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| Little did we know we'd be only 150 meters from Utopia! |
Thank you veterans! Today is Veterans Day in the United States. Your service and sacrifice should never be forgotten.
We knew a little bit about Vietnam before the start of this journey. We knew a tiny bit about Cambodia. We knew absolutely nothing about Laos. Beth told our travel agent (Dzung with Tonkin Travel) that we might like a few days in Laos as well. She sent a suggested three day itinerary. We looked it over and told her "it looks good to us". So here we are in Luang Prabang, Laos! Laos is a landlocked country that shares borders with Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Myanmar and China. It has a total population of a little under seven million people, and is considered one of Asia's poorest countries.
Luang Prabang is a UNESCO World Heritage City in Northern Laos. It has a population of around 55,000 and is located at the confluence of the Mekong and Nam Khan rivers. The city is surrounded by green tropical mountains. Right now the mornings and evenings are a little cool, probably around 65 degrees but it warms up during the day. President Obama visited Luang Prabang a few years ago. There is a picture of him standing along the riverfront across from our hotel. He's drinking coconut water from a freshly cut coconut. President Trump would probably enjoy visiting here as well...……..as long as it wasn't raining!
When we arrived on Friday it was already dark. We checked into the hotel and did a quick walk through the night market that is conveniently located one block behind our hotel. We really couldn't tell much about what the town looked like other than we could see the river and make out the shape of a couple of mountains on the other side. We were up early the next morning and decided to get in a walk and do a little exploring. I think within about 10 minutes we had each said "wow" about a dozen times. We walked along the riverfront which was peaceful and quiet. The dodging motorized vehicles and bikes skills we had perfected aren't needed here. The buildings are beautiful and the landscaping is very tropical, meaning lots of palm trees, flowering bushes and plants everywhere. We had walked about two miles and just before turning around I saw the Utopia sign. I knew instantly that it was picture worthy. Is this place Utopia? I don't know, but is sure is nice!
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| Riverfront park |
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| Rush hour traffic while on our morning walk. Note the temple at the top of the mountain (Phousi Mount) |
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| The villagers across the river build a bamboo pedestrian bridge across the river every year. They use it during the dry season as a shortcut to town. Once the rainy season hits it gets washed away. |
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| Mekong River in the background, Nam Khan River in front |
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| Along the Mekong River |
Saturday morning we met our local guide (Sak) at the hotel and started reviewing our itinerary for the day. He had a concerned look on his face and asked us if we really liked visiting wats (Temples). We both chimed in that we find them interesting but that we had already seen plenty of them. Besides, I was completely out of wat jokes (if you don't get it you're a few blogs behind).
We made a few adjustments that seemed to be more to our liking by reducing the number of wats down to 2-3 of the major ones. Fortunately they were all in town and close to other sites we were visiting.
We enjoyed visiting the Royal Palace which is located in the center of town. Laos no longer has a king. Their current form of government is a one party socialist/communist system. In other words you can either vote for candidate A or candidate A. Speaking of elections, we were so excited to think that it would all be over when we returned to the US. But then again Florida is still a part of the US, and Broward County is still in Florida! Sorry for the momentary digression.
We enjoyed the palace, as well as the temple located on the grounds that contained the Buddha statue that helped give the city it's name. Luang Prabang translated means "Royal Buddha Image". It was located in the temple where it remains on display year round with the exception of the lunar new year celebration in the middle of April. At that time it is taken out, cleaned and paraded through the city on a carriage that is pulled by citizens.
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| The hotel breakfast was outdoors along the river |
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| Wat May where the Royal Buddha is kept. You can see him but you can't take pictures |
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| Wat Xieng Thong |
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| Mid-morning break for a little fresh Lime Juice at one of the many restaurants along the river |
Afterwards we went about 15 miles out of town to the Kuang Si waterfalls. We've seen bigger waterfalls but as far as scenic this one may be the best we've ever laid our eyes on. Spring fed water makes it's way downstream for about 2 miles before cascading over limestone cliffs that give the water a bright blue color. As the water makes it's way down it forms several pools where swimming is allowed. We didn't bring our bathing suits but quite a few people were swimming. We did stick our feet in to test the temperature. It wasn't too cold, but then again it was just our feet.
