Luang Prabang was the capital of Laos and the residence of the king. When the communists took over, dispensed with the monarchy and moved the capital to Vientiane, the town retained its importance as a trading post, sitting at the confluence of the Mekong and Nam Khan rivers. Colonised by the French, captured by the Thais during the second world war and then handed back to the French at the end of the war, Luang Prabang has had a disturbed history, but one that leaves plenty of interesting architecture for travellers to gawk at. Add in many, many temples, hundreds of monks, surrounding mountains and UNESCO world heritage status; Luang Prabang sounds like it has plenty going for it as a tourist destination.
The old palace, now the national museum
There are many ways of getting to Luang Prabang. For the truly insane, you can hop on a boat in Chiang Rai and arrive after two days. Good luck sharing a single toilet with a a boat packed with passengers.
Alternatively you can get yourself to Vientiane via a road which twists through the mountains. We met some Thais who had come on that route and the road had been blocked by a jackknifed articulated truck which was going to be stuck there for four days waiting for a suitable crane to be despatched from Thailand. They had had to crawl under the truck and pick up a bus on the other side. Fun.
But the easiest way is to hop on a plane, which from Bangkok means Bangkok Airways and a fare so extortionate you assume you will somehow be given part ownership of the aircraft as part of the deal. But they left ahead of schedule on both legs of the journey and the food was good, so well done them.
If you a citizen of an ASEAN country, you can walk straight up to the nice little man in the wooden box who will welcome you to Laos and stamp your passport. The rest of us have to get a visa on arrival which requires presenting yourself at another little box with a duly completed form, a photo, and the required number of US dollars. If you don’t have a photo, it doesn’t really matter because they will just copy your passport photo and charge you and extra $1. If you don’t have the dollars, then you have to go and find a money changer which can be a hassle; so have the required number of dollars with you. The amount varies by nationality for some reason, with Canadians being the most expensive and China being the cheapest. If you are from the seat of empires, then the fee is $35 plus $1 handling fee.
The trick with this process is to not stand in front of the plane after landing, and be photographed looking like a dick by your significant other. Instead, you sprint to the airport building, elbowing aside the weak and infirm to ensure your place at the head of the visa queue. That’s what I did anyway.
Immigration formalities out of the way in a couple of minutes, it’s time for a Kip. A lot of Kip. We changed 5,000 baht and were rewarded with 1 million plus Kip. This was too much money for me to comprehend and I gave the whole lot to she who must be obeyed to manage. Every resulting transaction seemed extortionate until converted back to baht via her calculator.
First transaction was to buy a ticket for a minivan into town, 50,000 Kip please. Twenty minutes later we were at our hotel and ready to explore.
We don’t travel very often, so when we do I like to stay in a decent hotel; and the Lotus Villa turned out to be a good choice. The room was beautiful:
Behind the wall at the back is the entrance passage and bathroom. The flowers in the alcoves are fresh and gave the room a fine fragrance. And that was only half of it. Sliding partitions opened up into a living area…
…which in turn leads onto a balcony which gave a view of the morning procession of monks (MANY more photos of this coming in a future post).
Stepping out of the hotel, the first thing you notice how quiet it is. No heavy traffic, in fact very little traffic of any sort.
Luang Prabang high street, middle of the afternoon. I had to wait for this bicycle to turn up so I could include some traffic…
No blaring music and very few people; mainly tourists like us wandering around. In the area around the museum there are more restaurants and a night market and so it becomes busier in the evening; but overall it is much more peaceful and less frenetic than Thailand. Our first outing was for a late lunch, and the restaurant we chose was on the edge of the Nam Khan river. They were busier than usual, two cooks in the kitchen had fallen out, and the overall result was that our food took a while to arrive. But when you are sat next to a river watching monks crossing a rickety bridge, sipping on a coconut lime shake and watching the world go by on bicycles; it really didn’t seem to matter how long we had to wait.
*Bridge over the river Nam Khan. Not a movie. *
The building are a mixture of old, new and restored; but thankfully all of the new and restored have stayed faithful to the Laos/French style. There is nothing garish, nothing that goes against the atmosphere of the place.
For a while I struggled with the disparity between the smart new and the scruffy old. The old was the real Laos I assumed, the new was just a chic facade designed to make tourists happy, a similar approach to how Singapore has torn down the old and constructed the new to look like the old. A flimsy construct lacking in soul.
But Luang Prabang is nothing like Singapore. For a start there are no malls, no high rise buildings, no Starbucks or McDonalds; just charming buildings and a charming people who seemed entirely comfortable with the annual invasion of foreigners.
On the school wall
Morning coffee
An evening stroll with grannie
The final component of this town is of course Buddhism. A temple is never more than a short walk away, and monks of all ages are everywhere, brightening up the town with their presence.
Wat Xien Thong
Drum and cymbals
An afternoon stroll
Guardians
The courtyard
A time for study
A temple roof at sunset
Consulting the master
Temple bloom
So there you have it. A beautifully maintained, peaceful town. Fine hotels and restaurants, friendly people and more temples and monks per square kilometre than anywhere else I can think of; bordered by the mighty Mekong and mountains. What’s not to like?
Sunset over the Mekong river
What I didn’t like was the fact that I only had two full days there. There was so much more to see and photograph; I could easily have spent a week just wandering around with a camera; or a month just relaxing and enjoying the peaceful vibe of the place. Glad I went, need to go back some day.
Still to come in our series of exclusive Pattaya Days reports from Luang Prabang:
Tak bak - One of the few good reasons to wake up at 0600. The markets - Want to buy a live duck and a T-shirt, I’ll tell you where to go. Sunsets - Where to watch them (Warning, will contain sunset photographs, may be upsetting for children). Bicycle woes - What happens when you put an old man on a child’s bike with no brakes and send him up a hill. And down again. Hmong New Year - Why it’s a load of balls, but in a good way.
All photos: Panasonic GX1 with Panasonic 7-14mm, Summilux 25mm, Olympus 45mm or Olympus 75mm.
Comments 🔗
2012-12-23| Grant saysWhat a wonderful place, and superb photos. It must be like Thailand before it started “growing up”. Do have a splendid time tomorrow ignoring Christmas… Very best wishes for Boxing Day!
2012-12-24| Barry saysStunning photos. I’ve been keen to go there myself but have been put off by the thought it might be over-run with backpackers, and the mentioned rip-off airfare. But it looks as if a trip might be a rather spiffing idea, what!
2012-12-24| Grant saysAbsolutely Barry, the place looks like being all it’s cracked up to be and if Uncle Spike got a whizz out of it you can count on it, he can be a fussy old coot and fair enough too! Research the down tourist season and go then, spend a week to ten days and the airfare starts to even out a bit.
2012-12-24| BlogDaz saysAmazing write-up, you certainly got my attention, I recko0n the Laos tourist authority might be offering you a job soon. Oh, and as usual, stunning photos.
2012-12-24| Chang Noi saysBeautiful photos embarking on my memories …. seeing the Buddhist alm photos I was almost for sure knowing where you did spend the night …. I have photos of the same old lady but she was 4 years younger then.
2012-12-24| Spike saysAs mentioned in the post, Lotus Villa. Excellent accommodation.
2012-12-26| MeMock saysHow much was your room? Looks perfect for my family and I. Great pics.
2012-12-26| Spike saysAgoda is your friend.
2012-12-27| MeMock saysNot really as I normally use wotif but thanks anyway.