Luang Prabang, Laos
For my previous posts on this adventure, click http://lynntowin.ca/thailand-and-laos, http://lynntowin.ca/bangkok, http://lynntowin.ca/chiang-mai, and http://lynntowin.ca/laos
Luang Prabang
We got to our hotel after the Mekong river cruise after a twenty minute drive through the city. It’s famous for its french colonial architecture and many buddhist temples.
We walked from our hotel through the night markets to a restaurant for dinner. I tried a local pork dish and disliked it. Thankfully my favorite, pad thai, is on almost every menu in Laos as well as in Thailand.
There was a lovely street full of bars just past the night markets.
Kuang Si waterfall and bear sanctuary
In the morning we set off to the spectacular Kuang Si waterfalls. There is a whole park including the main falls, many stairs to get to the top for a countryside view and a swinging bridge
On the way down, there are clear blue swimming holes on different levels.
The park also includes a bear sanctuary. The moon bears here are rescues from illegal trafficking. They were likely captured as cubs, kept in coffin sized cages, and had bile extracted from their gall bladders in a painful process. The bile is an ingredient in traditional asian medicines. Unlike most medicines made from wild animals, there is an active compound in bear bile that is scientifically proven to be useful. It can be used to treat liver disease. However, that compound can be easily produced in a lab instead of torturing these poor creatures.
These cute cuddly looking bears are called moon bears because of the crescent shaped white patch on their chests. They are about the same height standing up as I am. The sanctuary is also for sun bears (smaller, with a yellow chest patch), but there are none here right now.
Royal Theatre
Back in Luang Prabang, most of us paid for tickets to a traditional dance, similar to the Khon dance I saw in Bangkok. It was a beautiful intricate dance, with many costumed and masked dancers, but much less action than the Thai version. It was also much longer, and although cheap, more expensive than the $0 I paid in Bangkok.
After the show a few of us wandered the night markets.
UXO Museum
The next day was a free day, so I headed to the National Museum and palace. The building closes on the last Thursday of each month for cleaning, and of course that was the day.
So, on to the UXO museum – unexploded ordnance. 270 million bombs dropped by the US, over 9 years of the war with Vietnam. About 80 million of those bombs did not explode on impact – uxo. I watched a shocking short film showing the Americans explaining their actions in this “secret war”. The bombing was apparently to cut off the supply chain supporting communist North Vietnam, and to stop the advance of communism in Laos. Not sure how that justifies bombing the shit out of this country and its innocent people…
Most of the bombs were cluster bombs, 600 tennis ball sized bombs in each container, meant to open while in the air and cover a wide area. The bombs look like they are fun to play with, so many children lost their lives or limbs.
The resilient Laotians use the shell casings for artwork, and key chains and bottle openers for sale as souvenirs.
My afternoon mission was to have a very reasonably priced Laotian massage and facial at a nice spa. The massage was much like a Thai massage, but not as intense. While in my curtained room, next to me was a Chinese man yelling into his phone. I asked him to be quiet, and my masseuse followed up. He continued to yell, so I told him to shut up. He stuttered something like “fickyou” and left. In case you’re wondering how I knew he was Chinese, the Laotians are generally reserved and very quiet, while the many Chinese tourists here are not. And they spit a lot, women included.
Sunset by the river
I met the group at a popular sunset bar along the Mekong river. The spicy martini was excellent. There are many cruise boats out there entertaining the tourists.
Giving alms to the monks
The next morning we met at 5:15 am to give alms to the monks. A common practice throughout southeast Asia is the local people providing food to the monks in the community.
At dawn, the locals line the streets to give to the monks. Here in Luang Prabang the daily ceremony has also become a tourist attraction. We received a shawl, a tiny chair, and a hot pot of sticky rice, and plastic gloves. We scooped the rice with gloved hands in to the baskets carried by the monks.
After that early start, I had to wait a couple of hours to go to the National museum and palace. I waited in line with a lot of Chinese tour groups for the gates to open, then sneaked in ahead of them. The museum contained royal artifacts, such as gifts from other countries all over the world.
The opulent decorations are from pre-1975, before the monarchy was abolished with the communist takeover. No pictures allowed.
A walk through the morning markets on the way back to the hotel was enough to put me off lunch.
Back at the hotel, it was time to leave for the train to Vang Vieng, adventure capital of Laos.