Life is a journey.
So I want to travel as much as I can.
Luang Prabang
May 25, 2014 - May 29, 2014
２０１４年５月２５日ー５月２９日
DAY 1.
It's time for us to leave Vientiane, and visit the UNESCO registered city of Laos, Luang Prabang! And this time, we have a guide (In French!) provided by our business partners, and a 3-star hotel stay for free! After less than 1-hour flight to Luang Prabang, we were greeted by our guide, Naa, and the driver. Naa is young, probably around 20 years - he speaks French fluently, and a little English. We were taken to our hotel, LuangPrabang Inn. The hotel was not busy, they probably had only 1-2 rooms occupied beside us, but it was nicely maintained, and the room was very large. Lucky us!
The city center of Luang Prabang is also very small, and you can walk to anywhere - but this time we had a van to take us around, so we could avoid the heat. First we visited the National Museum, which was built in 1904, and was used to be the Royal Palace. At the entrance there was a beautiful temple, Haw Pha Bang. The temple was started to be built in 1963, but the work finished in 2006! It is very colorful, with gold, green and red - quite different from the temples in Vientiane.
The Royal Palace, now the National Museum, is quite plain on the outside - but once inside, I was amazed by beautiful wall paintings and delicate ornaments. The building is made by wood, and it looked more like an old school than a resident of a king. But as a museum it has variety of cultural and historical things that it is definitely worth a visit. My favorite was the large picture on the wall describing the daily lives of Laotians, in agriculture and commerce, all decorated with small pieces of colored mirror tiles. Naa said the mirror tiles were donated by Japan, but I could not find anything online to prove it. Unfortunately it was prohibited to take pictures inside, and when my husband took a picture of the king's bedroom "secretly", he was caught by a guard and was asked to delete the photo. How embarrassing for him to even try….!
At night, we checked out a bar/restaurant called Utopia. As many commented on TripAdvisor, it was a great place to chill, drink, and smoke hookah! We took a seat at the end of the bamboo made veranda overlooking the Mekong River, and it turned out to be a wonderful choice, because we saw fireflies there! Hippie-looking people in barefoot spend hours just chilling - and we were definitely one of them.
After a few drinks and hookah, we decided to try a French restaurant in town - L'Eléphant. It was a bit overbudget, as we travel cheap, but my husband, who is French, was content -The food was pretty good, and it was added to one of the reasons why Luang Prabang is such a wonderful city, in addition to all the places we visited today, the atmosphere of the city where time seems to move slower than anywhere we have visited. I was already in love with the city!
Today was a day of visiting temples. While traveling, my husband and I say, "one day, one temple" - because in Asia, most of the tourist attractions are temples, and if the more temples you visit, the less memories of each temple we have, and less we enjoy visiting.
But today we had no choice...!
Our next destination was Wat Mai Suwannaphumaham. It was more gorgeous than the first one, as all the walls of the entrance and the inside were decorated with gold colored reliefs. It is supposed to be one of the most sumptuous monasteries, and I understood why - its gold, gold, gold! And reliefs were so detailed and beautiful, all done by hand. There was a small Emerald Buddha statue inside. What else do you need?
Next to Wat Mai, we visited 2 more temples, but I don't even remember the order of visit, as they were all - temples! Wat Visoun and Wat Aham.
Wat Visoun has a stupa with the shape of watermelon, and is referred as That Makmo (means watermelon stupa!). It's covered with concrete so it's not pretty - I wish someone paints it (not as a watermelon but as colorful as other beautiful temples in town)!
As we visited so many temples in a few hours, our appreciations for beautiful architecture and the power of religion is down, but luckily our temple visits were over, and we headed to climb a small mountain located in the middle of Luang Prabang city center, Phousi. It was hot and humid, and climbing up the 329 steps was not easy. There were lots of Buddha statues and religious monuments on the way up, but they were all recently built, and it looked more like a theme park than a religious place. At the top, a golden stupa, That Chomsi crowns the hill. The view of Mekong river from the top is breathtaking - and you realize why Luang Prabang is protected UNESCO city. Red colored rooftops and green colored trees looked like mosaics carefully laid out along the rivers, like a painting. The pictures I took at the top of the Phousi were one of my favorites!
