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Category — River

Luang Prabang, Laos

by Gregory Brine

We arrived from Vang Viang after what was one of the most uncomfortable bus journeys we’ve been on. The strange thing is, we’re not sure why it was so bad, but were very relieved to finally get off. It could have been the grumpy old man next to me who took up too much space, looked very annoyed - constantly - and said diddly squat the whole way. It may have been the seating, but I could almost stretch out - and the person in front didn’t try to recline once. Maybe it was the 5 hours without a rest stop. I don’t think it was the armed guard at the front that was off - we drove through bandit country, but there’s been no trouble for 3 years. The views were fantastic as we swept along cliff side roads through villages bustling with life. I just don’t know, but I was glad to get off that thing.

Night Market, Xiang Thong street, Luang Prabang, LaosLuang Prabang is quite simply, a nice place. It’s laid back. Almost all of the buildings are original - as a World Heritage site, new buildings are limited. There’s quite a few temples and palaces here - it’s one of the few places left alone in Laos’ turbulent history. The day and night markets sell a great variety of locally handmade crafts. Food is excellent and abundant, with a fine choice of restaurants and cafes - perfect for ‘people watching’ at the market. Rivers surround the main delta of the town, which in turn is built around a central mountain, both of which provide a fantastic backdrop. You can see why we were once more sucked into the place and ended up spending longer than we’d originally meant to.

Our first day, we set off on foot to explore the city’s temples and major sites - you can do them in a day. It’s not the kind of place you rush around though, and you really need to try and suck in the atmosphere. Everywhere you walk, there are monks wandering the streets, buying from the shops (on occasions, mobile phone shops - I kid you not), people who seem to have nothing in-particular to do, and are very happy doing it. In short, you can amble along until you’re almost lost and be very happy about it!

Wat Xiang Thong Temple, Luang Prabang, LaosThe main temple to visit is Xat Xieng Thong Temple, which was definately pretty… I think I may have said this before, but we’ve seen so many fantastic temples in our travels, that they all get fairly samey and hard to get enthusiastic about. The decoration both inside and out was quite something though, but other than that, it was another temple in out bleary eyes.

A highlight, if somewhat exhausting one, is climbing the That Phousi mountain, the central point of the town. From up here, you earn a view for miles around for your effort in getting here (the heat and humidity don’t help on this one)! You can take in the whole town, the Mehkong river, nearby airport and mountains. Oh, and there’s also a temple on top of the hill.

Our second day, we visited the nearby Kouang Si waterfall. Ignoring the bumpy journey in a minibus to get there, our first treat was seeing bears and a Tigress (called Phet)! It turns out that one thing not mentioned in the guidebooks is that there’s a reserve for rescued animals! The bear cubs were real performers rolling around on their backs and climbing trees. And Phet was a real beauty, happy to lie and pose for the camera - we returned later on to find her walking around. She was stunning to see, and provided a fantastic glimpse of the forthcoming Tiger Temple in Thailand.

60ft Kouang Si waterfall, LaosBut, not wishing to detract from the main purpose of our visit - the Kouang Si waterfall. It was awesome! Taking a 60ft plunge from it’s highest point, and running through a series of smaller pools lower down. And, you could swim in the beautiful blue waters. Swimming in fresh water like that feels so good, and the 3 hours we had soon dissappeared.

I spent most evenings eating and drinking with Susan. The food was great - never had riverweed on a pizza before. Come to that, never had riverweed before - and the bars were nicely chilled out except for the one night football was on. I think the 2 highlights were eating next to the Mehkong river (with great company S), and wandering through the night markets.

You can probably tell that moving on from here was tough, but we have so much more to see before we need to fly to Australia. Once again, Luang Prabang should definately be on any Laos itinery. We’ve been very lucky in the route we’ ve taken and the people we’ve met here. The locals are all really friendly and helpful, and the food’s delicious. Ahhh… Happy memories…

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February 16, 2006   No Comments