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Published: February 18th 2010
01/29/10 - 02/02/10 Alright folks, we are just about finished our trip! It's been a long and crazy adventure but it is about to come to a close (sadly). So here we are at 4:45am, left at an empty bus station in Luang Prabang, dirty, hungry and tireeddddd beyond belief. It was at this point that we both ready to go home or at least have a few solid days of rest. I mean, we were having an amazing time, but I think all the sleepless nights and long days had finally caught up to us, and we were exhausted.
We sat at the bus station for a bit trying to gather our thoughts, check out maps to find out where we were and decide on an action plan. In hopes of saving money, we decided to try and walk into the city (and also because it was too early for restaurants to be open, so we were in no hurry!). We set off down the road in the direction we thought we should go and then after about 10 minutes, when a tuk tuk passed us asking if we wanted a ride, we decided that it was smarter
than getting lost. We got a ride to city centre, which turned out to be right where we wanted to be (and it was a good thing we took the ride, because it was a lot farther than we thought!!!).
It was about 5:30am by this point and we were surprised at how many people were wandering the streets at that hour, until we remembered that in Luang Prabang there is a curfew at midnight, so all guesthouses and hotels close at that time and if you aren't back by then, you are out of luck (and a bed!) until morning! Of course, this also means that we couldn't check-in to any hotels because they were alllll still closed! Boo! Finally at 7:00 Le Croissant d'Or bakery opened and we had some breakfast. Since Vang Vieng had no banks we were seriously low on cash so all we could get was a baguette and be on our way. By this time, however, hotels started to open so we were fine with a quick breakfast, planning on getting a room right away and taking a nap.
Well luck was not on our side that day, because it took us
over 2 hours and at least 15 guesthouses before we found one that was not too expensive but not too crappy. Having not paid more than 6$ for a hotel since Siem Reap, we were shocked for pay 15$ for a mediocre room (with a terrible smelling bathroom). Either way it was 9:30 now, and we were happy to have a bed and immediately fell asleep until after lunch. Refreshed, clean and excited to explore our last city, we went to have lunch at one of the many restaurants lining the banks of the Mekong. We had the most delicious fresh fruit shakes and a wonderful beef, veggies and noodle stir-fry.
The city of Luang Prabang was probably my favourite city to visit. The buildings mostly had the same colonial French style with shuttered windows and doors, white walls and small signs hanging from the doorway identifying the business. I loved the French influence in this city than ran beyond architecture and into cafes, food, and tourism, with most signs being in Lao and French. Pretty, colourful trees lined the streets and made for a peaceful, relaxed setting, which was perfect for this leg of our trip. We were
quite happy to just wander the streets, taking in the sights and and enjoying a relaxed pace after 14 days of on-the-go traveling. We went to a great temple, Wat Xieng Thong, which is one of the biggest temples in Luang Prabang and had miraculously survived the Black Flag Invasion. This temple was covered in gold everywhere you looked. Unlike other temples we visited, the outer walls of the buildings were decorated with scenes made from coloured glass which absolutely glowed in the late afternoon light. Luck was on our side for something that day, because everyday at 4:00 (and we didn't know this) 3 monks go into the drum cage and put on a drumming performance that is so powerful to listen to! We were happy to have the chance to listen to their rhythms.
Next we climbed up Mount Phousi, which is the tallest mountain in Luang Prabang, but not super high - maybe 200m. Halfway up was a small temple, or maybe more of a collection of Buddha statues, and in one small cave-type whole there was a vague imprint that claimed to be Buddha's footprint. As the sun was starting to set, the Mount gave
us great views over the surrounding city and countryside. At the very top of the mountain, there were tons of people also hoping to catch a beautiful sunset, to after a few minutes of crowded pushing and little room to stand, we decided to go down and caught some nice shots of the sun from halfway down the mountain where there were no people!
We went down the mount on the opposite side that we climbed up, and to our great surprise, the main road where the path leads out had been completely transformed since we had been there earlier that day. Where a road used to be, there now was a sea of white and red tents all over the street - we found the night market! Every night they close the road to traffic and create 2 big rows of tents for people to sell all kinds of goods from bedding to clothes, to lamps to posters to small souvenirs and it stretched for 3 - 5 blocks, at least! So we spent an hour or two wandering the endless rows of booths, completely overwhelmed by the awesomeness of everything there, wanting to buy everything, but having
learned our lesson in Siem Reap (finding the better market after we had bought things) vowed to spend no money that night and come back the next night to make our purchases.
That night we had dinner at this new guesthouse/restaurant that had the most gorgeous outdoor patio I have ever seen. There were beautiful trees, small waterfalls, candles on the table and very attentive staff. Side note, the waiters and waitresses in Laos were some of the best we have ever experienced. They were so friendly and polite and helpful and in a place where tipping at the end of a meal is not common-place, we were a bit surprised by the level of attention we were given in most restaurants. They really know how to treat their guests! That night for dinner we indulged a bit and had wine with our meal. Mike had a steak which he paid 5$ for and it was a delicious peppercorn steak, cooked to perfection, and much better than either of us had expected while I had a delicious pad thai. Stuffed and tired, we grabbed a couple beers and went back to the hotel around 10, well before the 11:30
curfew.
