Our journey to Luang Prabang was uneventful, the flight was short, on time and with a delicious snack of freeze dried fruit, really tasty. Entertainment was provided by the in-flight magazine, issue number one, which hadn't been proof-read very well and had some wonderful errors.
We had booked out Guest House in advance and first impressions were just about OK. It is in a quiet side street in the centre of the town and so the location is just perfect. However, whilst relatively new, it is suffering from a lack of maintainance so some things do feel a bit three legged. For the first time we have a bit of spring in the mattress which is something of a relief. Breakfast is fruit, fruit juice, french bread and eggs cooked how you want them, perfectly fine. Yesterday I had an omelette so today I thought I would have scrambled eggs for a change. When it arrived it was just an omelette as yesterday but chopped up. I thought it highly amusing but also summed up the place.
I have restrained myself in describing Luang Prabang; that is
because in many ways words fail me as it is so wonderfully beautiful. The whole town is a world heritage site and it is obvious why this should be. The buildings have a destinct French feel to them with big shutters and french doors on just about every building. The streets are quiet and many are lined with trees of all sizes and types. Bouganvillea and frangipani are everywhere.
The town is located in the junction of two rivers the Mekong and the Nam Khan. The rivers clearly swell at times so the banks are deep and quite steep in places and the riverbanks are just lovely with terraces and trees growing down to the waters edge. There is always some activity: people fishing, children bathing, small boats floating along, it is quite quite beautiful. Along the pavements there are restaurants, cafes and guest houses but there are al
so ordinary homes too, with everyone going about their daily business. This stops the town feeling like a museum and makes it feel real and a wonderful place to live. I know I keep saying this but... we love it here.
Around the town there is a profusion of historic Wats, many shabby and falling into disrepair which is terribly sad. Wat Xieng Thong, the oldest in the town, has a series of buildings around a courtyard. The outer walls of two of them have the unusual decoration of village scenes, all picked out in mosaic of mirror
glass and each telling a story of village life. There is everything, from harvesting of rice to dancing scenes to justice and even a beheading. I could have spent ages there just trying to unravel all the activities shown. In the market I had seen handicrafts with these scenes embroidered on them but it wasn't until I saw the buildings that I realised the significance of this embroidery.
Talking of markets this has to be a shoppers paradise for silk, fabrics, handicrafts, bags and just about anything girly you care to mention. I have no idea how all the vendors manage to make a living as there are hundreds of them all lined up for the very large night market. The stuff is irresistable and I am going to have to ditch some clothes to compensate for the additional weight in scarves alone. A typical price for a scarf is about two or three pounds, just crazy. As I walk through I think how my friends would just love this.
Last night we ate in the market, it was with a bit of trepidation I have to say as hygiene appears not high on the agenda. You queue up at your chosen stall with either a large or small plate and help yourself from the various dishes of noodles, rice, vegetables and other things which I didn't have a clue what they were. Once you get to the front of the queue, you hand your plate to a lady who tips the lot into an electric wok to be reheated. I think if she has a long queue it doesn't get as long in the wok as it would if she was quiet. You then choose either fish or meat from the barbeque, pay and then find a seat at one of the bench tables along the opposite wall. We had two enormous plates full, some chicken and a whole fish, John had a large beer, all for £5 - my tum is fine today!
We had booked to go to the Pac Ou caves today which is about an hours journey from the town. We traveled there in the back of a truck, we do seem to have adopted this form of transport. As you are all currently knee deep in snow, I understand, I feel a bit guilty saying this but the journey there was quite chilly. I should have put on my cardy as first thing in the morning can be a bit fresh! Anyway, the truck took as far as the river and you then get a boat across to the caves, it was all very picturesque. The caves are famous here for the number of statues of the Buddha which were found there and for the fact that people continue to bring more statues so there are now about 3000 Buddhas.
There also seem to be about 3000 steps of varying shapes and sizes. There are two caves, lower and upper: the lower is itself up a flight of steep steps and the upper ... well, it was a feat of fitness to get to the top. We took frequent rests as we were sure that having a heart attack there meant certain demise! I think that some people might have found the trip a bit of a non event but for me it was great; it was the only time I have been into a deep unlit cave with just a torch and with only John and I in there, it was an unmissable experience.
When we got back across the river we stopped at some roadside vendors and had fresh coconut juice. The coconuts were then split for us to eat the flesh too, yummy.
