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Published: June 13th 2017
Geo: 19.8841, 102.142
DAY EIGHTEEN (1/20/13) — Luang Prabang, Laos
Farewell Tour
Shortly after dawn, a gong announces the end of morning prayers and the beginning of a procession of monks emerging from the temples to seek alms. We rise before the roosters and are lined up as the monks walk single file past us in their gold and orange robes, barefooted, with heads closely cropped and eyes lowered. We "make merit" by placing rice in the buckets of the monks, and crackers in the pots of the novices. Luang Prabang is a UNESCO World Heritage site because of this continued live tradition.
Etiquette: Shoulders, chest and legs should be covered. Hats and shoes should be removed. Use only provisions supplied; do not by from vendors. Do not speak to, touch or make eye-contact with the monks. Keep your head below that of the monks. Women should kneel.
The whole process, while holy and moving, reminds of the “I Love Lucy” episode where she and Ethel get a job on the assembly line of a candy company. They start to fall behind and things get crazy. So it was with the monks. It is stressful to dole out rice balls to the seniors and crackers to the juniors, as 300 of them speed along past you. You miss some, you goof up, you laugh. Lucy should have been here.
Mary Clyne, one of the tour group's class clowns, runs out of rice before 100 of the 300 monks have passed by her. “I'm Italian. They look skinny. I have a need to fatten them up. I'm incapable of dishing out tiny amounts. One chubby guy came by and I gave him two helpings.” Our group wasn't too good about abiding by protocol.
Next is the farmer's market which is WAY more appealing than those we experienced in Vietnam. The produce is nicer looking and attractively displayed, the meats and fish are appealing for the most part (except the buffalo intestine which is really NOT appealing). There are goods and services available as well; I pick up a “silver” Ganish statue, the elephant man.
Note: Laos and Cambodia are two of the poorest nations in the world. They trade only with a few neighboring countries, and then the only thing they have to export is agricultural products.
After breakfast at La Belle Epoque at the hotel, which follows our first two hours of dawn exploration, we embark on the
mandatory half-day bus tour every city is known for. We begin with Prabang Temple, with its lovely gold and emerald pagoda-style architecture.
Laos was a kingdom until the mid-1950s. King Sisavang Vong built the Royal Palace between 1905-1910. His son, King Sisavang Vatthana, who was a “ladies” man, with 15 wives and 50 children, was the last monarch. In 1975, the Laos people gained independence; and the following year the palace was reopened as a national museum. This is where we are headed next.
This is the first of many times today that we must abandon our shoes in order to enter. And this place requires us to check our cameras and purses at the door. First place in a long time that successfully handicapped me on taking photos … I've managed to nab photos of David in Florence, the Sistine Chapel and the Kremlin.
Turns out the Thai are even more serious about this. There are many royal buildings I will encounter over the next several days where I can't even take my camera and where there are no shots when I search Google Images. They can't take a joke.
A note about Whisperers: We could really use Whisperers at many of
these locations, especially the temples where guides in many languages are competing for time and attention. Also, I wander off taking photos (e.g., of Angkor Wat) and I miss the history the guide is sharing. It's a trade-off. But Larry tells me because these are underdeveloped countries, Whisperers do not work in most places. The equipment requires satellite transmission and it's not available in most of the remote locations. Bummer.
We visit the Repository, Throne Hall, and Wat Mai, a lovely red and gold temple with both a gold Buddha and an emerald Buddha. Then it's on to Wat Xiang Thong, once a royal temple where Laotian kings were crowned; it is still home to the royal funeral chapel with the 12-meter-high funeral chariot.
Lunch is on our own in Luang Prabang. We ALL select LP's only pizza parlor, which is, at best, adequate. Joe Adorjan orders an esoteric combination of shrimp and spinach (#99). We all get our standard orders but he keeps asking about 99. It arrives 45 minutes later, after they go out and buy the shrimp … and grow the spinach. The spinach is mostly stalks and is impossible to chew. Adequate would not be a word
Joe would use to describe his lunch.
We drop off a few who want to relax at the hotel and prepare for tonight's farewell festivities. The majority of us head to the countryside to Tad Kuang Si waterfalls. The road is bumpy, the ride is “thrilling” and the falls are underwhelming. They are pretty, with several aqua pools to swim in, but similar to waterfalls in half the states in America. On the way back to town, we stop in a country village and some of the ladies make some last-minute purchases.
The falls are nice but nothing special. Tauck should consider making this an optional event on the last day. I, myself, wish I had been among the wiser ones to who took time off this afternoon.
Our farewell dinner tonight is highlighted by a special Lao welcome and a traditional Lao Baci well wishing ceremony complete with music and dance. We all come away with cotton strings forming bracelets on our wrists.
Lovely young girls perform Laotian traditional dances throughout the evening. There is a cocktail function with passed hors d'oeuvres. This is followed by sitdown appetizers, mostly family-style salads. Then grilled meat, side dishes and soup. And the food station offers
five desserts, including an Asian one called mango sticky rice which is quite nice.
As a group, we have some entertainment of our own. First, Cheryl Morley announces her “Save Mary Clyne's Indochina Adventure Foundation.” Mary has been in search of souvenir coffee mugs and has found only one, a hideous thing from Cu Chi Tunnels with Ho Chi Minh's picture on it. So Cheryl asks all her new friends to send souvenir mugs to Mary over the coming weeks.
Next we have “Show and Tell”, where guests have been asked to bring some of their favorite purchases to the final night banquet and show them to their friends. Mary brings her mug, which she refers to as her “Uncle Ho'” mug. I show off my rainbow pants. Cheryl brings her Ganish statue. Joe Adorjan, wearing a black shirt, says he would have worn his new white elephant shirt, but he has discovered that the shirts only come in one size (small), but they put all different labels in them. His is labeled XXL but it has the same measurements as Cheryl's medium. Hint: Try any clothes you consider buying on.
Mitch Friedman shows off a tabletop container made of wood that he
and Jill have purchased. Turns out it's an urn for pet ashes, so maybe that will diminish its use on table top. Frank Gundlach shows off Mitch, who was his main man in helping him acquire a “Rolex” for $12 at the Phnom Penh Central Market.
Following dinner, and before dessert, we have a “flash mob” performance of “Oklahoma” from the musical of the same name. Larry Abbott, our guide, is from Lawton, OK and we thank him with song. We were enthusiastic if not good. The video is coming soon to a YouTube near you!
Our last event of the night is releasing Asian lanterns into the sky, with a secret wish. Mine is for continued good health and continued exotic travel. It has been a grand evening.
Some final commentary about traveling here:
1. Manage your expectations about luxury travel with Tauck. They do the best they can but some things are just beyond their control … like flight schedules and public bathrooms. Hotels are lovely, meals are mostly very good but these countries are poor and underdeveloped. Roads, pollution, sanitation and other issues abound.
2. Bring tons of medicines to handle digestive infections (Cipro, for instance); and cold and allergy medications,
etc. Hardly a person on the tour went unscathed – there was much drug exchanging. Pollution (esp. in Vietnam) showed up as sinus infection, upper respiratory issues, disguised as colds. And traveling in underdeveloped countries brings a risk of dysentery, of course. These issues were still catching up with our comrades as they were departing for their homelands.
3. You can't have too much or too many tissues, wet wipes or hand sanitizer. Consider shipping a crate ahead of time. ;-)
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Pete D'Angelo
non-member comment
Absolutely fantastic photography, but after Italy I am not surprised. so much of what you shot reminded me of when we went to the Olympics in Beijing. Thanks for sharing. Safe trip home.. Pete