Land of a Million Hills!!

  Luang Prabang, Lao Peoples Dem Rep
Thursday, October 16, 2008

2. Main street

Ah... Luang Probang!!! A completely intoxicating mix of beautiful Franco-Loatian architecture, delicious cheap food and friendly people. It lies at the confluence of the Mekong and Nam Khan rivers, embraced by hills and ensconced in tropical jungle.

We arrived at the ungodly hour of 04h30, after minimal sleep in a very bumpy bus (more about the driving later). We decided to keep cash tight and sat around at the station till dawn so we didn't have to fork out an additional night for a room, along with five fellow tourists. Luckily we did as we managed to get into a wonderful guesthouse called Oudomphong. It is Lonely Planet listed which means it was slightly more expensive (we are talking £1.50/night here) but the splurge was all worth it. We definitely made up the difference eating free bananas (and various other cakes supplied at random) and drinking their 'safe' water, tea and coffee. It is run by a family who embrace travellers and included us in the festivities for the Loa version of Lo Krathong (end of the monsoon and locally called Bun Awk Phansa) which made it more enjoyable for us! In addition the place was full every night with fellow traveller's who we joined  on day trips but mostly whiled away time chatting! Most people were advised to stay for the festival which made the town get livelier the longer we stayed.

Most of our time was spent dawdling through the streets and visiting an impressive number of Wat's , escaping the heat at the guest house, eating plenty of delicious roadside sandwiches (60p a pop) or vegetarian buffets with a sneaky grilled chicken or fish (both combined were less than a £2), and generally chatting to other travellers.

Feeling a bit bummed about not having done a slow boat, we did a one day organised tour to the Pak Ou

4. Pak Ou Cave

 caves (a two hour slow boat ride up the Mekong) which contains 4000 Buddha images. On the way back to town we stopped in a local village or "New Tourist Trap" essentially to see local life and Lao Lao (disgusting rice whiskey) production but walked into a strange version of a street market! Getting back to town, our sore bums were rather glad they didn't have to endure another 10 hours of that! In the afternoon we were taken to the Kuang Si waterfall which is absolutely stupendous!!!

7. Kuang Si Waterfall

So good in fact that we went back there the following day with a number of people from our guest house, as well as Adam and Ian from the Gibbon Experience. The second visit was twice as much fun and half the price!

15. I can Fly!

The waterfall also contains an Asiatic Black Bear rescue centre which was fantastic. The bears are rescued from going to China where their bile is extracted daily for use in Chinese herbal medicine. These bears looked so relaxed and quite content. A far cry from the fate that previously awaited them.

We seemed to have a mini Gibbon Experience reunion as we came to Luang Probang with 2 of the group, and then subsequently met up with the other 4 who arrived in time (and stayed for ) the festival. There was also a French family that made up the other group on the tour in town. This, along with the Guest House made the 2 day festival more special as we had other people to share it with.

The festival basically comprises of 2 days. When we first got to LP the different Bans or boroughs were already starting to prepare for it. The 14th was a religious festival as the Buddhist monks break their fast after the monsoon. Our family took us with them to give alms to the monks in the early morning, dressed with appropriate Laotian additions.

12. Kirsty giving Alms

 It is quite a beautiful process. The households gather on the street and give small packages of rice/cake/ candy to the passing monks. They, in turn donate a small amount to poor households and children. The guesthouse family give alms daily, though  the day we did it the streets were packed due to the festival. After giving alms, each family takes a plate of food up to their local Wat (temple) to share with the monks.

The next day is all about fun (especially since the national drinking fast is ended!). Each Ban builds their own float, they are paraded down the length of the main street, then a winner is picked and the floats are placed on the Mekong to join the current and disappear into the distance. We think this is in celebration of the end of monsoon and to bring luck for the forthcoming season. Restaurants and families also get involved building smaller floats to place on the river. Afterwards everyone pretty much gets pissed. It had a real carnival atmosphere.

19. Festival Atmosphere

The Laotians are really generous and involved us in their procession and events. One local tuk-tuk or slow boat driver started sharing his Loa-Loa with us before sunset. We met up with him later - how he was still standing amazed us - and we eventually left him with Rob, Ian, Adam and Tom trying to extracate themselves from going over the river to his den of iniquity!

Luang Probang seems to sap your energy and we think we both were at risk of staying forever if we hadn't left today! After little sleep and in the heat we had to endure another hellish minivan trip. We had paid for a new air conned van which we were assured would only take 5 hours. Instead ten backpackers got picked up 1h30 late in a newish eight-seater van and were then transferred into an old squashed automobile which had aircon! Unfortunately this had to be turned off for every up hill or overtaking manoeuvre, or essentially most of the trip. The road though spectacular when you could see it through the low cut windows (which couldn't open due to it being an air-con bus ) , was again very bumpy and winding, and could put the Amalfi Coast to shame! Green we arrived in Vang Vieng for a short spot of tubing before we move on South...