At leisure in Luang Prabang

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Geo: 19.8841, 102.142

The three nights and 2 days we spent here were the most relaxing and probably some of the most interesting of the trip. We arrived on Wednesday afternoon and were taken to our hotel. This was out of the town in a beautiful setting. It reminded me of the Fijian as it was set in lush gardens with separate annexes for the rooms.
Te first afternoon we visited the many Wats in this town. These Buddhist temples each have their own small monasteries where the monks live, work and train novices. At the first we sat in on a candle dedicating ceremony which was interesting. Each shrine has its individual character. Our guide Wat (yes that is what he said to call him) was very informative. The most interesting of the 5 temples we saw was the last, the Royal temple. In one large, beautifully decorated building was the huge funeral carriage painted in gold and red used for the last king of Laos. Luang Prabang was the home of the kings for many years.
The colourful glass mosaics were rather garish but from afar looked very effective.
The second day had us on a long-tailed boat pottering up the Mekong river to the Pak Ou Caves. These are natural limestone caves where people have deposited hundreds of Buddha statues over the years turning them into a place of pilgrimage. We also stopped at Xang Hai village where they made rice whisky and wine. Fletcher naturally tried the whisky while I ventured a sip of the wine. Not bad at all. In the village the local women weave beautiful silk and cotton cloth turning it into great scarves, bedcovers etc. The village also had its temple and resident monk, just like a parish church in Europe. The temples are beautifully looked after and set in lush gardens. The two hour boat ride up and the 1 hour trip back was peaceful and very enjoyable.
The last morning was spent at the Royal Palace, now a museum. This is maintained as it was when the last king was resident here. However, other artefacts have been added. It has a richly decorated throne room and other beautifully painted Reception rooms. The bedrooms though are very plain and austere even in their furnishing. The prize exhibit is the Prabang Buddha dating from the 1st Century AD fom which the town takes its name. It is a small standing Buddha with hands in the Peace position made of wood. They are building an elaborate new temple just to house it.
Our final act in Luang Prabang (and nearly our final act completely!!) was to climb to the top of Mt Phusi which is 100m high in the centre of town. In 35 degree heat with high humidity the over 300 steps, mostly very steep, rather tested us. With plenty of stops on the way up we made it to be rewarded by great views on all sides, but showing my age I took about an hour in our airconditioned hotel room to recover fully.

We are now back in Vientiane ready to catch the plane home for me at least. Fletcher is heading off to Canada for the World Championships. It has been a great holiday but I am ready to leave the heat and return home again.

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