City of monks

Luang Prabang April 25-29

Luang Prabang is UNESCO listed and pretty much the prettiest little town ever. It is the sprirtual home for Laotians and the old royal capital. There are monks everywhere; riding bicycles, motorbikes, using the internet, walking with umbrella's(it should be there national emblem, monks with umbrellas) talking on their mobiles, SMOKING! That was a bit of a shock, we thought they were these pure spiritual beings, but no, being a monk is a requirement of all males that they have to undertake at some point in their lives, so you get the good monks and the badass monks who don't want to be there....it's still cool to see all these orange robed monks wandering around town.

In the middle of town is a hill, a big one... with lots of steps, where apparently... actually true story... Buddha himself left his foot.. we saw it. The hill is named Mt Phousi and also has temples, and a buddha statue for everyday of the week. And amazing views... and monks.

We spent a day wandering around, checking out the old Palace which was very regal if quite small, only there is no longer a royal family inhabiting it as they were overthrown and the communist leaning Pathet Lao took over in the 70s. They were sent to a prision camp in the during the revolution and perished there. All royal families possessions are on display but no mention is made of what happened to them. We only know because we read a book about it, the Lao would never tell you. The main reception room is blood red with millions of coloured mirror tiles mosaics telling Lao legends and stories. They cover every wall and the roof, it was breathtaking, only you can't take your camera in so we can't show you, you'll just have to go check it out yourself. We also went to the Museum of Ethnology which showed the various ethnicities of Laos and their particular charateristics, and their costumes... who knew Lao people digged fluro and sparkles so much?

The 27th was Jon's Birthday so we spent the day white water kayaking. As all tours start there was the manditory stop at the petrol station accompanied by a stop to buy our lunch and to pick up the kayaks. Our 'guides' were a highly organised bunch as when we arrived at the river they were drastically short of safty gear and just looked sheepish when we questioned them. As a result Jon paddled without a helmet or a PFD. And as he said, he would never as a kayaking instructor back home be allowed to get away with that. All that aside it was a great day, we were both in the same boat and managed not to capsize all day. The scenery was a mix of slash and burn agriculture and rolling green mountains, little bamboo villages and locals along the river looking for gold! And the paddling wasn't bad either with a few nice rapids though Jon doesn't think they were Grade 3 rapids as we were told maybe a high 2. Grade 1 rapid s being a ripple on the surface and Grade 6 the highest meaning know ones conquered the rapid without dying in the process. For Jons B'day dinner it was lots of Lao Lao (whiskey) and a Lao soup BBQ where you get to cook your own veggies and meat on the top and on the sides of the BBQ you get a delicious soup.

Another morning we got up super early to watch the alms giving where all the monks walk in a line around the town, and women sitting infront of their houses give each monk a scoop of rice for their bowl. It was very quiet and misty at 6am and not quite light, it was very tranquil and we're glad we got to see it.

One day we also got a very bumpy tuktuk ride out to a river to get a boat to Pak Ou caves where thousands of Lao people for hundreds of years have gone to worship and pray and leave thousands of little buddhas for good luck. Even the royal family made a pilgramage each year with a new buddha image to add, there a roughly 4,000 buddhas, all completely different.

We loved Luang Prabang and would have loved a couple more days to hang out there, we met some really nice people and even got invited to a locals to enjoy the sunset from their roof. But we had to move on...

In the next episode we will take you to the ancient Plain of Jars... hold your breath untill then!

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