Luang Prabang- royal capital

Today was spent traveling and largely uneventful until we arrived at the Luang Prabang airport in northern Laos. We were told we could buy a visa at the airport but paying for it was another issue all together. Since it was Saturday, the money exchange was closed and the visa man only wanted US dollars. In cash. And there were no ATMs. By pure luck, I had $40 in cash so I had enough to cover the $36 visa. Pete, however, only had pounds sterling, which they were not willing to accept. I was beginning to wonder if we were ever going to leave the airport.

comical buddha

Despite the bureaucratic nightmare of the airport, we caught a taxi to the city and had wondered how we were going to survive until Monday in a city without ATMs and all the banks closed for the weekend, with $6 between us. But Luang Prabang calmed our anxieties by its inherent charm. The entire town is listed on the UNESCO World Heritage list and the former royal capital did not disappoint. But the first thing we noticed was how quiet it was. No horns were blaring and buses were prohibited within the city limits. The result was a surreal serenity that I values tremendously at this point in our travels, having grown weary by the constant auditory bombardment and sensory assault. The quietness has put Laos as my new favorite place to visit. I even hoped that I might get a good night sleep without being awoken by something obnoxious, like a rooster. But my hopes were dashed at 5 am by the sound of a methodical drum, which I later found out originated from the Buddhist temple across the street. If it is not the call to prayer in Morocco, Egypt, Jordan or Turkey then it is some other religious call to rustle me from a deep slumber.

craft market

Buddhism is the national religion so there are no shortage of Buddhist temples (wat). There are many stupa's- a shrine to commemorate a deceased monk or lama. And there is always a large shrine to Buddha. Here again I was surprised by the overt materialism, abundance and ostentatious nature of the wats. Giant gold Buddha statues with about another 20 buddha's surrounding it does not suggest minimalism and detachment, as written in Buddhist texts. We also toured a site claiming to have Buddha's footprint- and if it was true, then he must have been nothing short of a giant! The "footprint" was a foot-shaped dent in the natural rock, painted gold and enshrined, lest the facts stand in the way of religion.

funerary boat

The royal museum had been converted from the royal palace, when the royal family was forced into exile in 1967. It was the least decorated royal residence I've ever seen! Gifts from foreign countries were present in one room, with a gift from Nixon of the lunar space craft and some moon rock fragments. I wonder how many of those gifts Nixon handed out?

We ended the day by climbing a large hill in the center of town to watch sunset, drink red wine and smoke a Cuban cigar acquired from duty free. By duskfall, a craft market had emerged on the streets and 6 city blocks were converted into a shoppers paradise. Carved wooden elephants, metal Buddha heads, embroidered bed covers and pillows, handbags, t-shirts, wrap-around skirts and trousers, jewelry, paper lamps, knives, carved bone, silk scarves, ornamental wooden boxes and every other trinket imaginable. We didn't survive the temptation and we each walked away with a little something.

gold doors

in the dragons mouth

jade buddha

Marvin

royal temple

Sunset on the Mekong

temple

too many buddhas

travel woes