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Published: April 21st 2013
We said goodbye to our Vietnamese guide Kha in Hanoi and transferred to the airport to board our flight to Luang Prabang,
Laos (pronounced ‘Lao’)
.Officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic, it is the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia, bordered by Burma and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the south, and Thailand to the west. The population is around 6.5 million and the official language is Lao. The country is currently made up of about 60%!L(MISSING)ao people and the other 40%!c(MISSING)onsists of various Mon-Khmer groups and H’mong as well as other indigenous hill tribes who mainly live in the mountains and foothills.
On arrival, those in our group from the UK and South Africa had to obtain Visa’s which could not be issued before we left as there is no embassy representative in UK. Our fellow Australian travellers had obtained their visa beforehand so they had to wait whilst we went through the process which took quite a while. Once through we were met by our Laos guide, Vieng who transported us to our guesthouse, the Villa Chitdara in
Luang Prabang a UNESCO World Heritage listed town. We soon
became accustomed to the peace and quiet with hardly any scooters on the roads and no ‘beeping of horns’ so different and laid back to that of Vietnam.
Even though it was a short flight from Hanoi it was extremely hot, 38+ degrees and we only had time for a quick refreshing drink before being whisked off by tuk-tuk, so we were quite tired as we commenced a tour of the picturesque town. The town still retains its original enchanting character and we could see why it has kept its long-standing reputation as a stronghold of Lao culture. It was also the royal residence of the last king and noted as one of the best preserved traditional city in Southeast Asia.
Our guide gave us an overview of the history of Laos which traces its history to the kingdom of Lan Xang (million elephants), which existed from the 14th to the 18th century when it split into three separate kingdoms; Luang Phrabang, Vientiane and Champasak which were later united to become Laos. Laos became independent in 1953 with a constitutional monarchy under King Sisavang Vong who died in 1959. In
1975 his son, King Sisavang Vatthana who had three sons and two daughters was forced to abdicate the throne after a civil war and the Pathet Lao decided to abolish the 600 year old monarchy. Mystery surrounds the family but it is reported that the King, his wife, two sons and other members of the family all died in captivity around 1978 in re-education camps. Some family members escaped along with the younger son who it is reported swam across the Mekong River to Thailand to escape and now lives in exile in Paris.
We visited
Wat Xieng Thong which was near our guesthouse and is noted as the most beautiful temple of Luang Prabang dating back to the 16th Century. There are many other structures in the grounds including a sim, shrines, pavilions as well as several residences. The ornate carved and gilded funeral vehicle of the former king was kept in one of the buildings with vivid red mosaic walls. The carved seven-headed serpent vehicle took up most of the room with many standing Buddhas around the sides. This temple was used for the most important royal ceremonies and housed the bones of
King Sisavang Vong himself. A small dusky pink sanctuary opposite with fantastic glass mosaics was very unique and the colours were outstanding sparkling in the hot sunshine, other shrines were being restored to their former glory and watching us were three monks painting the walls of one of the buildings.
We continued to the
Royal Palace which King Sisavang Vatthana (mentioned above) and his family were the last to occupy, by comparison with most palaces it was quite small and modest. The building was taken over by the government after the revolution and converted into a National Museum. Renovation works were going on whilst we were there but we were able to see a combination of quite simple living accommodation as well as some of the more formal rooms. Several of which contained a treasure trove of paintings, rain drums, silver and china many presented to Laos as diplomatic gifts, even a piece of moon rock taken by one of the Apollo missions. There were also personal items of the queen including a traditional skirt of sinh made and worn by the queen and several beautiful embroidered silk screens she had handmade. On display were
many solid gold and other precious stone Buddha statues of various sizes as well as the Phra Bang the mystical national emblem of the country. According to legend the three foot Buddha statue covered in gold leaf was made in Sri Lanka around the first century before arriving in Luang Prabang in 1359, and so the town was renamed.
The
Reception Room’s walls were covered with large murals that depicted scenes from traditional Lao lifestyles. Each wall was painted with the intention of viewing it at a different time of day depending on the light that entered the windows which then matched the time of day viewed in the painting. The
Throne Room was stunning with the walls decorated with Japanese glass mosaics representing Lao folk tales and customs, these were similar to the walls in the temple above. On display were thousands of artifacts and every day items as well as personal items belonging to the last royal family including a beautiful dress handwoven by the last queen. There were three large royal portraits and each used an artistic device that tricks the eye into thinking you were being followed around the room. One
of the last king was large and his eyes following you as you moved from one side of the room to the other - quite bizarre. In the grounds we saw the Haw Pha Bang recently built to house the Phrabang, although modern the building was beautiful with a sweeping stair case supported by two snaking nagas (dragons).
