrow streets and lit up by tiny lights. It had fantastic silks and fabrics and we fought hard not to get completely carried away!

Dom got up at the crack of dawn on our second day to sneak pictures of the monks during the daily giving of alms. Monks play a huge part of the life in Luang Prabang and fill the streets every morning around 6am. People line up to give food to each monk, who are not allowed to purchase their own. The local people receive a blessing, which is sung to them. It’s fascinating to see and neither of us ever tire of seeing these humble men in orange.

At 8.30am we departed for a tour of the nearby infamous Pak Ou Caves, which are the home of thousands of Buddha statues given in worship. It was very interesting to see and the caves were impressive. We shared our tour with a couple from New Zealand, who are now 60 and go traveling for about 3 months every year, for the last 13 years! We feel we can learn a lot from them!!

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Comments

[Anne]

Wat?
Did I miss something - what is a wat?