Day 16: Last day in Luang Prabang

Today I woke up early to the sound of a beating drum.  It was a quarter to 6am.  It was coming from the Xienthong temple nearby signaling the start of the alms-giving ceremony.

I had been meaning to get up early to see the alms-giving ceremony in town, called “tak bat”.  Tak bat is a morning ritual where the monks from the temples go out in a single file procession through the streets of Luang Prabang to receive offerings from the laypeople. These offerings typically include rice, food, flowers, incense and other gifts. This tradition is centuries old.  The monks are lined up by age, with the oldest leading the line. They walk in a meditative state receiving their alms. The ceremony is conducted in silence. I observed the ritual outside my hotel, watching from a respectful distance as an old man gave his offering of sticky rice to dozens of monks walking by. Not a word was exchanged between them.  Further down the street in front of the Xienthong temple a small group of faithful Buddhists were also handing out alms to the monks.  It was a beautiful and peaceful ritual to observe.

Alms-giving ceremony

Tak Bat, the alms-giving ceremony. The oldest monks lead the procession.

Tak Bat, alms-giving ceremony comes to an end and the monks file back into the temple.

I went back to sleep for a few hours and then got up for real to eat an early lunch nearby at a little French bakery (there are a few in the area and they are delightful).  After buying my bus ticket to Phonsavan for tomorrow, I decided to get out of the city before the madness of the the New Year festivities commenced for the day.  I walked east to the end of the Luang Prabang old town peninsula (past the Xienthong Temple) where I spied a bamboo bridge that crossed the Ou river (which brakes off of the Mekong to create the Luang Prabang peninsula).

Bamboo Bridge to cross the Mak Ou

After climbing up a hill on the other side, I found a dirt road and followed it.

Road past the bamboo bridge

I had heard that over the bamboo bridge and along this dirt road there are a series of little silk villages, where the villagers specialize in different types of weaving.  I, of course, wanted to check these out.

I made my way through the towns of Ban Xieng Leck and Ban Xangkhong.  There were plenty of little silk shops between the two.  Unfortunately many were closed due to the new year festivities.  I saw some of the looms in the shops, but no one was working them. Being here during Lao new year has been a bit frustrating.  The water fight gets old very quickly, and also a lot of activities that interest me are not running.  For example, I had been trying to find a silk weaving class but none are available during the New Year celebrations.  I guess I’ll have to leave that for next time.

Looms at one of the closed shops at the silk villages

After walking around the silk villages, I made my way back to the peninsula and crossed the precarious bamboo bridge again.  I seriously don’t understand how that thing is standing. It feels like it shouldn’t be able to support any weight!

View of Luang Prabang peninsula and bamboo bridge

The festivities were in full swing, and the parade was underway.  It seemed to end at the Xienthong Temple, right by my hotel, so I made my way through some back alleyways and slipped into the temple complex.  All the monks were lined up watching the parade. It was such an incredible sight.

Monks lined up at Xienthong temple watching the parade

And then all these different groups of folks paraded past.  Many were dressed in different outfits and costumes.

Boys dressed as monkeys; Girls dressed as princesses

Little boys dressed in costume, seated after walking through the parade

Young girls in traditional dress

Beautifully dressed ladies in traditional garb

They all seemed to be carrying offerings to leave at the temple.  It was quite a spectacle.  There were loads of tourists, monks, and Lao people everywhere.

Because the water fight continued for the rest of the day, I decided to take a few hours to rest at my hotel and read for a bit.  In the evening, I headed out again to the night market for the last time.  It’s a nice little market and I enjoy walking through it.

I had made a few French friends last night at a little restaurant I went to, and we agreed to meet again at the same restaurant at 8pm to have another meal together.  As it turns out, the owner of the restaurant (Dera) decided to close the restaurant early tonight because his staff had worked a very long shift that day.  He invited me and my french friends to join him and his staff at a local Lao eatery for dinner.  It’s hard to say no to such an offer.  We went with Dera and his family to a place a bit outside the city center that specializes in Seen Dat, Laotian-styled barbecue. Here traditional meats and vegetables are seared on a dome-shaped griddle. It made for a fun and unique experience having dinner with only locals! There were absolutely no tourists there, except for us, which made it a rather magical end to my stay in Luang Prabang.

Seen Dat, Laotian-style barbecue

Now I’m back at my hotel, packed and ready for a new adventure.  I’ve been in Luang Prabang about 5 days now, and tomorrow I head off to Phonsavan.

Day 15: Around Luang Prabang and the massive water fight

Today I took a rest day today, and spent a few hours roaming around the lovely city of Luang Prabang.  I walked first to the Royal Palace, which is now  a National Museum in the center of town.  The palace was built in 1904 and features a mix of Lao and French architectural styles.  It was the main residence of King Sisavang Vong and his family.  The interesting thing about this museum is that you cannot enter with your shoes on.  There is an area to leave your shoes and you can leave your belongings in a little locker as well.  This was the first time I’ve ever entered a museum barefoot!

Royal Palace / National Museum

The museum is quite nice actually.  There are several artifacts inside including personal belongings of the royal family.  Behind the palace is a small exhibition of the Royal Palace Car Collection, which includes a few Lincoln Continentals from the 1960s and a couple of other cars that were given as gifts to the King of Laos.

The most important item in the royal palace complex is the Pha Bang, the 83cm-tall Buddha statue for which the city of Luang Prabang is named.  The statue arrived in Luang Prabang in 1512, but it is believed to have been cast around the 1st century AD in Sri Lanka. However, stylistically speaking, the statue is crafted more in the style of the Khmer and probably dates from the 14th century. The statue was taken away to Thailand twice in its history but returned to Laos in 1867.

