Luang Prabang

There is a reason Lao people arrive up to an hour early for the bus – there is one public pus a day that goes to Luang Prabang, its a 10 hour journey and it leaves at 9am. Which is the same time the minivan leaves but it only takes 8 hours, hence is more expensive. Our minivan was being loaded up at 8.40 (the backpacks and other assorted agricultural sacks being lifted onto the roof and tied down) when we heard the splutter of an engine and the public bus pulling out of the station. The bus driver obviously couldn’t be bothered waiting anymore. Our minivan driver left it till 8.55 before departing. The journey ended up being an adventure in itself. The road was across the mountains, so winding roads and beautiful scenery, not to mention a top speed of 30kph. After an hour or so we stopped to pick up a local man who was flagging us down. As we stopped a couple

of children pointed to our wheel, so the driver got out to have a look at it. Turned out it was losing air so he changed the wheel, giving the passengers a 10 min break to stretch our legs. A Lao lady from the van climbed out, her machete swaying from her belt. She walked to the undergrowth on one side of the road and started hacking large branches. The she peeled (de-barked) them and chopped them up into bitesize pieces. As we all boarded the van she had a full bag of edible unidentifiable treats. The flagging down man also climbed aboard but not before picking up his chicken. During the break I had discovered to my horror that the pack up I had loving made for my lunch had become infested with ants and so I left it on the roadside. When we pulled into a local bus station for a lunch stop – not surprisingly I couldn’t find anything to eat, though pork intestine seemed to be the delicacy of the area. My packet of crisps was not the most filling. Back into the van and we drove for at least a minute before the driver stopped to look at the tyre. Back in the van again and this time we drove for a couple of minutes before pulling into a garage. Both the new and old tyre were taken off and patched up whilst the rest of us loitered in the garage. Local man went off to let his chicken run about. Machete lady came over to me to offer some of what she had been nibbling on. She was carrying bunches of what looked like long grasses. She carefully peeled each pod and inside was a tasty rice grain. She gave me a little bunch but after 10 mins I had only managed to get inside about 5 pods. She thought I was highly amusing and probably a little slow. Eventually we all climb inside the van and the journey continues. Lao minivans don’t have aircon they have windows, which is great until you get to certain stretches of road. I was staring out the window when I noticed all the vegetation had turned brown. What on earth could have killed off so much plantlife. For as far as the eye could

see, everything living by the side of the road looked dead. Plants 4 metres away from the road looked fine – had some sort of mass pesticide spray happened? Then it dawned on me. The plants were not dead – they were all covered in a very thick layer of brown dust. The road was also covered in it – in fact the dust was now coming in through the windows. To avoid death by suffocation, all windows had to be shut, which did not help the temperature levels. The dusty dirt road continued for another 3 hours – the only road I’ve known worse than this one for dust was the infamous northern Kenyan road. Somewhere in the middle of this dust nightmare, man and his chicken got out. The chicken had not made a sound all journey – very well behaved – if only the Lao children could be brought up in the same way! Eventually, an hour later than scheduled we arrived in Luang Prabang. Sun had already set so I could not see any of its famed beauty but what I did find only a couple of minutes away from my guesthouse was a small roadside stall that sold fresh baguettes for only 10,000k. After my paltry crisps my cheese spread (laughing cow) and tofu sandwich was bliss. There was even a tv in my room, so I settled down, breathing in deep clean air, eating my sandwich and watching the remake of the Italian Job – in English!The next day I strolled leisurely around Luang Prabang. Some people claim this is the most charming city in South East Asia but I am not one of them. Unesco does alot of work in the city and whilst the buildings have been preserved well and are not covered in tacky plastic advertisements, it can not disguise the fact that all the shops along the main road are either travel

agencies, tourist restaurants, tourist handicraft shops or upmarket boutique hotels. It is almost surrounded by the Mekong river and the Nam Ou river and I love to sit on the banks of a river watching the world go by, but when the river is a murky brown colour, it loses that magical quality. The Mekong was the same sludge brown colour when I was on it in Vietnam during the height on the rainy season so I do not know if that is its natural colour or whether it would revert to a blue colour during the dry season. If the river itself was a disappointment, the bridges crossing it were not. Lao bridges are more temporary in nature tending to be made out of bamboo. I found a main bridge that would allow motorbikes across but not cars. There was a little walkway for pedestrians on the outside of the bridge. Crossing the bridge was an extreme activity in itself. I scared myself senseless edging across the bamboo slats while peering through the iron girders. I am going to have to toughen up if I am to survive Laos! From 5pm onwards the main tourist street is closed to all traffic as stall holders setup for the daily night market. Unlike the Thai markets – there was not a huge food selection but there was alot of different handicrafts for sale. The market was vast – walking through took a long time. I found a cafe near the

