Luang Prabang (LPB) is probably the most visited city in Laos. Vientiane, the capital, does not offer much in the way of tourist attractions, so LPB is the main city stop on the backpacker trail. I'd heard many a good thing about the city, but was surprised as to how small it actually was.
I had expected something a little more like the buzzing but laid back Chiang Mai, with everything a lot more spread out. Yet Luang Prabang eventually gave us that vibe we were looking for. We ventured out into the night market, where the atmosphere was a lot like that in Chiang Mai's Night Bazaar. There were street vendors selling food, shakes, jewelry, scarves, bags (the usual crafts), and there was an impressive selection of restaurants.
When the group headed to take out some kip, we found that the ATMs were a nuisance. Another frustrated westerner explained that Laos has some serious issues with Western cards. VISA is not as widely accepted as we had hoped, and it was generally easier to get cash out from an exchange desk. We were prepared for this sort of problem, so when we took cash out, we took A LOT!
As for our budgets, we also found that Laos was not that cheap for such a poor country. We wonder that if the average wage of a waiter in a restaurant was 15,000 kip per day (as was printed discreetly at the bottom of most menus), then how did they afford to live when one bottle of water is about 6,000 and simple noodles are 10,000? Those cynics among us believe that they have a 'western price' and a 'local price', as the maths just doesn't work out!
Back to LPB. We had a lovely day wandering around the town, seeing pretty much everything there was to see. A couple of temples, restaurants, the river (we'd seen quite enough of that by then though) and the various restaurants and bars. We covered it all in a day by foot, to give you an idea of the size. As for activities, most of which were located outside of the town. We did consider doing a trek, but after the first day we realised that due to budgets, we should move on quickly.
However, we did have a brilliant night out on the town! We found some great little bars with cheap cocktails for us girls, and moved onto the Hive bar (coincidence?!) where we charmed the bar tender, Dan. He loved our Englishness...yet kept saying "maaaaate" in a very Aussie accent. He convinced us that we should head to the discoteque for a dance, and by this stage, we couldn't think of anything better! So we met the boys and piled into a dodgy tuk tuk for the 1km drive out of town to a warehouse type club. We were the only white people there! It was great! They played non stop dodgy pop songs, and sold us a bottle of vodka, as they didn't sell it by the measure. Yeah right! But we fell for it, like drunken fools. We danced the night away with Dan and his other Lao friends, who seemed totally thrilled to be in our presence!
After that, the rest of a night was a bit of a blur...but the photos tell us that we were a little rowdy at the hostel but it was all clean safe fun. The next day...was painful. We slept, ate, and sat about really. Oh but the veggie buffet was the highlight! 10,000 kip for all you can fit on a plate, and it was good.
To make up for our lack of cultural exploration on the hangover day, we decided to get up at 5.30 am the following morning to go to alms giving in town. Yes, we didn't think we'd actually get up either, but you always surprise yourself!
Alms giving in Luang Prabang has been a common cultural and spiritual practice for many many years. It has now become one of the main tourist attractions also, where tourists are invited to kneel at the side of the road, and take part in the giving of rice and food to the monks. I had done my research online, and found that the ritual can often go wrong for tourists, as they are unaware of the cultural etiquette. As a woman particularly, it is important that you do not touch the monks, or their bowls, and they cannot look at you whilst the ritual is taking place. Obviously we had to dress respectfully, but the main food that you buy from vendors to give to monks is Laos sticky rice and bananas, so it was best to use that only. All of this made us quite nervous! We didn't want to mess up and offend anyone, but it all went very smoothly. I was shocked at how many monks there were! My rice ran out very quickly, so I stepped aside and watched the procession of orange robes from a distance.
The alms that the monks receive are eaten at two points during the morning, and after midday they are allowed only water. So I was shocked to see some of the monks taking food from their own bowls and giving it to the begging children at the side of the road. It was a very moving and rewarding experience, despite being totally exhausted for the rest of the day! I am very proud of us though, and would recommend it to anyone.
All in all our time in LPB was enjoyable, and very hot. Now we move on to Vang Vieng, for the tubing experience. At this point we doubt that we will be doing anything remotely cultural for at least 5 days... Bring on the tubing!
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