In most cities, but specifically in Luang Prabang, it is common for tourists to wake up early and watch the monks collecting their alms as they did every morning. This is spectacular because women line the street to give these monks some rice that they made (this becomes the monks' food for the day) and then you see this continuous line of vibrant saffron-clad monks walking barefoot down the road to collect their food. So we set our alarm for 6am that morning so we could take part, however, when the alarm went off, we just couldn't get out of bed, so we vowed to see them the following morning and got another hour of shut eye before preparing for our trip that day.
After a big breakfast of eggs, bagel and croissant, we met with the rest of our tour group from Green Discovery for a 9:00 departure. There were 7 of us in the group plus our ENglish speaking guide (a real one this time) and together we got in a large tuktuk and got a ride to the shore where our wonderful boat awaited us. This boat was long and skinny and had really
comfortable seats and lots of room for 7 people! Our trip for that day was to the Pak Ou caves which we had heard a lot of great talk about and on the way we would stop at 3 different villages for special tours and more chance to see Lao life outside of the touristy cities.
After a short 20 minute ride down the Mekong, we arrived at our first village, where we learned about sa (mulberry) paper and silk. First we went to the sa paper workshop where we saw a woman who was getting the paper on they tray where it would dry and harden. At this point, the mulberry bark had already been broken down into tiny pieces and dyed (red in this case). Basically the woman had submersed the drying tray, then spreads out the mulberry as evenly as possible over this rectangle tray. She then put some leaves in the paper for a nice finishing touch, pulls the tray out of the water and leans it against the wall to dry, then takes another tray and repeats the process again. Along the front of the store are tons of rectangle trays leaning against one
another drying. Beside this woman, on the floor, were two boys, the older one was making boxes with the completed paper and beside him his little brother was helping him by humming a tune and using big scissors to cut the scrap paper into smaller pieces! It was so adorable! We took a short detour into the shop and made a purchase from their beautiful selection of lamps, pictures and cards.
Following the sa paper, we went to a silk shop, which we weren't overly excited about since we had already been to one in Cambodia, but what we learned here were the parts they left out at the first silk factory so it was actually very interesting. At this place they actually had silkworms that they breeded and we saw the small bucket and contraption that they use to get the silk off the silkworm! They also showed us the dye that they use for their silk. All their dye is natural, coming from different plants and flowers. One in particular that he showed us was the orange dye and our guide barely touched the seeds inside the flower and his finger was covered in a very vibrant
orange colour! Finally, we went to watch the women work on their looms, but the scarves they were working on were much more intricate than at the last place we toured. These scarves had patterns and involved so much work that it takes them 2-3 days to make 1 scarf!! Can you imagine???!
Back to the boat, we continued on for close to an hour before stopping at our next village. Along the ride we saw many people fishing in the river with their little wicker baskets! At the second village we learned how lao-lao is made, which is the rice whiskey we tried in Don Det. Basically you take rice, mix it with yeast, let it sit for 15 days then use a contraption with hot water below and cold water above to create the liquor. The whiskey that comes out is about 55% proof and doesn't taste very good! They also make a less disgusting wine, one from white rice and one from black rice and they are much sweeter and not as strong! These drinks, our guide informed us, are for the women. We took a quick walk through the village where the villagers, who had
become used to tourists coming through, had all set up shops in front of their homes hoping to sell things. We couldn't help but feel this was not the most authentic village experience!
By now it was lunch time and our guide had bought food from the market that morning in Luang Prabang, so the boat pulled off to a shore and we took a short stroll while he got the food ready. We came across a mother and her 3 children (the kids were really excited to see white people and wouldn't stop yelling 'sabaidee' -hello- until we came over). The mother was crouched in the water searching for gold in the sand with her round pan while her kids ate some kind of rice wrapped in seaweed snack. The kids hammed it up for the camera and we knew they were used to tourists coming when the oldest son started asking for money to get his picture taken - ie, give me a dollar and you can take my picture! haha
Lunch was delicious, a mixture of many dishes, including rice, fried fish, pork stuffed in fried bamboo, vegetable stirfry and the most delicious oranges and
bananas for dessert. After lunch, our next stop was the Pak Ou caves. These caves consist of an upper and lower cave, both being filled with large and small statues of Buddha. This cave is known as Buddha home, as it was a place where people could safely worship Buddha and leave their statues there. Each year people come and bring new statues to this cave so there were statues ranging from very old to bright and shiny new. After a lesson in history from our tour guide, we went up to the upper cave which was slightly larger, but were mostly disappointed with the cave. Having already visited some large caves in Vang Vieng, this cave fell short of all the hype that had been built up. We also experienced, for the first time in Laos, kids trying to sell items along the stairway up to the upper cave.
