My SE Asian Esperanto needs a little fine tuning for Laos. G doesn’t seem to be a part of their speech ability, so my new name now appears to be “Hee Hu-Wee”. L may be used but only as a substitute for R, so I have ordered many meals of “fly rye”. Asking for rice just doesn’t cut it so now I have given up and just go with “rye” – it’s really good to see the understanding of what you want to order dawning! But I have learned a couple of Lao words and am bandying about the “Sabaidi” (Hello) and “Copchai” (thank you) with abandon – it seems to be appreciated although on occasions, does raise a bit of a giggle! It is a bit hard going with the guide though – the English is quite hard to understand, but find if I let myself relax a bit and try and think in Gill esperanto it’s all less stressful.
After a good dinner (rye again) last night and a welcome glass of cold, dry why why (heaven!) I retire to a comfy bed quite early. This morning I am woken by some loud wooden bells, and realise that it’s 6.25am, just before the monks process through the streets collecting food offerings from the local people. So up I get. The hotel is actually on this procession route, so really handy. Apparently Luang Prabang is the only place where this tradition still carries on and it’s a wonderful, colourful sight. A stream of orange, brown and yellow clad monks wind through the streets to receive their food for the day. It’s a blessing to give this food. But I do feel a bit sorry for the monks – the younger, cuter ones were getting a bit more than the others – don’t know if they share it out when they get home, if not some may be a bit hungry! People give handfuls of cooked rice, bananas etc. Ever concerned about food hygiene, I did notice that the handfuls of rice were at least in nice clean plastic bags. I understand the monks eat only twice a day – 7 am and 11am – and just what they are given. Would make a great diet – I might write the book. But seeing all this food made me hungry, and there are tables on the terrace at the front of the hotel, so I tucked into my breakfast as the procession continued, another breakfast to remember.
At 8.30 am I start a tour by walking around the town with the guide. It really is such a nice place, not a skyscraper in sight and the first Asian city I have found where crossing the road is easy. Quiet, laid back, stylish, it is on UNESCO World Heritage list. It reminds me of a slightly larger and tidier Hoi An (Vietnam), and I feel I can wander about for days discovering all its nooks and crannies. There are restaurants, coffee shops (but not of the Starbucks kind), craft shops etc. We make a visit to the morning market where the village people come in every day to sell their produce. It’s got loads of interesting things, but it is all in a quiet laid back style, with people quietly buying and selling. One thing that will not be on my shopping list is the local delicacy of buffalo feet, proudly displayed by one stall (see pic).
Then come visits to several of the 32 temples in the town – all “working” temples as such with monasteries attached. At one I watched a monk making a new temple drum, which takes about a week as they beat the stretched cow skin with banana branches after applying alcohol, making a bit of a din as they do. The temple is not far from the hotel, so it may be a noisy few days! Then the obligatory visit to the National museum – the former King’s residence until the Communists arrived and took over in 1975. It was actually very interesting and has a fabulous collection of Buddha statues, including a copy of the Emerald Buddha – the real one was nicked by Thailand and still resides in Bangkok.
During the morning, my guide said that I would be going to the grave of Jim Thomson during the afternoon – he of the silk shops in Bangkok was all I knew. No idea why we were going there but language difficulties prevented an answer – so I would go with the flow. So you can imagine my confusion as we arrived at a white tomb in the middle of nowhere down a track, which was marked as the grave of Henri Mouhot– still haven’t discovered the Jim Thomson connection…. Henri apparently alerted the world to the ruins of Angkor Wat, but for some reason ended up living in cave in Laos. Whilst there, he went down with malaria hence his tomb here. As the guide was regaling this story I translated enough to understand “malaria” so did a hasty application of mozzie milk! Whilst interesting, why this is on a Luang Prabang City tour is a bit of a mystery. Just down from the tomb is the Nam Kam river. Backed by green hills it is lovely, a picture book river scene, with its bright green colour, trees and flowers bordering it and now and again some local Lao’s bathing. At bit further on there are tourists kayaking and navigating the gentle “white water” over the small rapids. The Dyl would love it. It’s bright green due to the “seaweed” I’m told. Think this is probably river weed as we are rather far from any sea, and it is used to make some sort of foodstuff they sell in sheets in the market. It joins the Mekong at Luang Prabang and you can see where its green water joins the brown of the Mekong before it all mixes together.
