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Published: November 10th 2009
View of Luang Prabang
From the top of Mt. PhousiYesterday I finally turned the corner. I woke up feeling human again. So we tried to make up for a couple of lost days. In the morning we took on the “must-do” event of climbing Mount Phousi. This, the only elevation on the peninsula of Luang Prabang’ is the sacred mountain. A daunting 360 stairs take you from street level across from the Royal Palace to the summit. It is cool in the morning now so the trek that wound back and forth across the face of the hill was a pleasant climb. We were rewarded at the top by a sterling view of the entire town, including the surrounding rivers. Unfortunately it is also quite hazy in the mornings, the result of cooking fires and the burning of the waste from harvested rice, so we didn't have perfect photo opportunities. On the back side of the summit is an anti-aircraft gun, a relic of “the American War”. Then the path winds down to another street, past Buddhas large and small, with names like “Tuesday Buddha”, “Saturday Buddha”, etc. The local people go there to pray to the Buddha of the particular day when they have a situation that needs divine
Kwangsi Falls
Limestone-milky cascades intervention.
Kwangsi Falls
In the afternoon our driver picked us up to take us to Kwangsi Falls, about 20 miles out of town. There is a succession of waterfalls from the highest to lovely cascades. The water is tinted blue by the limestone content and the limestone silt has built up pools that are perfect for swimming. I took a suit but didn't go in, because the air temperature was cool enough that I didn't feel the spirit. Instead, we watched the backpacking crowd frolicking. There was also an enclosure with about a dozen sun bears, similar in size to our New Jersey black bears, saved from their captors. Local people believe that the bear's bile has medicinal powers and poachers keep the bears in very tight cages and painfully extract it from them.
Evenings in Luang Prabang
I hate to admit that we did not fully embrace the Lao cuisine because of my still-recovering alimentary tract and Bruce’s non-adventurous one, but not to worry - LP is full of French restaurant choices, like l’Elephant and even a lovely Swiss-owned one called The Blue Lagoon, where we dined. Expensive by Lao standards our French dinner was
still not budget-breaking (especially in light of having not eaten anything of substance for 3 days) and was much welcomed and enjoyed, as was the one at the Lagoon. After dark the town really jumps. Starting about 5 PM the street in front of and alongside the Royal Palace is closed off and Hmong women from the near-by hill tribes set up identical red canopies shoulder to shoulder stretching several hundred feet long plus some side streets - perhaps 500 stalls in all, with their wares laid out in neat rows: hand-made clothes, scarves, bags, jewelry, silver, paintings and much more. Every night they are there until late, babies sleeping on mats in the midst of the merchandise, young girls smiling and saying “sabadee” to every visitor, calculator in hand, waiting to catch a glint of interest in the eye of the potential buyer. The young ones are lightening sharp, ready to quote the price in Lao kip, Thai baht, or US dollars. They take the cash in US and return change in kip without missing a beat.
On the rest of the main street, open-air restaurants come to life, and with only a few vehicles in sight, it
Luang Prabang at Night
Night Market at the end of the street becomes a virtual pedestrian mall with boutique shops and travel agencies also vying for attention. Over on the Mekong River side of the peninsula, tiered waterfront cafes with twinkling Christmas lights and soft music, offer a romantic place to enjoy a dinner of Mekong river fish in coconut milk or a plate of spaghetti.
Trip to Paradise
This morning we chartered a trip north. By car we wound our way through the mountains north from Luang Prabang. As we climbed in altitude we encountered villages of Lao ethnic minorities. First was a Khmu village. These people originated in Tibet 2000 years ago, are animists, and grow rice. Although they live close to the river, they view the spirit of the river as a bad spirit that they must respect and appease. Their homes sit on the ground and they cook outside on fire pits.
Hmong villages are recognizable because the houses have no windows and they feature high peaked thatched roofs with a vent at the top. The house sits off the ground a few feet and the chickens and pigs live below. The Hmong cook inside their houses and use the cook fire for heat, as it
Nong Khiaw
Riverside Village is colder at their altitude. They are also animists and rely on shamans to exorcise the evil spirits.
The third group we visited, of the 49 ethnic minorities that exist in Lao, is the Lue minority. They originated from southern China in the 14th century and grow and weave cotton, which they export to Thailand. They also plant and tend rubber trees for Chinese export. Their houses are constructed on wooden 10x10 supports made from the teak trees that grow throughout the area; their weaving takes place in the space underneath the house.
End of the Road
Three hours north of Luang Prabang we arrived at Nong Khiaw, where the highway crosses the Nam Ou before continuing on to Phonosavan, where lies the Plain of Jars. At Nong Khiaw we had a nice lunch at the Sunset Guesthouse: a tasty soup of noodles, vegetables, and fish; chicken in some kind of sauce, delicious stir-fried vegetables, including what tasted like Chinese cabbage, broccoli rabe, squash, and cauliflower, and, of course, rice. (I'm enjoying Lao food - Bruce not so much because he's always worried about his tissue-paper stomach)
After lunch we boarded a riverboat to enjoy a
spin on the scenic Nam Ou. Although the mighty Mekong is brown, its tributaries run clear and green from their sources in China or Tibet. The Ou is lined by very scenic limestone karsts that soar many hundreds of feet in the air. Water buffalo loll withers deep in the cool clear water or lounge on its sand bars. Along the way we stopped at an ethnic Lao village that grows rice and makes rice whiskey. The able-bodied were at work in the fields, as it is rice harvest time. We enjoyed the quiet village with its livestock and little children. The terminus of our journey was the village of Muang Ngoi, reachable only by boat and backpackers, which now provide another source of income. With only 800 residents, a single main street, and no motor vehicles, it was the epitome of piece and tranquility. The scenery was stunning. I discovered a house/shop where a woman had her loom set up and, as her toddler slept on the bare floor at her feet, she wove exquisite scarves of silk. Always worried that what I buy at the market will turn out to be machine-made from China, I waited for her
to finish the last few centimeters of her product, the work of 3 days, and purchased it from her. No authenticity certificate necessary. We hated to leave.
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Elyse Berrett
non-member comment
Beautiful!
Thanks for sharing your travels with us! I love it!