The Pha Bang used to live in the National Museum, but is now located in the new Wat Ho Pha Bang temple located inside in the Royal Palace complex and built in 2006 to house the Pha Bang statue.

Wat Ho Pha Bang temple

The guards don’t allow you to take photos of the Buddha, unfortunately.  After visiting the Pha Bang I decided to hike up to the top of Mount Phousi.  There are about 320 steps to the top, where there is a temple and chedi, as well as beautiful views of the city.

Climbing up the steps to Mount Phousi

View from Mount Phousi

View of Luang Prabang from the top of Mount Phousi

I decided to go down the mountain through a different path that passed by a number of small shrines and temples.

Shrine going down the south east side of Mount Phousi

A shrine inside a cave, coming down from Mount Phousi

There was a sign pointing to a little shrine where there is a footprint of the Buddha.  Curiosity got the best of me so I decided to follow the signs to check it out.  The alleged footprint is massive and sort of strange–kind of like a big hole in the ground.  It’s housed in a small building.

Shrine for the footprint of the Buddha

I decided to continue walking around for a bit and visit the Wat Visoun, which is supposed to be one of the oldest temples in the city, and one of the ones with the most religious importance.  However, this current building was built within the past 200 years since the previous one was destroyed.

Wat Visoun

Stupa behind the Wat Visoun

Inside the Wat Visoun

Inside the temple there are a lot of old buddhas dating back to the 16th century.

Buddhas in the Wat Visoun

I walked around for awhile after visiting the Wat Visoun.  The city is crazy right now.  The Lao new year has officially begun so everyone is out on the streets with water guns and buckets throwing water at anyone and everyone.  It’s pretty fun, although annoying because now my clothes are all wet.  Worse still, they sometimes throw water with food coloring, which can be a bit annoying.  I spent most of the day drenched, which is what I expected, but still kind of frustrating.

People throwing water at passerbys

The Lao New Year water fight

Lao New Year Water Fight Celebration

After walking around for awhile, poking into stores, taking in the water fights, I decided to come back and spend the rest of the afternoon relaxing at my hotel.

I was hoping to take a weaving class tomorrow or a cooking class, but a lot of these specialty activities are closed right now because of the new year.  Oh well.

Day 13: Luang Prabang and Elephants

Today was a rainy day.  This is strange because it’s supposed to be the hot/dry season here.  And yet it poured all day.  I had organized a half day tour to the Elephant Village just outside of Luang Prabang, where all the elephants have been rescued from the logging industry. I wasn’t thrilled about riding around in the jungle on an elephant in the rain, but decided to do it anyway.  I’m glad I did.

The Elephant Village, with the elephant feeding station

I did the half day tour, which involved a 3 km elephant ride, part of which goes through a river and then through a local village.

Elephants from the Elephant Village walking through the river

We sat on the elephants on a little chair.  To get on the elephants, we used the loading station platform to climb into our seats.

Loading station at the Elephant Village

Elephant with mahout (trainer) in the Elephant Village

I decided to ride my elephant barefoot.  Their skin is really rough and their hairs brittle!

Our caravan crossing the river

Once we got to the river bed, where it was somewhat flat, the mahout let me ride on the elephants shoulders so I was right on top of his head.  It was actually quite scary because you’re quite high up off the ground.

Once we finished our elephant ride, we spent a little time with our elephants feeding them bananas.  It’s funny because they grab everything with their noses, which are quite strong!  I wanted to feed my elephant one or two bananas at a time but he kept reaching for anything he could get. I was worried he’d grab my phone if I wasn’t careful.

After we finished feeding our elephants, we took a long boat across the river to the other side to visit one of the Elephant Village’s baby elephants, a female who is only 3 years old.  She was adorable and also very hungry, so we fed her as well!

Little baby elephant

After we spent some time with the baby elephant, we continued on our long boat up the river to visit the Tad Sae Waterfall. This part of the tour was fairly anticlimactic as there is very little water right now because it’s the dry season.  Even though it’s been raining for about 3 days strait, the waterfall was still completely dry. I had been hoping to take a bath in the waterfall, but with most of the water dried up I didn’t feel so inclined to take a dip in a sad pool of muddy water.

We went back to the Elephant Village after the waterfall visit, and had lunch overlooking the river, watching the elephants walk around as well as watch as a group of folks doing the full day tour bathed the elephants in the river.  We returned to Luang Prabang in the mid-afternoon.

Pretty flowers by the river at the Elephant Village

I was really tired today–I think being on the move for 3 days to get to Luang Prabang finally hit me, so I took a little nap in the afternoon.  In the evening I went out to walk around the city again.  It’s so beautiful here.  The town is filled with trees and is so lovely. The rain also gave the city a nice fresh scent.

The very forested streets in Luang Prabang

Sunset over the Mekong. View from the Luang Prabang river front

After a little walk around the night market again, I ate dinner and then headed back to the hotel.  I’m still exhausted and want to sleep early tonight.

Luang Prabang by night

Traveler Tip:  Similar to Thailand, it’s super easy to book tours in and around Luang Prabang.  Along the main street in town are dozens of tour operators offering many of the same tours for trekking, bike riding, motor biking, elephant riding, water fall visiting, etc.  Some even offer 2,3, 5 or 7 day tours to different regions within the country–Luang Prabang is truly a central hub with access to most of the country.  Typically these tour offices are open quite late into the evening, so like in Thailand, I’ve been dropping by the tour offices on my way to the night market to set up tours for the next day.  So far it’s working out okay.  Because it’s the hot season and most of the people in town are Lao people visiting for the New Year celebrations, there are fewer folks signing up for trekking tours, but it is definitely easier to organize tours than in Chiang Rai I find. I think there may be more westerners here than in Chiang Rai because of the Lao New Year.