Unfortunately we didn't stay until the sunset, as it was a bit too early, but a lot of articles about Phousi takes about how beautiful the sunset is from there. Maybe next time...
DAY 2.
We were greeted by our guide Naa at 5:30 am!Not because he is mean, but to take us to witness the arm-Giving, where hundred of monks walk along the side walk to collect rice, food and fruits from residents of the city.
This is performed everyday, and during the day, monks eat only what they are given there. Luang Prabang has a large number of monks, as there are lots of temples in town. The color of their robes is bright and they stand out in a small, quite town. The devotion of city residents to wake up early, cook, and donate them to the monks is simply astonishing. It was worth waking up early!
Well, of course we go back to bed, then be picked up again at 8 am, and we headed to Ban Ann Elephant Camp, which is 20 km away. There is not much on the road, just low mountains and trees. Cars are rarely seen, and when you see them, they are mostly trucks.
We took a small local boat downstream along Kharn river to Tadsae Elepahnt camp. It reminded me of my trip to Amazon in Ecuador, where I spent half of my time riding small and medium sized boat on Amazon River.
It was only 10 minutes ride, but we could see a glimpse of local lives, fishermen fishing in the river, local family crossing the river. There is a beautiful waterfall in the elephant camp, but there is no water, and it was not beautiful. But we can see that during the rainy season, the place would be a wonderful place to swim, and enjoy some time with elephants. I gave bananas to the elephants and took photos with them - I felt sorry for paying less than $1, when I know we were probably the only customers of the day.
We then drove to Kuang Sii Fall, which was breathtaking! The color of water was something I had never seen - emerald blue, shining on the surface as if it contains diamond. The color of the photos is not edited! It was, like an utopia. If you look closer, there are lots of fish swimming in the water. The great thing is that we could swim there, and of course I did not miss the chance to do so. The water was a bit cold, and fish kept picking my mosquito bites on my legs, so we did not stay so long - but it was an unforgettable time.
There was a small village to the entrance of the waterfall, and we had a late lunch there. No one else around, as usual, we enjoyed the local noodle - it was not as spicy as the local food we ate in Vientiane, thankfully! There were lots of cats in the restaurant, begging us to feed them - animals are part of lives in Asia, and I love it that way.
On the way to return to the city, we made a short stop at Black Hmong Village. It seemed like a common stop place for tourists, as there were many hand-made handicraft shops in the village. Though they were all beautiful, I didn't have enough cash to buy anything, unfortunately. The villagers tried to sell us things, but they were never too pushy - they said hello, and when they saw we were not going to buy anything, they left us alone and continued their lives.
Compared to Cambodia and Thailand, Laotians are shy and not pushy when they want to sell something. In the city, my husband was amazed to find that most of tuktuk drivers say "hello" or "good evening" first, and they didn't follow us to allure us to use their services. (In Cambodia, they follow you for blocks, saying "Tuktuk? Tuktuk?")
Laotians are so.... laid back!
Back in town, we walked to the night market, which is held every night in the city center. There are so many Night Markets in Asia, but this one is one of my favorites, because sellers never tried to sell something persistently. Of course they have to make a living, so they need to sell - but it doesn't seem to make them pushy. The girls I tried to negotiate seemed very humble in negotiating, almost ashamed to keep a high price - I am often quite a good bargainer, but this time they were so sweet that I didn't push hard. I bought a few souvenirs for my husband's family and my family, and left the market feeling happy. There is nothing worth than leaving a store feeling ripped off!
We found a small street near the market, where small local restaurants fill both sides of the street. Foods available there were so cheap, and we found our favorite store, where you can put anything you want to eat on a plate for 10000 Kip, which is US$1! All the food I tasted was amazing, and the special thing about the place was the smile of the "mami" (grammy in French) selling the food. She was so special! We loved it so much that we returned there the following two days, but somehow her shop was closed.... both my husband and I were devastated not to see her smile again!
