After an easy flight from Chiang Mai, we shared a taxi to the Mason Dalabua with a woman from NYC named Colleen, who saved our asses at the immigration desk by spotting us the few dollars we were short for our Laos visas. Not quite sure what would have happened if she wasn’t there to save the day.
Luang Prabang is a very small city that can be explored by foot in a day. It’s centered around one primary street, Xiang Thong, that splits a peninsula in half. The Mekong River on one side. The Nam Khan on the other, which Tania liked much better due to the fact that the water wasn’t mud brown.
The French influence was stronger in Laos than any other foreign occupancy remnants than we had seen. Thailand was the only Asian country to not be occupied in its past, which was tangibly clear in its unique persona, lack of foreign influence, and love for its king shown in paintings of the man in every front yard, park, and street corner. But Laos had France screaming from the branches. The architecture along Xiang Thong. The fresh baguettes being sold from every street vendor. The stream of French tourists filling the city. The French influence was very apparent, but the city still claimed its own kind of charm.
The first few days were mostly about exploring the city on bicycle and making plans to trek across the Laos countryside. We watched the sunset, along with 100 other tourists, on top of Phu Si Hill. We explored the night market, which crams 4 rows of street vendors onto the quite narrow Xiang Thong once the sun goes down. And we ate at some delicious restaurants, one of which was an Italian joint that turned out to be Tania’s stomach’s doom. After eating pizza on Sunday night, her stomach turned for the worse and ended up assigning her to the bed for a few days. Because of this bug, we turned our 2 day, mid-week trek into a one day kayaking expedition on Thursday.
Waiting for the sun to set atop Wat Phu Si
Yeah, it was a decent sunset from atop Wat Phu Si
I wasn’t feeling too hot after the pizza either, so I was limited to taking long bike rides across the countryside, waving to kids on the sidewalks who were either yelling “pharang!” (tourist!) or “hello!” as I rode by.
A long boat resting next to a local wat
Kids playing carnival games at the Phu Si market
Once we felt better on Thursday, we joined the tour group that we had cancelled on the previous two days and rode up into the mountainside. Before jumping into the kayaks, we stopped at a Hmong village (go see the Clint Eastwood movie “Gran Turismo” for more info on the Hmong people) and did our best to blend in with the kids running around without shorts on or the parents preparing food to sell in the Luang Prabang market. We were only in the village for an hour or two, but it was eye opening to see how these mountain people have acclimated to the ever changing landscape and economy.
A few of the Hmong villagers that we visited on our kayak trip
Then came the kayaking fun. Tania and I started the journey on our own two-person kayak. There were three other tourists and two guides along for the ride. Well, let’s just say that after the first rapid, which was the biggest of the day, Tania and I were completely soaked, and she was trading me as a partner for one of the guides. Once that move was made, we both enjoyed the rest of the ride. Tania because she was now riding with a professional. Me because I now had a partner who was able to paddle and make the kayak move forward at a considerable pace. It’s a great way to get outside and see a different part of the Laos scenery, even if part of the day is spent submerged in white water rapids.
Tania the professional kayaker
Friday morning we woke up at 5:30am to watch the monks take alms. Locals line the streets near each of the wats and wait for the monks to pass so they can offer them food for the day. It was still dark out and there were a ton of locals with food and tourists with cameras (a lot of the Chinese tourists got in the way of the passing monks, which was unfortunate to see the tradition being interrupted by foreigners), and the monks came by in a long single-file line to accept the gifts. Fascinating to see how the community comes together to support their local spiritual leaders. Even though Chhunni (our monk friend from Chiang Mai) told us that the food is oftentimes spoiled or not edible, primarily because the local people have no idea that food can indeed go bad, they still accept the food because the people went out of their way to give the gift in the first place.
That was basically our time in Laos. Nothing too exciting, but a great chance to see a newly developing country that will undoubtedly be a much different place in a few years. The people, food, and land are amazing, and it’s only a matter of time before more people visit the country, and before the country adapts to the influx of tourists and their money.
Monks accepting alms at 5:30am
That was basically our time in Laos. Nothing too exciting, but a great chance to see a newly developing country that will undoubtedly be a much different place in a few years. The people, food, and land are amazing, and it’s only a matter of time before more people visit the country, and before the country adapts to the influx of tourists and their money.
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