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Published: October 15th 2006
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We breezed into Luang Prabang after a short 3 hour bus ride and decided it was time for a little spoiling. We checked into a midrange guesthouse proving we really are hardcore travellers, midrange meaning sat tv, hot water in private bathroom and our own balcony (well it was until people moved into the room next door but we scared them out of using it). A week in the rough (and it wasn't even rough) and we went running for home comforts. Anyway Luang Prabang is grrrrreat, it is the former capital of Laos (now Vientiane) and the whole city, due to its preserved state is a UNESCO world hertiage site (yes another one...we are hitting one a week at the mo). The city despite being over run by tourists is an oasis of calm, there are orange clad monks from 10 to 100 years old everywhere who are based at the 30 odd functioning Wats in town. How different life is here to what we have seen in the Laos countryside.
The greatest thing about being a backpacker is you choose how long you want to stay and in the case of Luang Prabang we decided anything less than
a week would fail to do it justice. So we handed the laundry in (yes we were back in a smelly state again after all our time on the move) and got stuck into some reading, drinking lattes, eating bagels and generally being exceptionally nice to ourselves. I guess you could call this our 1 week holiday from backpacking. So I won't bore you with the details of each individual day (alot of it involves just plodding)...just the highlights.
All the way around SE Asia we have come across cooking courses and being fans of chilli and curry this was something we definately wanted to do but never got around to, so in Luang Prabang we said enough is enough lets just do it and stop talking about it. Nigella and Jean Christophe (AKA us) turned up bright and early to meet Neng and Leng Lee, our muinteoiri for the day. They brought us out to the market and while Leng gathered the ingredients we required, Neng talked us through the flavours of Laos food. When we reached the blood (yes just blocks and bowls of refridgerated blood, like we had seen in Sam Neua) we foolishly asked what
they were used for...the answer...everything, even vegetable soup? We soon learnt that Laos diets are protein poor so they subsidise it in every possible way! After the market we got stuck in. Neng or Leng would demonstrate and we would attempt to do it ourselves. As cooking was in done in pairs, poor Ed had to do the tofu version with me while he could smell the chicken and pork sizzling right beside him. Actually he admitted he quite likes it now, so beware he may return home bearded, bedecked in beads, wearing only natural fibres and bringing along his own tofu when invited out to dinner! We enjoyed the day from beginning to end and have some new recipes to try out on you all when we get home...watch out Ed is very heavy handed with the chilli (usually to his own detriment).
The cookery course turned out educational in more ways than one; we spent some time talking to the Australian lady who runs the course and has lived in Luang Prabang for a long time. Laos people are quite shy and tend not to interact with foreignors beyond their business requirements therefore she was able to
answer alot of our questions about culture. Laos is basically a matriarchal society, women hold most of the power and you will often see Laos men looking after the babies while the women go out and make a living. This is unique in SE Asia.
Our final day in Luang Prabang was to be spent doing some of the many outdoor activities on offer. We needed this to work off the food fest we have become accustomed to over the past week. So we decided on mountain biking (my new favourite activity) and kayaking with a lunch stop at Tad Se waterfall for swimming. We cycled 30Kms along dirt roads, a pretty smooth ride in comparison to our Dalat off-road experience and arrived at the Nam Khan from which it was a short paddle in the kayaks to the waterfall. The waterfall was gorgeous, we swam, ate a picnic lunch and chatted with the monks while clambering over rapids. One asked for his photo to be taken with me...so who knows maybe I will adorn the walls of his Wat side digs! Then the moment of truth...the 20Km kayak back to town which was to take 4 hours. Funnily,
four hours doesn't seem like much until you have been paddling for 30 minutes and both hands are blistered. Still the river was beautiful and we had to shout Sabaidee and wave at the kids all along the banks who were jumping up and down with the sight of the crazy Falangs (Westerners) paddling down the river. Then came the rapids....now this came as a bit of a shock to us...we had been told there were a few small ones but they didn't look very small from where I was sitting. We were the first to go over...we were helmetted and life jacketed so aside from getting bopped on the head by the kayak, grazing our feet off the rocks on the bottom, loosing Eds precious Indian prescription shades, one of my beloved flipflops and a paddle we did ok, we managed to right the kayak and with a little help clambered back on. Meanwhile while we were fighting currents to get out of some bushes the other two kayaks (including that of the instructor) had over turned, one carrying an American girl who had a dread of drowning! Lets just say after our third dip in the river we
just wanted out (Did I mention there were water snakes?). One of the other couples had lost both of their paddles and kayak (which had to be brought back up the river in a motor boat) and while someone had retrieved two paddles from the water...one was still destined for a life on the riverbed, so we took turns to paddle the kayak one manned...not helping all the blistered hands. We were all too tired to speak when we reached the shore, that was except for one crazy American guy who's highlight of the day had been the capsize!
On arrival back in town we decided another day was needed in Luang Prabang was needed to nurse our aching muscles and scraped knees. We live to fight another day!
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peter
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the exfoliating river beds of the Mekong tributaries
couldn't help but laugh at your river trip. I just wrapped up a similar experience here in Luang Prabang. Of course being a crazy American I also loved getting dumped. (My feet say otherwise.) Continue to enjoy1