Luang Prubang
Trip Start
Jan 27, 2009
1
13
Trip End
Mar 06, 2009
Luang Prabang, Lao Peoples Dem Rep
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Bumped in to Lorenzo outside a nice smelling Indian restaurant that had a few people in it so decided to eat there. Had a very enjoyable meal, went and had a couple of beers in some places and got on the net. Got back to the Guesthouse to find the guy that hade booked me in was asleep on a mat under a mozzie net , so i guess anything after ten is considered late. After un packing my day pack i realised i'd left my (dodgy) Lonely Planet book at the internet shop. Too late to go back and get it
Woke up early as my window that was open overlooked the open kitchen to the restaurant next door. Tried sleeping through the noise but couldn't so got up and went to the internet shop - the main drag was dead - i would've thought some of the restaurants would've been open to do breakfasts but clearly there isn't much call for it. Got my book and the only one in there was a guy sweeping the floor and he looked a little concerned me grabbing the book so opened it up to the 2 passport pictures and that had him convinced. Did most of the walking tour in the Lonely Planet with a number of side street diversions and went a bit mad with the camera taking heaps of pictures of different houses, hotels, guest houses and cars. Couldn't get over how dusty everything was. Had a nice lunch (at the time!!!!!) of spring rolls and then Chicken Larp. Looked through some temples and walked up what seemed a couple of thousand steps up Phu Si, (a hill one hundred metres high with some old abandoned temples), though it was probably more like 320. The veiw was pretty impressive from the base of the 24metre high That Chomsi, which is on the sumit of the hill, even with the thick smoke hanging around. Saw a sign to "Buddhas Footprint" pointing to another pass so decided to have a look. It was an alternative way down the big hill, which surprised me as I'd seen most people heading down the way they'd came up.There were loads of impressive statues, in one area there was 7 together, one for each day.The footprint was a bit of a dissapointment. A couple of young novices were hanging around there reading and pouncing on anyone to practice their English on so I used this as an excuse to sit down and have a rest. I was asked where i was from aand said Australia to which a kid of about eleven or twelve said, in the clearest and most easily understood English, "It's quite horrendous all the fire devastation in Victoria".. I was floored - pitty some of the guides, rest and hotel staff didn't talk as well as he, and as i headed back off i pictured in my mind all this monks together after dinner and studies sitting in front of a widescreen LCD watching the 'Australia Channel'.
Headed down to the Mekong as the sun began to gett lower for some pictures and found a nice bar amongst the many there and ordered my one dollar fifty 640ml Beerlao, it was very cold and i was very hot, so all was good. The sun going down over the river was pretty impressive but you couldn't see it go down all the way as it was soon blocked out by the thick smoke. By this time i was begging to feel a bit off colour so headed to the guesthouse and read my book a bit and started shivering and going into cold sweats - i'll save the details but we'll just say i was a bit unwell and the following day was a waste and the Saturday i was only about 50%.
Got up early on the Saturday and Sunday morning to see the monks receiving alms (they walk in procession fasion to different corners with metal containers hung from their necks and locals sat at these corners put little bits of food each into the containers - sticky rice, fresh fruit etc) which was very impressive. I came out of my guesthouse thinking which way will i have to go to see the process and barely fifty metres away there was a group. I didn't know how it worked so i just went don the corner and took pictures and video. After the first group another group came and there ended up being about 8 different groups go through our corner.
I booked my flight to Bangkok, and the half day boat up to Pac Ou Caves and the half day elephant trek.
The boat up to Pac Ou Caves was relaxing and enjoyable except the very thin cusion on the wooden seat made the bum numb for most of the trip up there and pretty much all of the way back. The caves were surprisingly impressive, with thousands of little Buddhas scattered everywhere and the views accross the river were awesome also. Saw a speedboat go screaming past which was an amazing sight and i take my hat off to anyone brave (or stupid) enough to go on them - though they do make the 2 day trip up to the town next to the Thai border a one day trip!!
There were loads of locals there selling everything from little birds, to release so you get karma points, to handicrafts and food and drinks. One little kid was doing the "only one dollar" bit with me with a bracelet os i relented and started getting a dollar out when another kid goes 'No! Kip', so i gave him 90 cents worth of kip and got a little bracelet - he seemed happy as he was the only one to make a sale amongst about 20 sellers. Further down the path some girls were trying to sell little birds in little cane baskets, after refusing one goes "photo, photo", so i took there photo and they said 'money', so each got about 20 cents, which made them happy and i got another photo.
Went back to the tour office and played on their internet until the mini van came to take me to the elephant place - looked like i was the only one going on this afternoon trek. Had lunch and then went up to where the elephants were. I was on the platform that allows you to step onto the elephant and was told i was the only one going, then about 2 minutes later four French people came so I had to wait around while another elephant came down and then was prepared with about 4 lots of reed matting, a blanket and then the wooden seat. A French guy was made the "Mahout" which means the elephant driver (trainer, keeper etc) so he got to sit on its' neck and 'drive' it, which i think he enjoyed for the initial 5 minutes or so but then got a bit over it - being uncomfprtable and definately having a bit of feeling of danger - going down steep inclines definately gave the impression falling off would be pretty easy. The steep inclines were hard enough in the seat and didn't help much with my cracked rib. On the elephant for close on two hours and saw quite a difference in the bushland. A highlight was when we went through some water on the edge of the river and accross the river was the camp for if you do a couple of days learning about the elephants and that looked a great spot. W
Went to the Luang Prubang Bakery restaurant which I'd frequented a lot due to it having free wifi and a strong connection. I t was a bit more expensive than most of the other places but was worth it. After my dinner came i saw i was the Beef version of the Chicken dish that poisoned me (at a different place), and being the night before i flew out i was a bit concerned but it was very nice and of good quality..