entrance to the market where I sat, ate and watched the comings and goings of the market. The next day I hit the tourist trail and visited the former royal palace. There was the most amazing temple in the grounds (although as it did not contain a Buddha – I don’t know if it was officially a temple) which was decorated unlike any temple I have seen before. It was stunning – with red walls and gold overlay. The former palace was an eye-opener for its sheer size. It was tiny! Apart from the main reception room with its glass mosaic walls and thrones, this could have been the house of your well off grand-parents. Lao royalty ended after the 1975 revolution but the palace was last decorated in the 1950’s. The kings bedroom consisted of a bed, a small 1950’s wardrobe (very similar if not identical to the one Grandad use to have in Paul’s bedroom) and a small desk. The dining room had a 1950’s plain table and a simple sideboard. I was gobsmacked. As well as the former palace I walked around the former garages which still contained some old (classic) cars and a 1950’s speedboat. Admittedly most grandparents don’t have one of those. I also spotted the old petrol pumps – long since abandoned in a corner of the garden! There are loads of temples in and around the city – it is sometimes called the city of 100 temples, so I actually consulted my lonely planet for recommendations on which ones to visit. (After 4 months of carting the

thing around – I finally found a use for it). By all accounts Wat Xieng Thong was the one to see. They were not wrong. I have visited so many temples on this trip but this complex was so different to all the others. The minor temples had pink walls and were covered in glass mosaics. The main temple had black walls and were covered in golden designs – both visually stunning. The back exterior wall of the main temple had a beautiful drawing of the tree of life. There was so much gold and glass that the reflection of the sun off the temples made photography very difficult. I had timed my visit well, so that I would still be in the temple complex at 4pm. This is when the monks symbolicly beat the drums. Unlike some other temples, the monks here have made the drumming into an art form which lasted over 20 minutes. It was beautiful to listen to and very strenuous for the monks – the main beater had to be replaced twice during the drumming. The gong the main beater was drumming was enormous and he had to use both hand to hold the beater. Even whilst swapping over, they never missed a beat. Listening to them you can understand why drumming is used to go into a religious

trance. As Luang Prabang is situated on the mighty Mekong, it was only right to take a boat trip down the river. I visited the Pak Ou caves which were over an hour away by boat. It is planting time here and many people were working on their stretch on the river bank, tilling the soil or maintaining and building fences for their plot. The caves themselves were more of openings in the rock face in which people over the years have left hundreds of tiny buddhas. The climb to the top cave offered great views over the Mekong and a workout as well! On the way back we stopped at a tiny village that sells alot of the local rice wine to tourists. We were offered a free shot – this stuff is 50% and it was still mid morning and asked if we would buy some. The guy also had bottles of snake wine for sale. This is the same cheap distilled rice spirit but with a snake or perhaps a scorpion in the bottle. Traditionally in S.E. Asia these drinks were considered good health tonics. The girl on the boat with me could speak fluent Northern Thai and that is similar enough to Lao for them to understand one another. She asked about the snakes and found out the chap doing the selling actually goes into the forest himself and catches the snakes. The snakes are not killed though. They go into the bottle alive. If the seal isn’t put on the top of the bottle correctly, the snake can live for a couple of months. In fact in Thailand a woman had opened a bottle only to be bitten by a live snake. The girl had read this news story which had prompted her to question the chap today. So if any of you fancy a bottle of snake spirit – always check the seal carefully!

My final afternoon in Luang Prabang was spent visiting the Krungsi Waterfalls. At the entrance to the park there is a bear rescue centre. Here Asiatic or Sun Bears have been rescued from farms where they are kept in cages hooked up to syringes so fluids can be “farmed” from their livers and stomachs. These fluids are vital (apparently) to Chinese medicine. The enclosures here were a decent size and more importantly the syringes were gone, replaced with climbing frames and tyres. I could see three bears lolling around in the afternoon sun and they did look ridiculously cute, however they were very far away and my blind mans eyesight wasn’t doing me any favours. I’ve never seen a brown bear before – they reminded me very much of the pandas. I continued walking through the park until I came across the most dazzling blue set of pools. Krungsi consists of a number of small waterfalls and pools and a much larger skyscraper sized waterfall. Some of the lower waterfalls are safe to jump from and alot of westerners were swinging from rope swings and jumping down the waterfall. Despite the heat in town – it was 33degrees, the water was very cold. I had come equipped with my bikini but like alot of the visitors, once I had a quick paddle, I decided to remain fully clothed and walk around the pools rather than through them. I walked up many layers of staggering blue pools – this is one of the most beautiful waterfalls I have visited, second only to the amazing pools at Huanglong National Park in China. I spent a couple of hours here walking around but as the sun began to go down it was time to head back to Luang Prabang and pack , ready for the next town.