10 days in Luang Prabang

By Sawngthaew to Luang Prabang, a bumpy, hot four hours in a  converted open air truck through the countryside. Fascinating glimpses into a very different way of life.

Sunset from Mount Phousi

Luang Prabang, on the confluence of two rivers is the former " royal capital " of the land of a " Million Elephants and the White Parasol " and is an elegant mix of the Orient, French colonial architecture, Buddhist temples and also has the best food in the country. Apart from exploring the town we also managed some steamy treks (highs of 94 degrees F), kayaking, (which saw the demise of another of Nic's cameras- too rapid rapids), some wonderful waterfall swimming and a market tour/ cookery class.

On the Nam Khan

Huge and colourful butterflies abound

To work in seeing the Annual Festival of Lights, we ended up staying 10 days and did get some feel for the place. With the recent opening of a new international airport, the town is beginning to see an influx of mainly Chinese and South Korean tourists and in a year or two the town will not be the same but for the moment it is delightful.

The treks into the hills took us into Khmer and Humong villages, some adapting to more modern life, others still off the grid, subsisting on what they grow, trap and shoot. One youth showed us his handmade muzzleloading musket, with a hand crafted mahogany stock, firing pin, homemade gunpowder etc.  And what he had shot that morning for their meal, actually a very attractive small bird. To be fair, the locals were gazing at us with as much interest as we in them.

Local blacksmith forging a knife

Yep, cute small kids playing with large knife..

Watching Grandad weaving a fan to separate the rice

At Kuang Si waterfall

Our favourite waterfall in Laos, and there are many!

Refreshing swim after a long hot trek

A local farming collective run a day out learning about rice cultivation and processing.Highlights were (literally) getting stuck into the rice paddies. Everything is incredibly labour intensive with still very little mechanical input.

Nic's attempt at ploughing

Carolyn's attempt at planting rice ended badly!

The market tour was fascinating and helped us put names to many things we had seen previously.

Wonderful fresh veg and herbs

Butchery is definitely a female profession

Buffalo bile (to add sourness to dishes) and blood

The cookery class was conducted in a idyllic setting, by the river and a lily filled pond. We have really enjoyed the Laos food in Luang Prabang. It is characterised by the use of lots of fresh herbs and vegetables and intense chilli and garlicky dips and lots of sticky rice rolled into balls and eaten with the fingers. We have avoided the bush meat!

Folding a banana leaf to fill with fish and herbs for steaming

Buffalo laap and lemongrass stuffed with pork  (not vice versa!)

Giving alms to the monks

On our last day in Luang Prabang we finally got out at 5 am  to witness huge numbers of locals lining the street on their knees giving alms (sticky rice, packets of cakes and biscuits and money) to lines of monks walking by. By this means Buddhists gain 'merits' which help in their next reincarnation. The quantity of donations was huge, perhaps particularly because it was the day of the festival,  and the monks then off loaded excess into carrier bags and bowls held by local kids. All in all watching this transference of foodstuffs was a rather strange experience!

The Festival of Lights, which marks the end of both the rainy season and a 'lock in' period for the monks was a spectacular evening. Suddenly, as the sun waned the sleepy old quarter was swamped by thousands of the locals in party mood and then the procession started with 30 to 40 garishly painted floats ablaze with light from hundreds of candles, big and small. Behind each float were it's supporters, ranging from neatly dressed schoolchildren to  groups of adolescents and older, dancing and even fire-eating with the BeerLao flowing.The noise from the drums, cymbals, chanting and general mayhem was deafening. In addition the grounds surrounding the many wats in Luang Prabang were decorated with colourful lights.

The floats eventually made their way to the  grandest Wat, Xong Thong for judging and then they were hauled off to the slipway for their launch into the river, candles still lit.They were accompanied in their voyage downstream by many hundreds of individual offerings, small floating parcels of banana leaves, flowers, and sometimes money with their own candles and incense alight.

We walked back down the river, the floats and offerings alongside, away from  the town lights with just the flickering candles on the river....a very memorable evening.