Laid Back in Luang Prabang

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July 17th 2011

Published: July 22nd 2011

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Born to Explore

Morning Monk Alms

Outside Lotus Villa it is a daily event.

For the youtube generation, Matt has captured our experience in two short videos. Paste from below.
#1

After a fantastic beginning to our trip in Bangkok, we were excited to arrive in our first substantive place where we would lay roots (or as much as one does) for the better part of a week or so. We have 6 nights booked at Lotus Villa in Luang Prabang but our subsequent 6 nights are up in the air. Sydney has done the research for this Asian gem, so we all know that there will be much to do and see. The core of most traveling advice does encourage you however that the essence of Luang Prabang is not found in activity but more in simply “being”. We are looking forward to testing this theory.

We disembarked our propellor driven plane and walked across the tarmac, hit full on by the force of the Southeast Asia humidity. It should be noted that Canadians pay more than ANY other country for a visa here --- $42 US per person (maybe it was something one of our prime ministers said???). Upon arrival at Lotus Villa, we were met by their

Typical transport in Laung Prabagn

Everywhere is within a 15 minute bike ride

amazing staff and shown to our wonderful rooms. The wood décor felt incredibly comfortable and the inner garden filled you with peace. This was going to be an amazing place to call home for the next week. Our early arrival in Laos meant that we were able to capture most of the day.

The troops felt well rested so we began our explorations with map in hand and the whole city before us. You need to know that Luang Prabang is thought of as the jewel of Laos (and probably Asia). It is a city of approximately 100,000 people (including surrounding areas) and 0 stoplights. The bulk of traffic is made up of motor and pedal bikes with another 3rd represented by Tuk Tuks of varying sizes. Everything we had heard about this wonderful city came to life as we began walking the streets. The area where most of the guest houses are located is on a peninsula formed where the Nam Khan and Nam Kong (also known as Mekong) rivers meet (Nam is “river” in Lao).

Our wanderings also had some purpose initially as we needed to set down some plans for our next while in terms

Nahm Kahn

Luang Prabang is formed at the joining of the Nahm Khan and Nahm Kong rivers

of activities and bookings of tours. We also needed to book a flight from Vientienne to Phnom Phen as the overland route was going to be too extended. We happened into a random travel agency (of which there are plenty!!) and soon made the acquaintance of Tuy. While buying our plane tickets for 10 days down the road, we asked him about some of the local excursions. Long story short, Tuy ended up being our personal guide on a 3-day trek, kayak and elephant training trip that was wonderful (but that tale will be told in another blog).

After purchasing our plane tickets, we stumbled into Utopia (a restaurant that we had read about on the net). It was an incredibly funky place where we lay on pillows and began our sampling of Lao cuisine which has completely captured our fancy.

Editor’s note: We begin a major digression.

A bit of a background on Laos for those that are interested. Laos was heavily hurt by the “secret war” that took place alongside the Vietnam War. Many of the American planes were instructed to make sure that they came back empty as it was always too dangerous to

Rice, Rice and more rice

Morning noon and night, sticky rice is a staple.

land with live bombs. As a result, pilots would drop their unused ammunition over Laos after they had completed a run through Vietnam. The second reason for doing this is that wars really know few boundaries and the North Vietnamese army undoubtedly (as well as the South and Americans) used parts of Laos as means of getting away from the hot spots or finding places to hide and take cover. It also allowed them to access parts of the Ho Chi Minh trail for supplies transport. Unknown to many, Laos was also involved in its own parallel civil war between the Communist Party and the Royal government that was “secretly” supported by the corresponding Cold War world powers. The end result is that Laos was severely damaged as part of all of these conflicts.

Another inauspicious fact about Laos is that it is one of the poorest countries in the world. Most of the population of 7 million people live in villages where the life expectancy is far below that national average (and the national average is around 60 years old almost 20 years less than many of its Asian neighbours). We did not realize the extent of the

Morning Market

Women visit the market three times daily to gather ingredients for their meals.

poverty in Laos until we had a conversation with Andrew from Lotus Villa who is actively supporting a local orphanage (http://deakkumpaorphanage.com/) where many village children end up as a result of the early mortality rate in the villages (due to lack of medical care, etc.).

Despite these heavy burdens to bear, the Lao people are the friendliest, most respectful and wonderful people that we have come across in all of our travels. Their quiet and unassuming demeanour (and no this is NOT an overgeneralization) means that you can walk the streets and enjoy the wonderful culture this amazing city has to offer without any of the hassles that often come with “tourist” reliant economies. It truly is a blessing that cannot be overstated.

