Days 24-27: Luang Prabang, Laos

February 22-25

Let me start by saying that internet of a reasonable speed is almost impossible to find in Luang Prabang, but what should I expect in a place like this? I've stumbled upon some, so I'm making the most of it (including uploaded a video of motorbike riding on my Hanoi post, so check it out!).

Luang Prabang is a beautiful UNESCO Heritage Listed town on a peninsula at the confluence of the huge Mekong and smaller Nam Khan rivers. It has pretty little lanes connecting the two larger roads than run along the town, and is filled with orange robe-wearing monks like the one sitting next to me in this internet cafe. A stop here came highly recommended by many people, including the New York Times Travel section which rated it number one travel destination in 2008. Its popularity shows in the somewhat appalling mobs of tourists, but I've fortunately still found it possible to have good experiences in unexpected places. Here's a photo after landing at the airport and another looking at the Mekong from town:


My first good experience in an unexpected place occurred when I checked into the Vilay Guest House, recommended to me by French Jungle Richard from my last entry. Vilay is run by a friendly Laos woman who, five years ago, met her husband-to-be when he stayed at her guest house while teaching English (I know, a Frenchie teaching English?) at a Luang Prabang school. Ben is quite friendly, and has included me in drinking various kinds of "lao lao", the local hard alcohol specialty, and even teaching me the way they drink it. One small glass and the bottle is procured by the host who pours himself a shot, shows it to everyone else, drinks it, and then shakes the remains on the floor as an offering to past family. He then proceeds to pour successive shots for the others at the table, filling and passing the single glass.

My first morning, I awoke before the sun to watch the town monk alms procession, a daily event where they collect their day's food from local lay people (non-monks). It was awesome to see, but lessened by the insensitive Japanese tourists just off their tour buses, rushing towards the slowly processing monks and taking flash photos in the weak morning light. This and other experiences in Luang Prabang have made me ashamed of tourism and even consider leaving so I stop contributing to it.


Not only is the town on a peninsula, but on its spine there is a substantial hill called Phu Si with some temples on top, overlooking the town and the rivers. Again, it was mobbed with tourists, but still beautiful at sunset:


On my second full day, I did a day mountain bike trip to the east of town, led by a friendly Laos guide named Sat. He was about 22 years old and had been a novice (monk in training) age 15 to 20, so he was able to explain something about life as a novice. Novices must follow ten precepts or rules which include no hunting or killing, no drinking alcohol, no having sex with (or even touching) women, and no singing or dancing.

The mountain bike trip was well-organized with beautiful scenery and a mixture of easy, technical (on rocky, potholed dirt roads), and then uphill bicycling. Stops included a temple, a silk and cotton textiles house, a bamboo basket-making village, delicious lunch, an elephant park, and a boat ride by water buffalo playing in the water to swimming in pools made by small waterfalls. No inexpensive ($28, including lunch) bike tour in a developing country would be complete without two flats and a broken rear wheel spoke. Fortunately, they were little inconvenience. I got along well with the two other guys on the trip, from San Francisco and London, and we got beers and dinner after the trip.


On another day, I was wandering the back way to the top of Phu Si when I passed a novice. We exchanged the usual "sebadee", and then he started a conversation with me in English. I had heard that the novices and monks like to practice their English with tourists, so I didn't think it strange. Mon's English wasn't great, but we still had a nice conversation, and then he gave me a tour around his temple and brought me to his living quarters where we hung out with his two roommates. Mon is 17 years old and became a novice at age 13 when his father died. Before leaving, Mon tied a pink bracelet he had made on my wrist.


Later that day, another monk (this one was a monk and not a novice, since he was older than 20) named Keo struck up conversation with me. Keo spoke fluent English, and could speak a number of other languages including Thai, Chinese, and Japanese. He was a world traveler, having been all over Europe and Asia. It turns out that some monks are a lot more like you and me than you might think. Keo had a cell phone with two sim cards, a TV and DVD player in his living quarters, and a nicer digital camera than mine. When I asked him where he got money for his travels and possessions, he explained that he earned money from translating text from Laos to various of the other languages he knows. He also sends money home to his family living in northern Laos. In a few weeks, he plans to stop being a monk, go to study medicine in Bangkok, and eventually open a pharmacy and become a doctor in his home town where he says there is little medical presence. It's common for Laos men to be novices for a period of time and then stop. In fact, there is a three week required minimum. Like traveling for a year before and / or after college, I think experiencing the life of a monk would be a great experience for most teenagers.

I haven't quite decided when I'm going to leave Laos for Chiang Mai (Thailand), or even how I'm going to get there (either by plane or by boat up the Mekong and then bus), but that'll be my next stop.