Oh so historic Luang Prabang

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After the remoteness of Laos' northern provinces, Luang Prabang was quite a contrast. Beautiful in a very different way than Luang Nam Tha, Luang Prabang is a lovely town with lots of history, colonial architecture, temples and of course, MANY tourists. Deemed a UNESCO World Heritage city in 1995, LP has since been pumped full of funding and is now a premier tourist destination - drawing foreigners into it's unique character of contrasting architecture. What I loved about this town was that it promoted many environmental efforts to reduce plastic bottle and other wastes generated by tourists as well as promote fair trade handicrafts from the surrounding villages.

Picture this and you will have a sense of the essence of this town - more upscale cafes than Tim Hortons in Hamilton, fancy restaurants serving RED WINE (!!!) and loads of boutiques housed in old French colonial buildings showing stunning (and very expensive) handicrafts such as beautiful silks and handwoven cotton clothes. However, what makes LP unique is that as there are numerous Buddhist temples seamlessly interwoven within the European-feeling town centre.

I was only in LP for 2 short days since Tory had been there for awhile and was ready to move on. I spent most of my time wandering the streets, writing in my journal in beautiful cafes and seeing the temples. The other major attraction was the Hmong night market where there were textiles, handicrafts, jewellery, handmade paper, etc etc etc. It was actually one of my favourite markets since it was so laid back and offered some of the BEST food. One night for dinner after stopping at about 5 or 6 different stalls, I ate: spring rolls in peanut sauce, tofu stir-fry w/ rice, grilled chicken breast on a stick, a cashew donut, a beer Lao and of course, a banana pineapple shake. All for maybe about $2.50.

Tory and I also did a day trip up the Mekong river to the Pak Ou caves - a historic site dating back to the 13th century consisting of two large limestone caves filled with a large variety of Buddha statues where Lao royalty have apparently been celebrating New Years for many years. It was actually a bit creepy but also interesting. Better, was our afternoon spent at Tat Kuang Si, the most GORGEOUS waterfall I have EVER laid eyes on. It was just stunning and you could climb up to the very top and traipse around at various levels where the water flows through limestone pools. Near the bottom, there were a number of places where you could swim, jump off of and play in smaller sets of waterfalls. It was the perfect way to spend a hot, sweaty afternoon. Too bad we hadn't packed a picnic!

While in LP, we stayed in a very prison-like room w/ a shared bathroom (and a bed full of red ants) but in a guesthouse run by the sweetest Lao women who served all of the guests dinner one night. It was great and so generous for them to share with us - a highlight for sure.

Another quick highlight was the observance of the alms giving ceremony which happens every morning from about 4am - 6am. During that time, the many monks in LP go about to all of the different neighborhoods, shuffling silently in file, stopping at each house where the woman of the household sits on the curb and hands out a bit of sticky rice to each passing monk. I felt very awkward watching this religiously important ceremony and stayed very much out of the way and didn't take any pictures but I'm so glad I got to see it.

Again, another great experience happened when I stumbled upon a weaver's house and studio off of a back alley behind a temple. The woman was fantastic and was so lovely, patiently explaining and showing me the whole process of weaving from the mulberry leaves, the silk worms, the cocoons, the spinning, the dying of the thread (using natural dyes from plants in her garden) to the weaving of intricate scarves and wall-hangings. Her grandmother and mother before her were weavers - and I was fortunate enough to meet and speak to her 86 year old mother who had the greatest toothless smile ever. Of course, I had to buy something! Don't worry, I only came away with an indigo-dyed scarf for $5US. Not bad!

Short and sweet (although I could've stayed longer solely for the delicious bakery treats!), we were on our way after 2 days on to party-happy Vang Vieng. Should be an interesting change from the curfew-enforced nightlife in LP!

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