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| Beth demonstrating her ability to remove the seed from cotton |
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| Me showing that I have no skills with turning cotton into thread |
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| One of the lower falls |
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| Beth with her typical happy face...…….me looking a little constipated in this picture |
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| The main waterfall at the Kuang Si Falls |
Today was our last day with a guide. It was a pretty laid back day which was just what we wanted. We first toured the local morning market. There were tons of fresh fruits, vegetables and spices. There was the usual assortment of animal parts, but we did see a few new ones on sale for the hungry shopper. There were crickets, wasp larvae, pink eggs (from some type of duck) and moles to name a few. And to really get your taste buds going in the morning there was freshly smoked squirrel and rat. Too bad we had already had a nice breakfast at the hotels riverside restaurant!
Sak shared with us a great story about "hunting roosters". If you have a prized rooster (one that crows loud and often) they can delay their trip to the frying pan by being hunting roosters. You take them out into the woods where there are plenty of wild chickens. They are tied to a short rope in an opening. The hunter hides about 10-15 meters away. Once the rooster starts crowing other roosters will come to defend their territory. The hens will come to check out the new guy. A single shot gun that uses a steel pellet, homemade gun powder and toilet paper for packing is used to bring home the bird(s). Hopefully their aim is good and they don't accidently shoot their prized hunting rooster!
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| The morning local market |
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| Smoked squirrel and rat on the left. What's on the right remains unidentified |
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| Main Street in the middle of Sunday afternoon. A little different from Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh City |
Afterwards we boarded a long boat for a trip up the Mekong River. There were a few stops along the way at a couple of villages but for the most part it was just a "sit back and enjoy the scenery" ride to the Pak Ou Caves. The caves weren't very large or spectacular but they occupied a significant place in the countries history. First, in the fourteenth century the Royal Buddha had resided in the cave along with the king. Second, the cave was strategically located along the river. Unfriendly neighbors approaching from upstream couldn't see the cave until they were at the entrance. By then the Laotian soldiers were in full attack mode.
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| Cruising up the Mekong River on a long boat |
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| Mekong River- we had lunch at the restaurant on the right side of the picture. |
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| Pak Ou Caves |
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| Inside the cave there were over 4,000 Buddha statues |
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| A small sample of some of the statues that have been left in the cave |
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| Lunch along the river |
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| Phousi Mount |
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| The night market setting up in the foreground. Wat May in the background |
We finished the day with a climb up 400+ stairs to the top of Phousi Mount. The mountain is located in the middle of the city giving a 360 degree view of the amazing city below.
Tomorrow afternoon we pack everything up and start the journey back to the US. We fly first to Hanoi, then on to Seoul, layover in Seoul for around 10 hours. We'll get a free tour of the city during the layover, a nice amenity that the airport provides. Then it's on to San Francisco. We'll spend two days with Sarah, Joey and James. Then we head to Bloomington, Indiana to move Ben's furniture to Texas. We'll then return to Florida. NaNa (Beth's mom for any new readers) had a little accident recently. She's been getting great care from Steve, Marilyn, Debbie and Cindy. We look forward to seeing her and assisting in her recovery.
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| There was a wedding taking place around the corner from our hotel. Buddhist hold their weddings only on certain days according to the lunar calendar. This is the "wedding season" meaning there is a heavy concentration of weddings only on "good or normal" days of the month. Our guide's wife attended two weddings on Saturday. The whole wedding party is a three day event. He described it as a lot of food, drinking and dancing with the third day for everyone to help clean up. |
If you come to Laos a few items of information that may be helpful;
1. I can't speak for the rest of the country but Luang Prabang is fantastic! We try not to judge one place against another while we travel because they are all unique. If we did judge places that suited us the best on this journey this would be at the top of the list.
2. ATM's are readily available, especially along market street.
3. There may be a few less people who speak English here than in the other places we visited but communication was still easy.
4. It's slightly more expensive but still a real bargain.
5. It's a great city to explore on foot. You probably won't need a tuk-tuk but if you do they are available.
6. Our T-Mobile international plan worked well in all countries. Good to Excellent (Vietnam had excellent coverage even in very remote locations) cell and data coverage. All hotels had hi-speed internet.
7. If you come to any or all of these countries you're going to have a rice day everyday. It may be steamed rice, stir fried rice, sticky rice, rice noodles, rice crackers, etc. but you're going to have rice!
