One Million Elephants and a White Parasol

---

Long ago, two great gourds grew at Meuang Thaeng (now Dien Bien Phu, Vietnam). As the gourds grew in size, sounds could be heard from inside their thick rinds. Khun, divine rulers, pierced the skin of one of the gourds with a red-hot poker, and out of the charred hole poured the dark-skinned Lao Thoeng (Upland Lao). The khun employed a knife to slice a hole in the other gourd, through which marched the lighter-skinned Tai-Lao (Lowland Lao). The gods sent Khun Borom to rule over both peoples, during which time he had seven sons. Khun Borom sent these sons out to establish seven new kingdoms, scattered over the Tai highlands in Vietnam, the Xishuangbanna area of southern China, the Shan state in Burma, and areas in Thailand and Laos. The oldest son, Khun Lo, swept down upon the area where Luang Prabang now stands, seized the principality from its Lao Thoeng ruler and christened the area Xiang Dong Xiang Thong (City of Gold). From these mythic beginnings, Luang Prabang emerged as a central power in early Lao history. The area had been seized by the (Thai) Sukhothai empire in the early 1300s, but a southern Khmer emperor positioned a young Angkor-educated Lao prince named Fa Ngum to retake the region. They equipped him with an army and sent him north to reclaim territory once held by his father (who had been booted after seducing one of his own father's concubines).

Fa Ngum was successful, and in 1353, renamed the kingdom Lan Xang Hom Khao, or, a million elephants and a white parasol. His Khmer wife introduced Theraveda Buddhism to the previously animist area, and her father commissioned a huge Buddha image, the Pha Bang to be sent to the kingdom. Curiously, the statue got as far as Ventiane and then magically refused to move further. People say that the Buddha refused to budge because he knew Fa Ngum wasn't morally worthy of the throne. Sure enough, Fa Ngum was soon caught philandering with the wives of court nobles and was sent into exile in Nan (now in Thailand). After Ngum's unceremonious departure, the Pha Bang conceded to be moved upriver. The Lan Xang kingdom continued to flourish however, and remained a major power into the 1700s, and the city's current moniker pays tribute to this Buddha and his prophesies. Luang Prabang translates as 'Royal Phabang', honoring this specific Buddha image.

Lao PDR, or the People's Democratic Republic of Laos, did not officially open its doors to visitors until 1989, which is one of the reasons the country feels so pristine. The entire city of Luang Prabang is a UNESCO-World Heritage site, which bars entrance to trucks and buses. The town remains small, and most people travel on motorbike or bicycle through avenues lined with French colonial architecture and bursting with plumeria blooms. When we were there, all tourists were relegated to foot travel. Local authorities had recently deemed motorcycle rental "too dangerous for foreigners" and the day we arrived was an official tourist bicycle confiscation day. The police pulled over any foreigner on a bike, took the vehicle, and gave them a ticket to return to the rental agency. Why? They ambiguously cited the tourists' 'safety', but like many things here, it was some sort of racket for the bike rental shops and the cops to make a little cash.

Because Laos hasn't had much experience with tourists, there is not the necessary competition to drive prices down. This, combined with the myth of rich foreigners with filthy lucre to drop, causes some prices here to be wildly inflated. You'll get random quotes for prices of rentals that are more expensive than they might be at home, because the owner guesses you can pay it, and then the same item will be available for a few dollars around the next corner. T-shirts are $2, while nail clippers might run you $6.

Outside a few touristed streets, Luang Prabang is a sleepy, leafy dream painted with orange robes and pink blossoms. We had a great time wandering around with our new slow boat friends.

---

Photos

Lilting afternoon light on
Thanon Sisavongvong, the main road through town

Wat Xieng Thong
Built in 1560, one of the only wats in the city spared complete sacking by the Black Flag Haw raiders (Chinese quasi-military forces) in 1887.

Phu Si at dusk
This 'mist' is actually smoke from a number of fires all over the valley drifting about.

Sarah and our Aussie friend Devon Starbuck.
That's really his name.

Saa, a local decorative paper
made from the bark of mulberry trees

Pure remnant of French colonialism
Looks like Savannah, GA!

Learning some Lao
from an 18 year old monk and a boy from D.C.