We left the palace and climbed Phousi Hill which had at least 400 steps to watch the sun set over the city, its surroundings hills and the Mekong River far below. It was a shame but the view was covered in haze and the sun disappeared completely just after we got to the top......... It was an extremely long hike to get there so a bit of a disappointment in the end......... The hill is a local religious site and housed several Buddhist shrines on the way up which did at least ease our upward journey as one could catch ones breath at each station. Later that evening we were picked up by Tuk Tuk and taken to a local restaurant where we had our first Laos meal. The food was excellent and a welcome change from
Vietnamese food which although tasty had becoming a bit repetitive....
We awoke early the next morning to watch the
tak bat, or the Buddhist monks' morning collection of food. The practice of offering food to monks is most visible in Theravada Buddhist countries like Laos and Thailand, where the practice sustains large monastic communities. The saffron-cladded monks leave the monasteries early in the morning and walk down the streets carrying their alms bowls in front of them. With almost eighty temples in Luang Prabang, this adds up to hundreds of monks and our guide said there could be up 500 passing by our guesthouse. Locals (and interested tourists) wait for them, kneeling or sitting on little mats placed on the pavements and place food, flowers or incense sticks into the bowls. Apparently the best rice for the
tak bat ritual is prepared by the almsgivers themselves and they wake up early to prepare a batch of sticky rice. The monks walk in meditation, and the almsgivers reciprocate with respect by not disturbing the monk's meditative peace. For hundreds of years this ritual has cemented the symbiotic relationship between the monks and the almsgivers who maintain them -
by feeding the monks and helping the laypeople make merit,
tak bat supports both the monks (who need the food) and the almsgivers (who need spiritual redemption).
We were grateful that our guide had given us instructions on the ritual and even though we did not wish to participate, being concerned that the
tak bat's growing popularity among tourists may be turning the ritual into a ‘tourist attraction’, we were surprised that it did not. The few tourists who joined a couple of locals outside our guesthouse all participated with deep respect and it was a very moving experience - I think we may have been lucky though being in a quiet part of the town. A small Lao girl who lived opposite our guesthouse had great pleasure in handing over some cookies whilst we watched from the other side of the road, she had obviously done the same on many occasions. The monks proceeded quietly up the road followed by several dogs and entered the temple at the top of the street where some of them wandered around the grounds ‘gifting on’ small lumps of rice over their temple walls, shrines and even on
the Buddha statues themselves. The next morning it was pouring with rain and the locals were out there again as the bare footed monks filed past.
After a good breakfast we walked down to the great
Mekong River behind our guesthouse and boarded a long boat to travel upstream. The narrow boat was soon gliding down the fast flowing ‘milky tea’ colour river with the peaceful Lao landscape passing swiftly on both sides. There was almost no other craft on the river apart from a few local fishermen passing by in small canoes with a wave. We were hoping to see some waterbirds but as everywhere on this trip there were not many to see, although a small flock of what looked like large storks settled on some trees in the distance and we did spot a blue flash which could have been a kingfisher.......We continued past several villages and watched locals washing clothes and themselves in the murky waters with children playing nearby as well as several water buffalo grazing - so restful. We also passed a large building that our guide told us was a prison which had a large vegetable garden alongside
the riverbank which the prisoners tended. We also passed several people waist deep in the water panning for gold - not sure what the results were though! Reminded us of our time in New Zealand when we met a local near Arrowtown who had been panning in that area all his life but was still not a wealthy man......
After about an hour we moored by a couple of other boats where there was a huge hole in the steep limestone cliff face with a white painted wall snaking up the mountain side. We had arrived at pilgrimage site used for hundreds of years by local Buddhists, the sacred
Buddha caves of Pak Ou. The caves were quiet with only a few other visitors and we climbed a flight of stone steps to reach the entrance and were greeted by hundreds of Buddha statues left to honor or commemorate or to make merit. On looking closer, the hundreds start to seem like thousands of them in a variety of different colours and sizes, many gathering dust and some placed high up in every little nook and cranny of the cave. This lower part of the
cave is called
Tham Ting and there are about 2500 or more Buddha statues here. Another steeper flight of steps and you reach the upper caves called
Tham Theung where we encountered many more statues, this cave was larger and deeper and we were lucky we had a torch or we would not have been able to see anything.
Apparently the local Lao people have been coming to the Pak Ou Caves for thousands of years bringing statues of the Theravada Buddha. The locals still make their way there and continue to bring Buddha Statues so it is an ever growing number. During the Laos New Year which is in a couple of weeks time, pilgrimages of Lao people travel by boat to these caves and perform the washing ceremony of all the old Buddha images. Previously this was performed by the King and members of the Royal Family (we had passed the place where he used to stop and picnic with his family on his visits) but now is performed by the Governor of Luang Prabang and local families - by the huge covering of dust this will take a long time
this year.