On the boat again, we stopped at a third and final village on the way back to Luang Prabang where they make seaweed sheets. The process to make seaweed is very similar to the sa paper, but what was interesting was that they add things to their seaweed, such
as garlic, tomatoes, sesame seeds and other herbs and spices. It makes their seaweed look nothing like the seaweed we are used to in Korea!
We returned to Luang Prabang around 5:00, so we returned our purchases to the hotel then hit up the night market for some shopppinnggg! We had seen some beautiful bedding the night before so we decided to inquire about it. We stopped at this one shop with a young woman working and looked at her bedding. Turns out that she didn't have exactly what we wanted, but she was so intent on getting our business that she said "You tell me what you want and I make it by 9pm". Seriously? yes! So we picked the colours and pattern we wanted, paid her half the price (she wanted 22$ for a comforter and 2 pillows) and promised to come back at 9 to pick up our stuff. In the meantime we bought a few more things, and went to dinner at a traditional Lao restaurant.
This was our last night in Luang Prabang and in fact, the last night of our trip, so we decided that Lao food was on the menu. I
ordered a cold chicken laap, which is minced chicken mixed with tons of herbs. It actually wasn't very good because the herbs were just too over powering, but it wasn't terrible. Mike's meal was much better! It was buffalo meat, marinated and cooked in bamboo skewers with some garlic dip. Neither meals were overly filling, but the restaurant had a great ambiance!
It was nearing 9:00 at this point, so we wandered back towards the market the pick up our comforter and were slightly worried that we wouldn't remember where our lady's shop was. Well, that worry was well placed, because we couldn't find her! We walked up and down the aisle, panicking more and more with each passing moment, especially when we saw some people packing up their booths. What if we couldn't find her? What if she just took off with our money? By 9:15 we were panic-stricken. What should we do? We decided that, even though we were so sure her booth was around 'here', we walked farther down the row and to our great relief, we finally saw her panic-stricken face and all 3 of us broke into smiles knowing that we both got what
we wanted in the end. I think she was just as worried that we wouldn't come back and we were that we wouldn't find her! With big smiles and thank yous, we went to a wine bar to settle down and enjoy our last night in this wonderful city.
As we had vowed, we woke up at 6 on Feb 1 to watch the monks. We got there just in time and managed to catch a couple different groups of monks walking through the city to get their rice for the day. It was an amazing sight to see, just a long line of vibrant orange robes. The monks were all barefoot with shaved heads and carried a small brown bowl to put their rice in. Before the monks arrive, women line the streets selling rice, bananas or other things. We don't completely understand what is happening here, if they give the money to the monks or if they use that money to make rice for the monks, but that's what was happening!
With a few hours left in the city, we went to the morning market where we saw every colour vegetable you can imagine, rows
of red meat sitting our on tables, fish being chopped for customers and piles and piles of herbs and rice. Back at the hotel, we packed our stuff carefully then went for our last meal in Laos before heading to the airport just after noon. This airport in Luang Prabang is the smallest airport I have ever seen. It has 2 gates, one for international and one for domestic and you can't check-in until an hour before your flight. Once check-in time came, the computers went down and we had to wait in line for a while before they were finally able to check us in. Similar to our flight from bangkok 2 weeks earlier, they served us a meal on our 1h45min flight back to Bangkok, even though it was the middle of the afternoon! We love Bangkok Airways!
Landing in Bangkok, we had 5 hours to kill before our flight to Seoul so we wandered the airport, had dinner and just relaxed until take-off time. After 17 amazing days in Cambodia and Laos, we were less than thrilled to be going back to cold Korea and that was only amplified by the frustrating Koreans surrounding us on
our flight. I think the 5 things are the most frustrating about the culture were shoved in our face on this flight. When our flight was slightly delayed leaving Bangkok, everyone got worried as if they might not get on the plane so they all crowded the gate, unable to be patient. Once we finally got on the plane, there was an old man sitting behind me that decided he didn't like that my seat was reclined (this was an overnight flight, by the way - 11:30pm-6am) and thought that by pushing really hard on my seat repeatedly that the seat would go up (or I would get annoyed and put it up). I was too tired to care, but now I wish I hadn't let him be to rude. He continued to push on my seat and needless to say, it was not a very comfortable flight.
Once in Seoul with our luggage, we grabbed a bus to the train station, a train to Gupo station in Busan, then a subway to Yangsan and arrived home around 2:00 on Feb 2. Phew. That's it folks, we are home, our trip is sadly over and we miss it so
much. We would love to be back there right now rather than here in cold Korea, but it gives us something to look forward to when we complete our contract in September. This trip gave us a taster for what is to come for us come the fall in our travels and we cannot wait for that!!!
Well, I hope these entries weren't too long for you and that you were able to appreciate some of the experiences we were fortunate enough to have and photos we have.
I hope you are all enjoying the Olympics and cheering hard for the red and white maple leafs! We are wishing we were back home right now to enjoy the spirit of the Olympics being at home! Miss you all and we would love to hear updates on what you have been up to recently!!
xoxo
Danielle & Mike
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