There are people who whinge about a 6-hour flight to Europe. I wonder what they would say about our 11-hour bus ride from Vientiane to Luang Prabang. It can’t be much more than 350 km but I estimate several thousand hairpin curves and countless steep climbs and scary descents. Even our “VIP” bus was barely able to creep along.
It was dark when we arrived at Khongsavat Guesthouse on Friday. We are right on the Mekong (yes, the same one!) and quite near some very upscale hotels and restaurants. Lodging costs more than we expected but the food seems reasonable. Our room is simple (no TV or separate shower) but at the same time somehow elegant. The wood floors shine and our windows open onto the river.
The weather was unseasonably cool Saturday morning. The locals are bundled up like Eskimos yet they still shiver. You could actually see your breathe but it warmed up nicely once the sun rose. Our hotel serves a nice breakfast making the $35 rate a bit easier to swallow. Our mission this morning was two-fold; reconnoiter the town and explore our onward travel options. We spent the afternoon visiting Wat Xieng Thong, a famous temple near the confluence of the Nam Kahn and Mekong rivers. It was built in 1560 and was used by Lao royalty for more than 200 years. The architecture is striking, especially the cut-glass mosaics. There are so many wats in Luang Prabang that it’s impossible for me not to get into the Abbott and Costello shtick – “What’s the name of the man on first base?” “What’s on second!”
Each evening Sisvangvong Road closes, red tents appear in the street and the night market is open for business. The goods and handicrafts for sale are wonderful but it seems there can never be enough people to buy everything. Even for window shoppers like us it is interesting. And it is remarkably peaceful to walk among the vendors; you can even stop and look without being hassled. Above it all the temple of Phu Si glows as if from heaven.
Tour operators offer everything from mountain biking and kayak trips to home stays and a mahout school. Today we took a narrow, rickety motorized canoe up the river to Pak Ou cave which is crammed full of unwanted Buddha statues. Besides being a tourist trap young kids sell caged birds they have trapped. Some, like the Indian roller, are uncommon in this area and all look miserable in their tiny bamboo prisons. Connie did her best to explain how unfair this was to the birds but it didn’t faze the kids at all. If you buy and release the birds it encourages the kids to trap more. If you do nothing . . . .
I still have trouble getting a sense of Laos. The French influence is everywhere, the food much like Vietnamese or Thai, the people look similar to Cambodians, and the temples are very much Buddhist. We could be in any one of a dozen countries in the world – but this is Laos. Luang Prabang is another UNESCO World Heritage Site, which in addition to preserving its architecture and temples means a ban on buses, trucks and even smoking! There is nothing really special about the town yet it is one of those places that makes you feel better for having visited. Your pace slows, your spirit soars. Maybe it is the Mekong, one of those timeless rivers like the Nile, which affects the soul. It just feels right.
