Luang Prabang, Laos - Montpellier meets the Mekong

Now where were we? 

Last time I left you on my journey, I was leaving Cambodia.

A rabbit waiting for a feed?

I was finally going to the place that this whole trip was originally based around - Luang Prabang.

The clouds were positive augury with rabbits and elephants greeting me above Laos.

Baby Jumbo coming along for the ride?

For months, this place was calling my name.  

I don't hear dead people's voices but I do hear certain villages and countries telepathically beckoning me.

( Don't leave, stay with me okay?)

For instance, India has never asked me to visit.

I don't gatecrash so I have never been.

I kept getting this feeling I had to go to Luang Prabang, 

the ancient royal capital of Laos.

It is no longer the capital after the Communist regime took over in 1975 but it is still the cultural headquarters of the country.

The rest of my trip was originally just to pad out my 5 days here.

 I didn't feel like enduring a fourteen hour trip from London and 

jet-lag just for a trip of a few days.

 

I arrived at my hotel that had a rather artistic turn down service:

a frangipani flower coiled in the center of the bed with a gift of a Lao flute as a lucky charm.


After some slumber, I headed off to the temple right next door.

These are traditional Lao biscuits drying on lattice.

The ticket seller to the Golden City Temple on the right was a transvestite - very liberal temple.

Felt a little Twin Peaks.

This temple is where Laotian royalty would have all their rituals performed from weddings to funerals.

The temple was more of a pavilion dotted with the main temple along with little temples alongside.  This was unusual mosaic art not commonly seen in other Buddhist temples of Asia.

The lotus flower is a constant symbol of enlightenment in 

Buddhist imagery. 

A mosaic featuring the Tree of Life.  
This is one image and allegory that is not unique to Buddhism but is included in almost most schools of thought and religion from the Norse religion to the Latter Day Saints.

The newel post is a gigantic lotus flower that is mosaic all over 

and glistened in the light.

Buddhist monks not only pray in the conventional sense but they also believe that good karma can be earned in temple maintenance.

This pavilion of temples is the equivalent to Lourdes 
for Laotian Buddhists.

Every aspect of the temple is decorated from the door to the walls.

Holy icons and tablets below - it is illegal to buy and take them out of Laos and punishable with a prison sentence.

After a morning of reflection and quiet time, 

I went on to explore the rest of the city.

It is a very small city and even though it is the second largest city of Laos has only a population of 50,000.

I will say now without any hesitation and say that this place is one of the top five prettiest and quaintest places I have ever seen.  

Don't take my word for it.

There is about 100 quids worth of orchids on that tree...

So crass of me, I know.

This is a bridge you pay a few dollars to cross.  

Judging by the staircase, I decided against crossing.

The stairs back up to the town were like boot camp.

This is river weed that tastes and ends up looking like nori used in sushi - tasted delicious and is very nutritious.

I only have a bit of rosemary and sage as a "kitchen garden".
But I would love this pepper tree as well.

 

Luang Prabang being a UNESCO Heritage Site is wholly merited.

The city is geographically a peninsula on the confluence of the 

Khan and the might Mekong Rivers.

The tip of the peninsula is a particularly fantastic place as the 
water swirls and the architecture is better conserved than on 
the more inland section of the peninsula.

As I was walking along the river side, 

I kept having to remind myself I was not in St Remy.

The weather is cool in the morning and blistering in the afternoon.  There is a slow, gentle mood and rhythm that accompanies most towns that hugs a river. The air is filtered by mountain trees.  

The architecture is pure Provencal.
This place is special.

Even the side streets were better manicured and enticing than 

Desperate Housewives and for some of us of a certain generation, Knot's Landing.  ( I used to love that show.)

The yellow house on the left was for sale for about 250,000 dollars but it needed a lot of work.  There is a strong expat community there for obvious reasons.

The house below kept teasing me to live there.

I walked by this place several times a day imagining a new life.