Day 3.
Today started with a visit to another temple in town, Wat Xieng Thong. ...Another temple!
Wat Xieng Thong was most memorable among all the temples in Luang Prabang, because its exterior wall was decorated with the same colored mirror tiles that were used on the walls of the National Museum, which was my favorite.
It was early in the morning that we saw local residents making their daily visits to the temple - rituals so humble, forgotten in the busy present.
I am not religious, but I love learning about different religions, and see how they affect people's daily lives. I am always amazed by the power of people being devoted to religion - of course, it does not always turn out positive, and sometimes can hurt others - but when I look at old churches, cathedrals, temples, tombs for religious figures, which can take hundreds of years to built - I see the power of human beings, and the beauty of believing in something.
Instead of a van, today's transportation is a boat - my husband and I got ourselves a boat big enough for 20 people, for just us!The Mekong River is quite as we cruise upstream. There are no buildings, just the river, trees and mountains. We stopped at the village of Ban Xanghai, where they make the distillation of local rice wine. I tasted and it was surprisingly good! I bought 4 smalls bottles as souvenirs.
When we went back to the boat, we were warned of a storm - so our boat had to be tied with another touristic boat passing by. Despite our worries, the river did not go too wild, and the rain was not too heavy that we only needed to stop for 40 minutes or so, until the rain stopped. Our guide Naa said it is not common to have a storm in the city of Luang Prabang, but is a daily thing in the mountains.
We arrived at Pak Ou Caves, which were crammed with thousands of Buddha statues of various shapes and sizes. Most of them were damaged, unfortunately, as there were times when it was not maintained and many valuable statues made of gold were stolen, and the remaining items were left in the wild. According to the guide, it was built by the order of the king, who wanted to have a quiet place to pray.
I liked the view of the river from the inside the cave - the river flows very peacefully, and the chillness of the cave made me focus. I could understand why the King wanted to go there and pray...
We rode the boat back to Luang Prabang, which was much faster as it was downstream.
Arriving the shore, we took a short drive to Ban Xang Khong, which is well known for its hand weaving. Our guide Naa explained that most of the handcrafts sold at the night market are from here (if they are authentic). Most of the population in the small village seems to participate in handcraft making, other than hand weaving - there was a guy curving wood to make statues of Buddha, and another sawing colorful pieces of cloths to make Lao style souvenirs. Hand weaving factory (too small to call it a factory though, it only had around 10 people working) reminded me of my hometown, where people raise silkworms for making silks.
I bought two silk scarves, one for my husband's aunt, and one for myself. They are so soft, yet very reasonably priced - if I open a shop in Japan, I am sure I can sell them at the price 5 times more!
Since this tour was a famtrip (trip organized by travel agency partners, to let us test their quality), we visited our partner company office in Luang Prabang and said hello. The owner of our partner company was very nice, he shared his passion to make Laos tour more popular among foreigners. It is so true that Laos has a lot to offer, but is still being overlooked or undervalued. I hope my company, and this personal blog can contribute to promote trips to Laos and attract more tourists there - Luang Prabang is so beautiful, peaceful, and full of history.
As it is not overcrowded by tourists, it is the great place to visit now - I am sure in a few years, the country will be more popular and the beauty of quiet towns may change. Why wait?
At night, my husband and I went to the night market again, only to be disappointed that mami shop was not open...but we managed to eat other local food.
On the way to the market, right next to the post office, we found locals playing Pétanque! It is a French sports commonly played at parks and streets, and since Laos was once a French protectorate, Pétanque got popular - my husband was overexcited to see them play. All were men, and most of them, drunk! One of them spoke French, and he was very happy to speak with my husband.
Day 4.
