We decided not to just rely on the delicious cold hamburger for our evening meal, and once we’d found a guesthouse that wasn’t too extortionate, headed out into the town to check out what else we could found.
Luang Prabang is a UNESCO World Heritage City, and has been voted the World’s Best City by a number of travel magazines. This has had a number of impacts on the place, not all of them good in my opinion: 1) it’s obviously become more expensive 2) it’s absolutely full of well-heeled tour groups (I know, how I’ve changed) 3) it has a faint Disneyesque tinge to it - all the signs on shops are uniform and in the same font - it’s almost like a corporate brand team has been in and decided on the Look and Feel ‘OK chaps, we’re going for Helvetica 45 and Pantone 243 all the way through town’
It’s almost like it’s Laos-Lite.
But having said all that, I actually thought Luang Prabang was really beautiful - it just felt a little like the heart of the city was covered over, but it was still there. Perhaps spending more time there would have uncovered it.
Near our (expensive, but lovely) guesthouse was a great local little market - not just a tourist attraction, but full of all different types of stall - from baby clothes to pots & pans, from huge sacks of rice to pigs trotters and tails. It was certainly fragrant.
The night market in Luang Prabang is famed for being the most chilled in South East Asia, with no hassle at all. Part of the market is food related, and naturally this is where we headed. I settle for the ubiquitous spring roll (there is a high probability I will look like one by the time I get home) and Ollie checked out a Mekong river fish, stuffed with lemongrass and grilled on a street barbeque. Even I tried it, and thought that it Wasn’t Too Bad. Which is high praise indeed from me,.
This was washed down with a beer Lao. They serve this is in very practical pint sized bottles. The Lao people are very proud of their beer, and it’s reputed to be some of the finest and purest in the world. Carlsberg recently bought a 50% stake of the company, but what it’s probably most famous for is the sheer number of Beer Lao t-shirts worn by backpackers across South East Asia.
What I found, quite early on, is that Beer Lao makes me very drunk, very quickly. Which is a bit weird really. Cos beer generally doesn’t have that big an effect on me.
After an early night (Luang Prabang has a curfew at 11), we set out on a bit of an explore of the town. Luang Prabang is famed for it’s Wats - there are heaps of them, and most of them are being restored. Laos remains a Communist state (one of only 5 in the world, fact fans), but since opening its borders n the 90s, has become a lot more tolerant of religion. Unfortunately a lot of the skills that monks had - e.g artistry, building restoration etc have been lost, so UNESCO are investing a lot in making sure these skills are being taught to the new generation of monks.
I left Ollie fairly early, to make a quick visit back to the airport, where very excitingly, I was going to pick up my brother - my first visitor from home. It had all been arranged in about a week, and he was due to be with me for about a week before visiting Bangkok on his way back home.
After a bit of a catch up and a sit down, we decided to try and ward off the jet lag by heading up to the Wat Phu Si - after all, what better way to keep yourself away than climbing 165 steps up to a temple? Fortified with a super strong Laotian coffee, we positively bounded up to the temple, which afforded great views of the city and over the Mekong river. Much to my delight, it had the classic Buddhist fortune telling - asking Buddha a question, shaking the sticks in a pot until one falls out, then picking the sheet of paper with the right number on it. I convinced Mr ’I’m neither superstitious, or religious Claire, so what would be the point’ Vickers-Price to have a go.
Foiled. All the fortunes were written in Laos script.
After the temple, the three of us had a wander round the town again, pausing for another super strong coffee and a cake, eaten perched on some packing crates in the market area. We made friends with a local kid and his dog, who both seemed greatly amused by us, then headed off for a massage.
Laos massage is not as good as Thai massage, but is better than Khmer massage. Vietnamese massage is quite good, but my studies in Vietnam were not ass extensive, so the sample isn’t representative (one massage in Vietnam! In 3 weeks!!)
We headed down to the riverfront for dinner, to try out some local foods cooked by a great lady. Unfortunately, the buffalo was off the menu, but Pete’s chicken with basil was great. We did get the lovely lady to translate our fortunes though - apparently Ollie got the luckiest number there is. Shame he doesn’t believe in it really J
The next day, Ollie left to head down to Ben in Vang Vieng. We got up early to check out the alms giving to the monks, but managed to miss it anyway. Drat.
Pete and I headed out on a boat trip down the Mekong to the Pak Ou caves. Whilst thee boat trip itself was interesting, the caves, to be honest, were a bit of an anticlimax - I’ve seen waaaaay better. Disney Laos needed to try harder on this one.
After arriving back at Luang Prabang, we treated ourselves to another massage. This time it was a Khmu massage (from one of the Northern tribes in Laos) and it was brilliant - it was a cross between an oil massage and a Thai massage, and it was possibly the best one I’ve had. Praise indeed from a girl who’s never knowingly under massaged.
For dinner, we headed to a great little place called Tamarind. It’s owned by an Australian woman & her Laotian husband, and is a great example of a restaurant that goes beyond the usual ‘Fried rice, fried noodle, banana pancake, cheeseburger’ menu.
We ordered a couple of tasting plates - a pot of sticky rice with a selection of dips and sauces, and a plate of local specialities - Mekong seaweed, buffalo, Laos sausage etc. To accompany, they did some great cocktails too - lemongrass & lime granita, pineapple & ginger crush etc. Delicious. AND we were super lucky to be served - they actually close at 6, and we didn’t get there til about 7, but they must have liked our faces, cos they served us whilst turning other people away.
The next day, we were in our minibus heading down to Vang Vieng. The faithful Lonely Planet had said the scenery on this journey was amazing, and for once, they weren’t exaggerating. It was absolutely stunning - I fell head over heels for Laos on this journey. Huge limestone cliffs, hairpin roads, tiny villages, huge forested areas. Knocked the socks off Vietnam.
