Loving it in Laos
Trip Start
Apr 01, 2008
1
9
20
Trip End
Jul 24, 2009
Luang Prabang,
Luang Prabang,
Lao Peoples Dem Rep
Monday, May 5, 2008
Luang Prabang is a UNESCO world heritage site which is good news for the small town and for tourists like us, because it prevents it from being spoiled by high rise hotels or blaring horns and open buses. In fact, I LOVED the peacefulness. Every night there is a night market and I was hooked right from the beginning. Who knew I needed cushion covers, an apron, slippers, and God knows what else... but the colours are so vibrant and people are so friendly. There is no hard sell, and even bargaining is more of a fun game than a competitive sport! The Laos people are really quite poor, (although they all seem to be rather content and happy) and you don't feel put out by compromising on 5,000 kip (about 60 cents!) when the average Laos person's income is about $700 per year.
We also got hooked on the baguette stalls..
Night markets... rather entranced
. very popular with travellers for breakfast, lunch and dinner, we're talking a works chicken baguette for about $1. Really tasty if you can ignore the flies sometimes! But after 4 days, I can honestly say I was baguetted out. First day we spent just wandering about the place and checking out the wats and temples. Easier said than done in the 35 degree plus heat. It is a truly beautiful town, and I loved seeing the monks and novices wandering the streets in their vibrant orange robes often with an umbrella (and also a cellphone...) in hand. I have been suffering from photo fatigue though so have been a bit slack on the picture-taking. Most Laos male children spend time as a novice monk and can range from anything from 2 weeks to 7 years. We sat down and had a chat to a group of young novices and it was so interesting hearing how it works... this time is a mark of respect for the family and also provides a means of education for many of the poorer children. It's pretty tough going too, in regards to discipline, prayer, and collecting alms at about 4am everday. Also had a massage which didn't fail to please... as it was Paddy's bday, I treated him to a 3 hr massage package, something you would expect to hurt the pocket at home, but at $30 in Laos, total bargain.
2nd day we did a half day cooking class and that was a real hands-on experience, much more indepth than in Hoi An. We caught a tuk tuk to the local market and were treated to many 'interesting' sights
One of the many wats
. Buffalo feet, 1-year fermenting fish sauce (where flies can actually be regarded as a good thing!), congealed blood, roasted rats, bile... the works. Actually had to fight some retch reflexes in part as the smell was so intense.. The Laos people eat everything and anything (which we later saw in the flesh)... for a girl who usually will only eat the white meat of the chicken, well I felt pretty embaressed about being so precious! The cooking class was done at the restaurant owner's home on their garden terrace overlooking the river, and we made a combination of Laos specialities including sticky rice dips, stuffed lemongrass with chicken, steamed fish in banana leaves, and a buffalo salad thingee that included boiled buffalo bile... ahem. Tasted okay if you didn't reflect on what the bile looked and smelt like as it was boiling. I had to draw the line at ant eggs in the stew and raw buffalo though. 3rd and 4th day were the most challenging and the most rewarding. We decided to do a 2 day trek and kayak into the hills and villages.... why on earth would I put myself through such hardship?! Incredible heat, buzzing mosquitoes, beautiful butterflies, elephant spotting and also I have never sweated so much in my life! And there were seriously parts of the trek where I struggled to put one foot in front of the other (could I also just say for the record though that I hadn't been very well that morning either... could have been the buffalo bile). Again, I was embaressed when I saw families including children who probably weren't more than 8, carrying loads of rice or hops or baby siblings on their back through the mountains, totally put me to shame
Coconut (the drink not the man)
. Some of these tribal people work so incredibly hard and for so little reward, it's really humbling. The children are also often left to their own devices, but we rarely saw any tantrums, rather so many expressions of love and caring between family members. En route on the trek we stopped off at a little 'shack' for lunch, which also housed an 85 year old Hmong man who lived on his own. Pretty good shape for an 85 year old and he even entertained us with some handmade instruments which apparently were used for serenading girls when he was younger according to our translator/guide. Paddy has some great photos/footage which I will attach later. At about 4pm we arrived at our homestay village surrounded by more mountains, and this was a total eye opener. About 200 families with 2 taps of running water (for the whole village) and roaming goats, pigs, chickens and ducks. After a walk around and many sabaidee greetings to the kids, we sat down to a meal during which I noted a goat bleating rather desperately and being carried away by the locals. Yup you guessed it, dinner for the family. I could only watch part of the process which included slitting the throat, boiling it (in which it was apparently still alive according to Paddy) and skinning it... oh and then we got to taste such delicacies... ! I was a wuss, and ate maybe 1 tiny piece of roasted goat and perhaps a miniscule piece of goat curry. I again passed on the cooked goat in goats blood, as did Paddy, although he did eat some of the goats intenstines (chewy apparently)
A common sight
. Kinda like lamb, but I was a little bit squirmy on the hair, bone and arteries that I could clearly identify. Washed down with some shots of Lao Lao (which would be rude to refused), we then bunked down in our humble home. Back to Luang Prabang and this we did by kayak. Another beautiful day of picturesque scenery (mountains, wildlife, villagers and not a tourist in sight!) and the kayaking was really enjoyable if not extremely tiring by the end of the day! Of course, weather-jinxed as we are, it did rain but the sun came out later and we both got very tanned/burnt. We made it back in time for our 6pm bus to Vang Vieng, which of course didn't leave till 7.30pm. This 'VIP bus' met my expectations... people in the aisles, motorbikes on the roof, spew bags handed to every passenger. and as it was an evening bus, the lights were turned out to sleep however the music was turned right up and was an awful Laos punk pop disco CD. Made it to Van Vieng at about 3am when a monsoon decided to open up and our tuk tuk driver got lost... but all's well ended well and I'm finally learning to go with flow, so I will tell you more about Van Vieng next time!