We then go on to see two more temples, but by now, although all the Buddha’s are fab, I am a bit templed out, so decide against climbing the hundreds of steps to yet another temple high on a hill for the sunset. So back to where I started the day, eating on the front terrace of the hotel, and tucking in to yet more “rye”.
After a good dinner (rye again) last night and a welcome glass of cold, dry why why (heaven!) I retire to a comfy bed quite early. This morning I am woken by some loud wooden bells, and realise that it’s 6.25am, just before the monks process through the streets collecting food offerings from the local people. So up I get. The hotel is actually on this procession route, so really handy. Apparently Luang Prabang is the only place where this tradition still carries on and it’s a wonderful, colourful sight. A stream of orange, brown and yellow clad monks wind through the streets to receive their food for the day. It’s a blessing to give this food. But I do feel a bit sorry for the monks – the younger, cuter ones were getting a bit more than the others – don’t know if they share it out when they get home, if not some may be a bit hungry! People give handfuls of cooked rice, bananas etc. Ever concerned about food hygiene, I did notice that the handfuls of rice were at least in nice clean plastic bags. I understand the monks eat only twice a day – 7 am and 11am – and just what they are given. Would make a great diet – I might write the book. But seeing all this food made me hungry, and there are tables on the terrace at the front of the hotel, so I tucked into my breakfast as the procession continued, another breakfast to remember.
At 8.30 am I start a tour by walking around the town with the guide. It really is such a nice place, not a skyscraper in sight and the first Asian city I have found where crossing the road is easy. Quiet, laid back, stylish, it is on UNESCO World Heritage list. It reminds me of a slightly larger and tidier Hoi An (Vietnam), and I feel I can wander about for days discovering all its nooks and crannies. There are restaurants, coffee shops (but not of the Starbucks kind), craft shops etc. We make a visit to the morning market where the village people come in every day to sell their produce. It’s got loads of interesting things, but it is all in a quiet laid back style, with people quietly buying and selling. One thing that will not be on my shopping list is the local delicacy of buffalo feet, proudly displayed by one stall (see pic).
Then come visits to several of the 32 temples in the town – all “working” temples as such with monasteries attached. At one I watched a monk making a new temple drum, which takes about a week as they beat the stretched cow skin with banana branches after applying alcohol, making a bit of a din as they do. The temple is not far from the hotel, so it may be a noisy few days! Then the obligatory visit to the National museum – the former King’s residence until the Communists arrived and took over in 1975. It was actually very interesting and has a fabulous collection of Buddha statues, including a copy of the Emerald Buddha – the real one was nicked by Thailand and still resides in Bangkok.
During the morning, my guide said that I would be going to the grave of Jim Thomson during the afternoon – he of the silk shops in Bangkok was all I knew. No idea why we were going there but language difficulties prevented an answer – so I would go with the flow. So you can imagine my confusion as we arrived at a white tomb in the middle of nowhere down a track, which was marked as the grave of Henri Mouhot– still haven’t discovered the Jim Thomson connection…. Henri apparently alerted the world to the ruins of Angkor Wat, but for some reason ended up living in cave in Laos. Whilst there, he went down with malaria hence his tomb here. As the guide was regaling this story I translated enough to understand “malaria” so did a hasty application of mozzie milk! Whilst interesting, why this is on a Luang Prabang City tour is a bit of a mystery. Just down from the tomb is the Nam Kam river. Backed by green hills it is lovely, a picture book river scene, with its bright green colour, trees and flowers bordering it and now and again some local Lao’s bathing. At bit further on there are tourists kayaking and navigating the gentle “white water” over the small rapids. The Dyl would love it. It’s bright green due to the “seaweed” I’m told. Think this is probably river weed as we are rather far from any sea, and it is used to make some sort of foodstuff they sell in sheets in the market. It joins the Mekong at Luang Prabang and you can see where its green water joins the brown of the Mekong before it all mixes together.
We then go on to see two more temples, but by now, although all the Buddha’s are fab, I am a bit templed out, so decide against climbing the hundreds of steps to yet another temple high on a hill for the sunset. So back to where I started the day, eating on the front terrace of the hotel, and tucking in to yet more “rye”.
