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Published: April 23rd 2008
Buddhist Temple
Luang Prabang, LaosLaos is amazing and has thoroughly enchanted me. The pace of life is calm and peaceful. It strikes a balance between being tourist-friendly and not completely tourist-oriented. You get the impression that people are, for the most part, just living their lives.
I started in Vientiane, the capital with a population of 200,000. The first day Wendy, a Peace Corps Volunteer from Madagascar that I met at the airport, and I headed to a temple 3km south of town that I heard offered a traditional sauna and massage. My glasses immediately fogged up when I stepped into the sauna. It was dark and I could hear that people were in there, but couldn't see them. I sat on the closest edge of one of the wooden benches, which flipped up and rolled me out the door of the sauna in one of my finer entrances. As Wendy pointed out, it could've been worse, my sarong could have fallen open as well.
That afternoon we discovered JoMa Bakery and Cafe. It was like stepping into another world. The air conditioning, bagel eggers and pizza were fantastic. That night we walked around the Lunar New Year festivities that were
Alms Giving
Buddhist monks receive alms every morning at 6am. Luang Prabang, Laos. gearing up on the banks of the Mekong and I had my first Beer Lao.
Wendy and I took a public bus to Vang Vieng, famous for its scenery and river tubing. Where you enter the Nam Song river, there's an Organic Farm with delicious mulberry mojitos and goat cheese sandwiches. The mulberries and the goats are grown on the premises. For the first kilometer or so of the river, there are bars lining the banks selling Beer Lao, Lao Lao (rice wine) and Lao Whiskey. Many of them have zip lines or trapeze swings into the river. On my third day of tubing, I worked up the courage to do the highest swing. I was really proud of myself, until Wendy told me I spent the whole time screaming and kicking the air. Funny, I remember nothing of that.
While we were in Vang Vieng, Laos celebrated Lunar New Year or Pii Mai Lao. Like Songkran in Thailand, Pii Mai involves lots of water throwing. Kids patrolled the streets with super soakers. Trucks fulls of people and barrels of water drove around dowsing people. And shopkeepers brought their hoses to the street to splash unsuspecting
tuk-tuk passengers. It was great fun and a good way to beat the heat at the end of the dry season.
Then it was onward to Luang Prabang, an UNESCO World Heritage Site. French colonialism has left its mark on Luang Prabang in the form of architecture and food - both amazing. And they have a JoMa here! We caught the tail-end of their Pii Mai celebration at the many local temples, which involved pouring water over statues of Buddha.
There's a brochure called Stay Another Day that recognizes restaurants, tour companies and boutiques that employ responsible tourism. One of my favorite places was the Traditional Arts and Ethnology Centre, where they explained the different ethnic groups in Laos. If you plan on coming here, Vietnam or Cambodia, check out their website www.stay-another-day.org.
Fully conscious of my budget and the many places I will be carrying my backpack, I am not shopping. But Luang Prabang is a shopper's paradise. At night, the main street is closed off and fills with people selling beautiful scarves, adorable animal wallets, translucent lanterns and more at low, low prices. But I have enjoyed the fruit shakes and donuts.
Parasols
Night Market, Luang Prabang, Laos (Are you sensing a theme in this entry yet?)
Wendy and I decided to charter a tuk-tuk to nearby Kuang Si waterfall. We rounded up some other girls that wanted to go and had a great time swimming in the pools and taking cheesy photos of each other. That night we all enjoyed Lao style BBQ.
I keep seeing this photo of roughly 20 American Servicemen holding what looks like a giant eel. I have been in denial, but decided to finally ask my waiter at Tamarind (excellent modern Laos cuisine) this morning. Yes, an eel from the Mekong river. Yes, they eat people. I stared at him blankly. All I could think of was that scene from The Princess Bride - "Those are the shrieking eels." It was easily that big. Needless to say, I won't be doing a lot of night swimming in the Mekong.
Luang Prabang is a place you could stay forever. And I have decided to linger here while I sort out the details of attending Teachers College in the Fall. I am meeting Michael Jones, former Peace Corps Volunteer from East Timor, in Vientiane on Saturday. He has
Night Market, Luang Prabang
Bringing shopaholics to their knees. Even I was tempted. just moved to Laos for work. After that, I'll be heading to Southern Laos and Cambodia.
PS I've added photos to my previous entry on Penang and KL.
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Matt Zeis
non-member comment
As usual, great photos!!