After our visit to the caves, we crossed the Mekong and walked up the sandy bank to a small village and had a light lunch overlooking the river. Later we walked around the small picturesque village of
Xanghai to witness the daily life of some of the locals on the riverbank, which included some home industries such as rice wine distillation and weaving. We watched a local show us how they produced the wine and had a few samples of the rice wine which was very potent you had to swallow straight away and not sip it.........We then tried the Black Sticky Rice Wine which was ‘pink’ in colour but this was very sweet. There were many bottles of wine displayed on a wooden counter to purchase but we were not tempted as many had snakes, scorpions, millipedes and even geckos inside the bottles...........not very appetizing, we did think of bringing some back for presents but thought not! We walked on through the village and past a colourful temple where the monks were painting the steps in the sunshine. We watched several ladies weaving and as we left the village we
met a lady who proudly showed us her newly born baby girl.
As we returned to the boat two small Lao children approached us with a little
bird in a bamboo cage which at first we thought was a toy. On closer inspection however we could see that it was a very tiny swallow chirping away in distress. On asking the child’s mother who was standing nearby what it was all about she replied that if we purchased it we would be paying for the birds freedom by letting it go from the cage. I am afraid we were a little gullible and purchased the bird for 20,000 Kep (about $2) and then worried that if we let it go here the children would catch it again so we took it with us and climbed back on the boat.............. Our guide said that these birds are offered throughout the country for tourist to offer for blessings but we were just concerned that it would not survive as it was very small. The bird was a young swallow and we poured water into a the lid of our water bottle and did manage to
get it to take some and we then covered it up with my scarf as we floated back down the river but all we could hear was the little swallow chirping away in distress. When we reached shore we walked over to a little tree and as I pulled back a little bit of the bamboo cage the bird hopped out on to a branch. He did not look as though he could fly but at least he had been given a chance for freedom and after a while we walked off as he still clung to the branch - we hope he made it........
We walked up to another village called
Ban Xang Khong, known for its handmade paper, and enjoy a short walk around the village and were shown the various processes for making the paper. We purchased a small picture that a local boy was painting and he signed the bottom for us. On the way back to Luang Prabang we stopped outside Wat Visoun, the holiest temple of the city dating back to 1513 and the reign of King Wisunarat (Visoun) it is Luang Prabang’s oldest temple and was
once home to the Prabang Buddhas. It was entirely rebuilt in 1887 after being destroyed by the invading Black Flags from Southern China who left with most of the priceless Buddha images made from jade, gold and precious gems by breaking open the Stupa. One of the temple’s most unique features is an unusual shaped Stupa in the courtyard designed by the wife of King to be a lotus flower but referred to by locals as
‘the watermelon stupa’ shaped like the fruit from which it takes its name.
After breakfast we drove west to visit the
Kuangsi Waterfalls - the waterfalls are beautiful even in the dry season, particularly the lower ones that look like floating rice paddies. On the way into the falls you you pass by a Asiatic Black Bear sanctuary, a home for rescued bears that have been kept in cages or inhumanely used for fresh bile collection for Chinese medicine - there were about 25 there during our visit. In the height of the wet season the falls lose their beautiful clear turquoise water colour and becomes brown so it was probably a good time to visit. There
are several cascades to the falls and it is a popular swimming spot for locals as well as tourist. We were looking forward to a refreshing swim and were really surprised as the pools were quite warm, compared with some of the falls we had dipped in elsewhere. We had a picnic lunch at the top part of the falls before heading back to town.
On our return to Luang Prabang we visited
Ock Pop Tok which mean east meets west, a craft centre started by a local weaver and an English photographer a decade ago. Set in a Mekong garden it serves as a resource centre bringing together local women through their traditional skills and promoting the beauty of Laotian textiles. We were shown around the living crafts centre and given a brief explanation about the rearing of silkworms for the production of raw silk, who makes silk in Laos and a bizarre list of facts regarding sericulture (silkworm farming). Basically they are fed mulberry leaves and after the fourth moult they climb a twig placed near them and spin their silky cocoon. We were introduced to several of the weavers and shown the
different weaving techniques as well as how the natural dyes are produced; Indigo (green), turmeric (yellow), sappan (pink or purple), lemongrass (light yellow) annatto (monk robe orange), indigo paste (blue). On average a weaver can weave around nearly one foot (30cm) a day, it looked very complicated to us so I think that would be quite a challenge, perhaps when I have a little more time..... The centre had a small craft shops as well as a restaurant and we noticed on the drinks menu,
silkworm poo tea - so glad I do not drink the horrid brew.......even Paul gave it a miss.
Tomorrow we travel South to
Vien Vieng only 250k but we have been told to expect a nine hour coach journey because of the state of the roads and the route takes you over several mountain passes. We have been warned of its bendy roads all the way with not many ‘happy houses’ on the way - so hopefully we will see you there.
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Christa and Reiner
non-member comment
Here are your fans from Saarbrücken
Hi Sheila and Paul, we are joining your blog again and enjoy travelling with you. I am doing papercopies so Margret can read it too - once in her lifetime. Wish you the very best, big hug Christa and Reiner