Our famtrip was for 4 days, so we were supposed to leave today, but we asked our partners to let us stay for one more night, for us to have a free day in town, and see a little bit of the town of Luang Prabang ourselves.It was a great idea to stay, because firstly my husband could have "Laos' style" haircut at a very local shop, and secondly we could make a visit to a five star hotel in town, Maison Souvannaphoum Hotel.Across from our hotel was a local barbershop, and it was always crowded with locals. My husband gave it a try, and they washed his hair for 30 minutes, and cut his hair okay...I don't say great, but okay! There was an old guy who was very drunk, getting his ears cleaned. He was talking a lot, to random people in the shop - but no one seemed to be bothered much, just replying honestly (I don't know what they were saying so I am guessing by their tone of voice). He then fell asleep while he had his hair washed, and he was snoring! It was cute to watch a piece of daily lives of Laotians.
After we checked out the hotel Maison Souvannaphoum Hotel, as my husband's friend in Paris asked to take photos there. His friend works for a hotel in Paris, which is managed by the same group that manages Maison Souvannaphoum Hotel, so she wanted to check out. Though we visited in short notice, the staff was very kind and showed us all the rooms. It used to be a residence of a prince, but since the royal family is abolished, it is now converted to a hotel. It has a pool so it is great for hot and humid Luang Prabang. Hotel is split in two buildings, one is the ex-residence of prince, which has 4 large unique rooms, and another that has two stories, a lot of rooms smaller than the other building but all has a beautiful garden view. The place is full of history, so though it is small, visiting different parts of the hotel, will make you want to learn more about the history of Laos.
One of the mysterious things that I learned during this trip was that Laos had royal family only from 1946 to 1975, with 2 kings. Before that, they had the kingdom of Lan Xang, which existed from the 14th to the 18th century, then splitted. The last monarchy was abolished in 1975 because of civil war and strong support for communism. Since my idea of monarchy is long living and prestigious, it was almost sad to learn the fate of the royal family, which was so short. I am not saying that I agree to monarchism, but seeing a country that was monarchy a few decades before is something special. And it was surprising how people of Laos moved on fairly quickly and smoothly and adopted communism.... when I looked at the gifts and souvenirs preserved in the National Museum, which were given to Laos royal family by other royal families still exist in the world, such as Britain and Japan, I felt that I witnessed a piece of history. One royal family considered to be the head of a country, is now hiding somewhere in the mountain, living quietly....
Through living in Cambodia, I felt the warmth of people and humbleness in the growing country, but Laos added a whole another level to it. Our guide Naa said, Laos can be described as a dragon sleeping on top of a treasure box. The dragon can use the treasure, show off the treasure, or sell it - but he prefers to sleep on it. Although I could spend only a few days in the country and it is not enough at all to talk about the country, I agree that that was what I felt from many people there - if they try harder, they know they can get more.... but it is okay, let it be for today, tomorrow will come. The word "capitalism” did not seem to have reached Laos.
During the short stay I did not witness any poverty or suffering of the people - which was good and bad. There was no children begging money on the street, or buying goods to tourists without being accompanied by adults - which is, sadly, a norm in Thailand and Cambodia. I am aware that in Laos, a third of the population of Laos lives below the international poverty line. Laos currently ranks as the 25th hungriest nation in the world. Yet all I saw was a beautiful country, full of historical and natural attractions. So I left the country feeling as if I visited an utopia - where everyone is happy. I know it is not true, so I hope next time I visit, I could see the country more in depth - to see and understand more about the country. I know that not everyone is a fan of seeing the reality - you would rather look at the beautiful side of the country, and turn a blind eye to the "not-so-beautiful" side. When I travel, though, I prefer to keep my eyes open for everything - both good and bad, they exist anywhere in the world, and I almost feel responsible, as a traveler of the world, to know the reality as much as possible. I do not want to belittle nor overestimate problems, but do not want to be ignorant to them.
Of course, when I sell travels or encourage people to visit somewhere, I will only share the beauty of the places - so this famtrip to Laos was a perfect opportunity for me to believe that Laos is a place people should definitely visit.
