Bright and early we made our way to the beautiful town of Louang Phabang. Louang Phabang is located in between mountains and is the meeting point of the Mekong and Khan Rivers. Louang Phabang has such great historical significance it was made a world heritage site in 1995. It’s got a lot of attention since 1995 but it definitely still holds onto the village style feel. I liked the place from the beginning.
We arrived into our guesthouse and for the first time so far in Asia we had to take off our flip flops. This is a sign of respect. Louang Phabang is the most holy place in all of South East Asia and showing respect is very important. Louang Phabang has the highest density of Monks per area in the world. All the hotel staff were very polite and made us feel more than welcome. Shower time then time to explore. All of us made our way through the streets of ochre colonial houses before arriving upon a market. This market was the first market so far that actually impressed me. Actually some good quality stuff compared to the usual junk on show. I’m sure some of you will be lucky enough to get a gift or two. We all spent an hour browsing upon the food stalls, clothing, jewellery, artistic odds and ends.
Tonight’s dinner brought us to a place called Hive. I got to say it was a pretty fancy restaurant which provided some entertainment. The night’s amusement was to be a Laos fashion show. Not every day you get to see that I guess! We got a lot of entertainment out of it though. I have got the entire group into my clapping thing. In case you don’t know what that is: I clap pretty loud at random times and often just do it to make people self-conscious. Its good fun and the group enjoy it. The cuisine and the company was excellent as per usual and we got a few Lao Lao’s (Laos answer to Putcheen).
We had the craic for an hour or two then decided to grab a tuk tuk and head for the bowling alley. Ok little random you might think but the Alley is the place to go in Louang Phabang. As I told you it’s a holy place so all the bars close at 12. The Alley stays open later and serves Alcohol. For the first game we played all the guys against all the girls. Everyone claimed to be bad as per usual but some people played some good stuff namely Rachael. Despite a good fight the guys over came the ladies. I wish I could say I was a big help but I was pretty rubbish. The girls all had to do the forfeit. Lao Lao for the ladies.
We played one more round. This time we mixed up the teams to give everyone a chance. Phil, Dips and Mike started to get serious and try and beat their Personal bests. I wasn’t playing well so I had to recruit a local Laos guy in to get a strike for me. Thanks mate. When the game ended we all headed home for some kip.
Rise and shine everyone. It was time for us to ascend Mount Phou Si. The translation of this is Sacred Hill. I bet some of us were calling it different names as it was a tough climb under the Laos heat. At the top is a Buddhist stupa. The views at the top were incredible and well worth the 20,000 Kip that some of us paid (tut tut to those who didn’t pay). Louang Phabang’s monasteries, colonial house and French architecture are some of the sights to be seen from the top. It was striking to quickly sum it up.
Before heading back to the Guest House I quickly looked into Wat Mai which contains a painting on the walls that dates back to the early nineteenth centaury. It’s a scene of Louang Phabang with a reincarnation of a Buddha. Inside is also a beautiful statue of Buddha. A couple of wonderful paintings were on sale inside aswell one of which was on a leave. The painting is deteriorating so I helped the cause and donated a few bob for restoration.
It was 11:30am and we had already conquered a hell of a lot. This is one of the benefits of an early morning. It was now time for an adventure to Kouang Si Waterfall. We had to board a long boat to bring us to the picturesque location. Kouang Si isn’t just a regular waterfall it’s got multiple levels which tumble 60 metres before descending into a number of bright blue pools. CANNON BALL!! We all went for a swim. The water was refreshing and cool. The place was so perfect and completely needs to be seen to be believed. We could have spent days here but unfortunately with our objectives we don’t have time to stay in the one place for too long.
That night we all descended onto Dala Market once again. This time we were here to sample the street stalls. All the girls went for the Vegetarian options while the guys went for the meat. We all got some BBQ. BBQ chicken, pork and fish was on offer. We cleared our BBQ sticks as it was scrumptious.
We all spent the night just chilling and doing our own thing. Simply relaxing, enjoying the lifestyle that Laos offers. Our target for the night was to watch Manchester United beat Liverpool. Mission failed. Less said the better. We all headed home after the game as tomorrow involved an early start.
Ring ring ring ring ring ring ring ring ring. It was the stupid alarm. It was 4:30 am. You better be wondering why it was ringing at that time. Mike and I decided we would get up and pay homage to the Monks. Every morning at sunrise locals provide the monks with some foods and money. The monks aren’t paid so this is how they survive. We watched as they slowly made their way out from the temple to burn a bonfire. This is a ceremony that gets rid of evil. We waited on and looked wide eyed at the temple in preparation for the monks. They looked ready so I ran across to pay them some homage. I kneeled down on the road and as they came by I put out my hand and the monk let me place some money into his collection pot. A local woman near me provided the monks with some rice. I stayed on my knees as monk after monk after monk passed me. It was an interesting sight. Over 50 monks went past me and made their way around Louang Phabang collecting supplies.
This was a great way to end what had been an overwhelming and astounding stay in Laos’s most beautiful city. Louang Phabang is my personal favourite of all the great places we have visited since that grand day we left Kiloughter.
Khop Jai Louang Phabang,
Conor
No comments:
Post a Comment