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Published: March 1st 2006
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Cultural show in Luang Prabang
We went to see a cultural show in the Royal Palace in Luang Prabang and got to see crazy animal costumes, dancing and traditional music. Oh dear, it looks like the old travelblog has been falling a bit behind schedule. at the time of writing, i am in what appears to be a old prison cell at an internet cafe in northern vietnam, 18km from the southern chinese border, certainly not in laos where i left off. looks like i have a lot of catching up to do so please bear with me as i try to recollect hazy memories of beer, the heat, and very good (and very bad) food. if it is any consolation, i have been writing in my little journal like a good scholar, but even that is about a week behind. that's my organisation skills for you, as i'm sure jon (and chris) will laugh at!
i will apologise now for the lack of pictures in my blog. there aren't facilities here to get the pictures compressed so will have to wait a couple of weeks til i get to oz then i'll sort out the best of my growing arsenal - now approaching 550! (jon - if it were you i'm sure you may have taken maybe a dozen by now)
anyway, back to Laos.... (lets consult my journal)
Friday 17th Febraury. LUANG PRABANG After an ok-ish breakfast of salty banana pancakes and banana milkshake (they like their banana's here) we head back down to our river boat to continue our second and final day of our cruise down the Mekong river down towards Luang Prabang. After the heat and humidity of the last week it is really shocking to wake up to a morning that is cool and misty - very english weather. it is nice to make use of warm clothing that i have packed.
the morning is pretty busy with lots of local people loading different goods on their boats ready for the continuation of their journey downstream. there are a few orange robed monks walking around and a few people burning their rubbish from the night before.
the boat trip is as nice as the day before and we get to luang prabang bathed in warm late afternoon sunshine. after disembarking we haul are heavy sacks up a flight of steep stairs and get onto the local form of transport here - jumbo's! these are small clapped out rascal vans with a cage in the back and two benches either side they you all climb into and hold onto for dear life! our jumbo's fuel gauge and accelerator dials didn't work so guess the driver was feeling lucky.
the town of luang prabang is the fourth largest in laos which isn't really saying much as there as only 60,000 people here. if anything it has a smalltown village-like feel to it, with a wonderful dream like atmosphere in late evening. it is located within towering limestone peaks which are covered in untouched forests and nestled against the mekong river. due to the wonderful array of french colonial villas and impressive buddhist temples in the town, it has been a UNESCO world heritage site for around the last ten years. as we zoom through the streets we are waved at by the hundreds of kids that are running around, and head on towards our accommodation, the Thong Bay Bungalows. Although these were on the far side of town, they are absolutely wonderful and far better than anyhthing i was expecting. We stayed in little wooden huts which were surrounded by tropical gardens. really relaxing and a nice contrast from the smelly rooms in the last guesthouse we stayed at in pak beng.
we all went out for a really nice meal in town in an old colonial villa, i had fish steamed in a palm leaf - very nice but a bit too rare in places for me. after eating we headed off to a local pub, and all sat outside around a big log fire and chatted away and played a few drinking games. the cocktails and drinks were a bit odd. i tried one called a 'beer bomb' which consisted of beer, the local spirit Lao Lao, 7up and topped off with a red bull substitute. and yes it was as awful as it sounds. still with prices so cheap out here, you can afford to try loads off different food and drinks and only waste a dollar or two if you don't like it! getting used to australian prices is definitely going to be a shock!
after a beer or two we head back to the huts and i manage to get a pretty decent night's sleep which is pretty much mozzie free but not gecko free - the little critters were crawling around the shower and insisted on trying to keep us awake all night with their croaking!
Saturday 18th February LUANG PRABANG Following a breakfast of fruit pancakes and gorgeous warm baguettes and jam (thank the french influence) we head into town at 9am by jumbo and go on a guided tour of the Royal Palace, which housed the Royal Family until their abdication and exile from the throne following the takeover of communist forces from the east in 1975 (at the end of the Vietnam war). The palace is now a museum preserving the possessions of the Lao Royal Family and was constructed in 1904 by the French (after they decided they didn't like the original so destroyed it and built a new one on top of it). Despite this, it is a tasteful fusion of french and lao styles. The pediment over the top of the main entrance is decorated with the symbol of the monarchy: Airavata, the three-headed elephant, being sheltered by the sacred white parasol. Displays within the museum include theatrical masks, musical instruments, swords, gifts to the nation (including a piece of moon rock from the USA and a tacky plastic model of the Apollo 11 moon lander), the King and Queen's bedrooms, and mosaics of mirrors and coloured tiles depicting scenes from the nation's past.
After our visit to the museum i returned to our guesthouse with Andrew and Richard from my group (an aussie and a canadian), and we had the afternoon learning to cook (and eat!) local dishes consisting of: mountains of chicken and vegetable spring rolls, a beef and coconut cream curry (as good as it sounds), and a local speciality dish called Larp - which is a salad dish consisting of chicken and pork, lemon grass, chilli, spring onions, garlic and other bits and bobs. quite spicy but it all goes down very well with lots of rice and the superb local beer, Beer Lao! see http://www.beer-lao.com/ for pics of the beer and more interesting facts on laos.
the spring rolls were the best i have ever tasted and i can only hope that i can remeber how to make them when i get home!
after cooking we all head into the country to visit a children's orphanage, and take along some donations of blankets, footballs and mosquito nets. it was a good experience to see that even kids who have very little can all be so happy. they definitely enjoyed the footballs!
in the evening we went to the Royal Theatre to catch a performance of the traditional dancing and singing which was really impressive. a good oppurtunity to see some of the local costumes, brightly coloured masks, and musical instruments. after a river meal which costed $2 it was time to call it a night.
This is where i'll end now as i reckon they'll be shutting up shop soon. gotta head off and fill out immigration forms for our trip across the border tommorrow. will try to keep in touch, and keep up to date on the blog front.
keep me posted on how you're all getting on,
cheers
phil
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pianosupernova
Lucy Hewes
sounds wonderful
Wow, all this food and drink tasting at such cheap prices sounds amazing! And I was thinking that the Australian prices are cheap compared to back home...