Sorry for the major tangent but we now return you to our regularly scheduled program. We left the Connor family lounging in the wonderful traveler’s gathering place known as Utopia (we know that most of these names don’t mean anything to others but we will keep mentioning our favourite places so that anyone who might follow in our footsteps has some starting places). We left with our tastebuds completely satiated and made our way to

Tradition meets modern...

at every intersection.

the night market. This is an extensive nightly event that spans 4 or 5 blocks with a plethora of local crafts and items for sale.

The start of our first full day in Luang Prabang saw Marla really take a step of faith. There were many tours and tuk tuks that promised to show you all of the local sites including waterfalls and caves and elephant riding etc. We had a full week so Sydney had clearly laid out many of the options. Marla’s leap of faith occurred when we made the bold decision to rent mopeds for the day. Having been part of a moped accident before and aware of many other mishaps, we were hesitant to pursue this option. The reality was however that it gave us a freedom that few other alternatives did. We took the plunge and soon, “Motorcycle Mama” was born. By the end of the day, you could not separate Marla from her “hog”. We took things extremely slowly and were cautious at every turn but we all soon gained confidence and ventured out of town to see the Kwang Si waterfall that were 33 km away. When asking directions, we were just

Kwang Si Falls

Deceptively tall and broad flow of water

told, “Get on the main road and go to the end.” This adventure took us through numerous small villages and past many rice fields full of hard working villagers. Our destination of Kwang Si Falls did not disappoint and we spent the afternoon enjoying the pools and the rope swing. (see Matt’s video for the full experience) Needless to say, it is going to be hard to top this day (it was full of everything that everyone wanted). The fun of the mopeds, the great time playing in the falls, the peace and serenity of the rice paddies ----- WOW!!. We finished the day by heading over to a great restaurant on the other side of the river (Dyen Sien) where we went out on a limb and asked the waiter for his favourite dish. He ordered us a White Fish cooked in lemon . When the whole little guy shows up with full eyes staring up at us, the crew was not too anxious to dig in. It turned out that once we peeled away the skin and closed his eyes, the fish was absolutely delectable. What a great finish to the day.

Our subsequent days in Luang

Local Farmers

Rice farming is very labour intensive

Prabang were highlighted by a number of different activities. One day was spent with Tamarind Cooking school learning everything from market etiquette in the morning (absolutely being drenched in rain, we were shown how to buy local meat and produce in the market) to culinary expertise in the afternoon. We were taken to an incredibly peaceful and beautiful waterside location out of Luang Prabang where we learned how to prepare five or six different Lao dishes and then enjoyed the fruits of our labours.

Another day was meant to be a lounge around the town day but we stumbled into a serendipitous trip with Andrew (Aussie Lotus Villa owner) and some other guests to the local orphanage that he supports. (http://www.lotusvillalaos.com/What%20to%20do%20in%20Luang%20Prabang.html)
It really is a special place and the government of Laos has committed a fair amount of money and done a great job. The only problem is that there are still so many more orphans that need a place to grow up. Andrew has a vision and we certainly were captured by it as we toured the great facility and met the incredible children. His organization is working with the government to expand the facility and provide private

Orphanage Cook

Massive rice pot meant to feed 550.

funding for students as well as scholarships so that they can then go on to University. Laung Prabang has a full university where the bulk of students take English but there is also training for medicine, education, law, etc..

A couple of mornings we were silent observers to the daily early ritual of the Monk procession. July 15h was a particular festival as the Monks from this day forward spend 3 months in a focused time of spiritual searching. They continue with their daily activities but for the next 3 months, they do not go back to their homes or do any traveling outside of the Temple and its close surroundings. As a result, the streets were full of local residents giving offerings to the monks on this special day. At 5:45am, the silent procession weaves its way among the streets of Luang Prabang as the brilliant saffron coloured monks accept gifts of sticky rice and food from kneeling participants. Monks then return to their temples to observe their first meal in silence. Whatever they do not consume by noon gets handed out to the poor in the community. This is an age old tradition of social assistance at

Lao Cooks in training

Look our Iron chef Lao, here we come!!

its purest.

We definitely tested and agreed with the notion that just “being” in Luang Prabang is a wonderful experience in and of itself ( quite the antithesis of home, but wonderful that we love both worlds!) The rest of our days were spent on pedal bikes making our way around the surrounding areas and just enjoying the city life. The girls absolutely raved about the massage and pedicures at Khmu Spa ($5 for a 1 hour massage). We sampled a number of different restaurants with our favourite atmosphere remaining, Utopia and the best food we enjoyed at Coconut Garden (a typical meal is costing us around $30 (for all 5 of us) and is absolutely delicious). We are heading out on a 3 day trek next so we will recap that adventure in our next blog.

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