After our silk-buying expedition it was off to the airport for our one-hour flight to Luang Prabang, Laos. We stayed at a wonderful hotel right on the Mekong, Mekong Villa by Xandria. After getting the requisite sundown pictures, we were off for some exploring. Luang Prabang is a lovely little town with lots of old French buildings. We walked through the night market which we liked much better than the Thai ones—more interesting craft items.
The next morning was spent visiting some of the temples in town, observing the monks in their daily tasks as well as seeing their laundry on the clothesline. The shape of the Lao temples is very similar to that in Thailand, but they aren’t quite as elaborately decorated and don’t generally use floral motifs. I like both styles.
After a great lunch of red curry soup and baguette sandwich on the banks of the Mekong, we took the two hour boat trip to Pak Ou caves. We knew that the ride would be better than the caves which are set on a bluff high over the river and which contain more than 500 Buddha images brought there by the faithful. The fun was observing life along the river, seeing kids swimming naked, men working on their fishing nets, women harvesting seaweed.
We also stopped at the so-called Whiskey Village where we saw the liquor being made and bought a couple bottles of wine which tasted more like brandy and a bottle of whiskey which Glenna said tasted awful and which she bought as a joke for a friend of hers in India.
Our second day in Laos started with a walk through the morning market,
marveling at the exotic items like frogs with their legs all tied together, birds in tiny cages, and all kinds of meat and fish covered with flies. There were also unfamiliar vegetables and fruits, some of which are in the soup and are totally inedible, presumably there to flavor it.
Then it was up the 328 steps of Mt Phousi (and I made it!) to the temple at the top. It is up here that the birds we saw in the market are let go as part of a devotion. From there we got a good view of the city.
After lunch we went to Kuang Si waterfall about 50 minutes by songthaew south of Luang Prabang. Along the route to it we saw some pretty lazy bears in a preserve.
The waterfall is near a small village in a jungle. I was expecting a tall waterfall, but this was a beautiful series of small falls and numerous blue-green pools. Glenna had a great time swimming and trying out the rope swing which was tied to a tree which protruded into a pool. You grabbed the robe and pushed off to the center of the pool and then let go. This is a very popular destination with good reason. We loved it.
We didn’t see a lot of piety among the monks. I had read that almost all Lao boys are monks for at least three months as a matter of education or discipline or punishment. We had seen them mingling easily with boys playing football (soccer) in the temple yard after their nightly devotions the night before.
We had enjoyed our experience with the elephants in Chiang Mai but we hadn’t gotten enough, so we signed up for another excursion to an elephant preserve, traveling along a really bumpy road to get there. This time we got to ride them for an hour, down a steep and narrow trail to the river, through the river, and up the bank back to the camp. Glenna was thrilled to get to switch places with the mahout and ride on the elephant’s neck most of the way.
When we got back, we bought a bunch of bananas and fed them to our elephant; they eat all day long to get the 250 kg that they need, and he was tearing up and shoveling in sugar cane with the bananas.
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| Sunset on the Mekong |
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| French building on Sisavangvong Rd |
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Night market in Luang Prabang
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The next morning was spent visiting some of the temples in town, observing the monks in their daily tasks as well as seeing their laundry on the clothesline. The shape of the Lao temples is very similar to that in Thailand, but they aren’t quite as elaborately decorated and don’t generally use floral motifs. I like both styles.
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Interior of old royal palace
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| Monks' laundry |
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| Lao temple and monk |
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Songthaew on Sisavangvong Rd
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Red curry soup and baguette
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| Some of the 500 Buddhas at Pak Ou |
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| Houseboat |
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| Glenna on the trip to Pak Ou |
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| Swimming in the Mekong |
We also stopped at the so-called Whiskey Village where we saw the liquor being made and bought a couple bottles of wine which tasted more like brandy and a bottle of whiskey which Glenna said tasted awful and which she bought as a joke for a friend of hers in India.
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| Glenna on the bridge to Whiskey Village |
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| Snake in the whiskey bottle |
Our second day in Laos started with a walk through the morning market,
marveling at the exotic items like frogs with their legs all tied together, birds in tiny cages, and all kinds of meat and fish covered with flies. There were also unfamiliar vegetables and fruits, some of which are in the soup and are totally inedible, presumably there to flavor it.
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| Birds in cages |
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| Black chickens and flies |
Then it was up the 328 steps of Mt Phousi (and I made it!) to the temple at the top. It is up here that the birds we saw in the market are let go as part of a devotion. From there we got a good view of the city.
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| Flowers used in devotions |
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| The 328 steps up Mt Phousi |
After lunch we went to Kuang Si waterfall about 50 minutes by songthaew south of Luang Prabang. Along the route to it we saw some pretty lazy bears in a preserve.
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| Glenna in the songthaew to Kuang Si |
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| Lazy bear |
The waterfall is near a small village in a jungle. I was expecting a tall waterfall, but this was a beautiful series of small falls and numerous blue-green pools. Glenna had a great time swimming and trying out the rope swing which was tied to a tree which protruded into a pool. You grabbed the robe and pushed off to the center of the pool and then let go. This is a very popular destination with good reason. We loved it.
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| Some of the Kuang Si falls |
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| Swinging out over the pool |
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| Glenna enjoying her swim |
On the way there and back we got a chance to observe rural life, passing by several settlements where the houses and stores are just bamboo sided structures on stilts. Most of the people in this part of the world live a subsistence existence, giving you pause when you bargain in the market place. Pennies to us is the difference between eating and not eating to them.
One of the must-see events in Luang Prabang is the morning alms procession which we did the next morning, and it really was interesting. Women come with huge vats of wonderful smelling rice which they dish out into smaller containers for the alms givers who line up along a carpet put down on the sidewalk on the main street. About 6:30 the Buddhist monks, some older but mostly quite young, process down the street, each carrying a pot into which the alms givers put a handful of rice or bananas or other fruit or money or bagged snacks. I’m not sure I would want to eat that rice, but it’s all the food they have for the day. There were also a few obviously poor people along the route to whom the monks gave some of what they had if they had too much.
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| Monk receiving alms |
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| Monks in line for alms |
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| Woman receiving alms |
We didn’t see a lot of piety among the monks. I had read that almost all Lao boys are monks for at least three months as a matter of education or discipline or punishment. We had seen them mingling easily with boys playing football (soccer) in the temple yard after their nightly devotions the night before.
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| Soccer in the temple yard |
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| Down toward the river |
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| Glenna riding on the neck |
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| Glenna and me on our ride |
When we got back, we bought a bunch of bananas and fed them to our elephant; they eat all day long to get the 250 kg that they need, and he was tearing up and shoveling in sugar cane with the bananas.
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| Greedy elephant |
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Sugar cane and banana at the same time
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I started collecting wooden and marble elephants on our first trip to India. But I had recently thought to myself, why am I collecting these; they’re just big fat animals. Well, after these two experiences and reading the literature at the preserve, I don’t feel that way anymore. They are the gentlest giants you can possibly imagine, and you can’t help but love them. The preserves are there to rescue them from the grueling life they would otherwise have in the logging industry where they are sometimes worked to death. The notice said that elephants must earn their keep (what other animal has to earn his keep?), and giving rides to tourists is much better than the other life. They also provide a retirement home for those who can no longer work in their long life of 100 years or so.
The excursion also included a boat ride to a dry waterfall for which the guide was apologetic. But, hey, it’s the dry season. This trip to the preserve was one of our top two excursions.
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Boating to the waterfall
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After visiting a few more temples and a walk along the two rivers, we were off to the airport for our flight to Hanoi.
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