This cafe was just opposite - a good cafe is a better pull than a pub.

Some buildings had good bones but still needed work...

And some were freshly licked...

Can you see why this place might have been a bit confusing and I constantly wanted to ask for the bill in French?

It really was so hard to find an ugly house...

Thought the door frame to the garden was kinda cute.

Even the traditional farmhouses that could do with a 

little sprucing was charming.

Everywhere you looked were natural gardens 

just sprung organically.

I don't know the name of the flowers so do excuse me.

The crazy thing is that the colors in real life were way more zingy.

As I was strolling about and being so touristy by gaping at the buildings, I was asked by some French tourists to join them on a boat tour to the Pak Ou Caves.  They needed one more person before the boat would depart.  As usual, I didn't know what that was.  I normally come up with excuses to go anywhere in London but on holiday, I am the yes girl.

We sat waiting in the boat for ages, about thirty minutes.  
The driver was getting drunk with his mates.  The other tourists were complaining but doing nothing about it.  I channeled all the lessons New York taught me and yelled.  I just kept pestering him to come down or we would leave.  Be it tuktuk, taxi or boat drivers, I was getting the knack and blackmail did the trick.

Now, I don't recommend drinking and driving at all.  But frankly, 

I just planned on swimming if something happened.

Once we got on the Mekong, it gave me a whole new view and all along the river were these long stairs reaching either the road or a private house.

The Mekong is still a working river - it is still as important to the people as the Mississippi was in the 1800's.

People still fish and pick the river weed to survive on.

There is still a gold mining industry as well.

Trees and cows equally depend on the water to survive.

We made a pit stop at a village along the way.  

Of course the driver didn't speak English and just pointed to his watch signalling we had twenty minutes.

This was the first house we saw with yarn drying on the line.  
This later made sense as this was a weaver's village.

All the scarves and table runners were handmade by 
the women in the village.

Every single house had different types of hand loomed silk 
or cotton scarves hanging.

I bought a few scarves from this lady who kindly posed for me.

The scarves in front were a variety of cotton, linen and silk.  I liked hers the best as she had the best color palettes.  She sold her scarves for one dollar so I could not dream of asking for a discount.

Typical snake and scorpion infused whisky aka Asian Viagra.

The rooster and all his chicks.

The weaved handmade lattice walk to the boat.

After about an hour on the boat, we had finally arrived at the caves.

This destination is a major pilgrimage for Buddhists in Laos.

The caves are filled with statues of Buddha everywhere.

Nestled in the corner on a groove.

There was another cave further up the mountain.

I have never seen a Buddha with such a big belly.

The entrance of the cave borrowed light from the outside but 

it burrowed deeply.

The cave hadn't installed any electric lights.

The entrance to the door still had remnants of artwork done about 
a hundred years ago.

As the caves are accessible only by boat, the area was unfettered by tourists who had not made a special effort to get here.

After thirty minutes, the driver set sail back to town.

I know that the ocean is a popular geographical choice but personally I am a lake and river girl.

The river has the same movement of an ocean but it isn't as aggressive where the water comes at you.  It just passes by politely.

After a late lunch resting my eyes on the Mekong, 

I headed back to my hotel.

I stayed the first two nights at the Xiengthong Palace.

It was the last official residence of the Laotian royal family before they were ousted by the Communist regime.

It was ideally located with a great breakfast and 

I would recommend this place as a perfect base.

After a little refreshing, I went back to catch the famed sunset.

This temple was relatively new and only a hundred years old but located just next to the evening market.

The tents marked each individual vendor.

The view was superb every which way you looked.

Other tourists were telling me that I really needed to be next to the riverside to get the best vantage point of the sunset so 
I rushed over to the Mekong river side.

If you are into sunsets, then this is your town.  
Forget everything else.  
Just for the sunsets alone, please go.

I couldn't resist playing with the sun.

Can you blame me though?