OK I also bought another couple of scarves, one can never have too many!
More from Luang Prebang and Laos later.
We had booked out Guest House in advance and first impressions were just about OK. It is in a quiet side street in the centre of the town and so the location is just perfect. However, whilst relatively new, it is suffering from a lack of maintainance so some things do feel a bit three legged. For the first time we have a bit of spring in the mattress which is something of a relief. Breakfast is fruit, fruit juice, french bread and eggs cooked how you want them, perfectly fine. Yesterday I had an omelette so today I thought I would have scrambled eggs for a change. When it arrived it was just an omelette as yesterday but chopped up. I thought it highly amusing but also summed up the place.
I have restrained myself in describing Luang Prabang; that is
because in many ways words fail me as it is so wonderfully beautiful. The whole town is a world heritage site and it is obvious why this should be. The buildings have a destinct French feel to them with big shutters and french doors on just about every building. The streets are quiet and many are lined with trees of all sizes and types. Bouganvillea and frangipani are everywhere.The town is located in the junction of two rivers the Mekong and the Nam Khan. The rivers clearly swell at times so the banks are deep and quite steep in places and the riverbanks are just lovely with terraces and trees growing down to the waters edge. There is always some activity: people fishing, children bathing, small boats floating along, it is quite quite beautiful. Along the pavements there are restaurants, cafes and guest houses but there are al
so ordinary homes too, with everyone going about their daily business. This stops the town feeling like a museum and makes it feel real and a wonderful place to live. I know I keep saying this but... we love it here.Around the town there is a profusion of historic Wats, many shabby and falling into disrepair which is terribly sad. Wat Xieng Thong, the oldest in the town, has a series of buildings around a courtyard. The outer walls of two of them have the unusual decoration of village scenes, all picked out in mosaic of mirror
glass and each telling a story of village life. There is everything, from harvesting of rice to dancing scenes to justice and even a beheading. I could have spent ages there just trying to unravel all the activities shown. In the market I had seen handicrafts with these scenes embroidered on them but it wasn't until I saw the buildings that I realised the significance of this embroidery.Talking of markets this has to be a shoppers paradise for silk, fabrics, handicrafts, bags and just about anything girly you care to mention. I have no idea how all the vendors manage to make a living as there are hundreds of them all lined up for the very large night market. The stuff is irresistable and I am going to have to ditch some clothes to compensate for the additional weight in scarves alone. A typical price for a scarf is about two or three pounds, just crazy. As I walk through I think how my friends would just love this.
Last night we ate in the market, it was with a bit of trepidation I have to say as hygiene appears not high on the agenda. You queue up at your chosen stall with either a large or small plate and help yourself from the various dishes of noodles, rice, vegetables and other things which I didn't have a clue what they were. Once you get to the front of the queue, you hand your plate to a lady who tips the lot into an electric wok to be reheated. I think if she has a long queue it doesn't get as long in the wok as it would if she was quiet. You then choose either fish or meat from the barbeque, pay and then find a seat at one of the bench tables along the opposite wall. We had two enormous plates full, some chicken and a whole fish, John had a large beer, all for £5 - my tum is fine today!
We had booked to go to the Pac Ou caves today which is about an hours journey from the town. We traveled there in the back of a truck, we do seem to have adopted this form of transport. As you are all currently knee deep in snow, I understand, I feel a bit guilty saying this but the journey there was quite chilly. I should have put on my cardy as first thing in the morning can be a bit fresh! Anyway, the truck took as far as the river and you then get a boat across to the caves, it was all very picturesque. The caves are famous here for the number of statues of the Buddha which were found there and for the fact that people continue to bring more statues so there are now about 3000 Buddhas.
There also seem to be about 3000 steps of varying shapes and sizes. There are two caves, lower and upper: the lower is itself up a flight of steep steps and the upper ... well, it was a feat of fitness to get to the top. We took frequent rests as we were sure that having a heart attack there meant certain demise! I think that some people might have found the trip a bit of a non event but for me it was great; it was the only time I have been into a deep unlit cave with just a torch and with only John and I in there, it was an unmissable experience.
When we got back across the river we stopped at some roadside vendors and had fresh coconut juice. The coconuts were then split for us to eat the flesh too, yummy.
OK I also bought another couple of scarves, one can never have too many!
More from Luang Prebang and Laos later.
No comments:
Post a Comment