| A LAZY RIVER TO LUANG PRABANG
Laos.....what an incredible land! But it is changing so fast. Tourists have begun to flood into the country. At least I was with the first or second wave and was able to see and enjoy this beautiful country, its people and culture before even more changes arrive.
This trip took me south east down the Mekong River from the northern Thai town of Chang Khong to the UNESCO World Heritage town of Luang Prabang.
Not many people enter Laos via the Mekong, even during the high season. The average seems to be about 30 to 40 a day. Most are very young and adventurous Europeans. My boatload of 35 consisted of Irish, French, Brits, Israelis, South Africans, Canadians, Swedes, Dutchmen and 3 or 4 fellow Americans. Maybe 3 of us were over 26?. There were Laos folk on board, but the number constantly varied as this boat is really a river taxi. It could be hailed by anyone, anywhere!
The fare was US$12 for the 2 day cruise and our boat was typical of many. It was built of heavy wooden planks, about 130 feet long and 10 feet wide, with a flat bottom and flat roof. It looked like drawings of Noah’s Ark, since the planked sides left little visibility except for a 15in gap below the roof line for about one-third of the length. A small 4ft high, 6ft wide opening enabled loading and unloading. To see outside, one had to kind of half stand - and to get fresh air you stuck your head out the space along the sides. The captain steered from a small cabin in the bow to best negotiate the rocks, small rapids and sandbars, and tugged on a rope to signal the engineer in the rear. The large diesel engine was located, unenclosed, in the cargo hold, so we had to put up with the noise and odour for 2 days.
I was lucky and sat in the front, away from most of the fumes and noise. The toilet consisted of a one foot square hole in the deck at the stern and to use it you had to step over fellow passengers and walk by the smelly, roaring diesel engine.
To embark, we all tip-toed across a narrow, bobbing plank and ducked into the interior. There were no seats or benches of any kind. Take your own cushions and water.
If one is looking for creature comforts, this is definitely not the way to travel. If you want good (for the most part) comrades, high adventure, extraordinary beauty and a totally new experience, then this definitely is for you!
Our type of trip is described as the “slow boat” along the Mekong. Actually, with the boat’s power and the rapid current we moved at a very good clip down this mud-brown boiling river. It’s just a long way - over 150 miles.
There are speed boats, however, which make the trip in about 6 hours. These carry 4-6 people in open cockpits, wearing lifejackets and crash helmets. They’re only about 12ft long and have large, unsilenced engines. You can hear them half a kilometer away and I was told that everyone disembarks totally, if temporarily, deaf. But many do prefer this type of “adventure”.
The jungle-lined river itself is magnificent. Typically it is 600ft wide as it meanders through the hills and mountains, forming for much of it’s length the Thai-Laos border.
Villages are scattered at intervals, high above the flood level. At seasonal low water the farmers take advantage of tiers of white sand on both sides to begin staircases of new
crops - all watered by hand from sprinkling cans. Where there is no farming, one often sees herds of water buffalo - even elephants - lounging at the water’s edge. At other places, fishermen are casting their nets from the shore or small canoes, or tending fish traps. There are 600lb catfish in this river!
Late afternoon of day one on the mighty Mekong, our boat put into Pak Beng, a remote town with a scattering of guest houses and restaurants high above the river.
Our passengers scattered to various guest houses, where nightly rates ranged from 25 cents to 2 dollars. I chose the 2 dollar place and my room contained a large bed with a mosquito net and a 10-watt light bulb, walls of paper thin bamboo mats. There were 2 toilets outside for everyone and showers were provided. My 90 cent, candle-lit, dinner was delicious with a view of the Mekong as the sun gradually set. After 9.00pm our guest house used it’s generator to continue power, but it was turned off at 10.30pm, lights out!
We were off by 8.30am, which gave me a short time to visit the local vegetable and meat market, with all the hill people in their local outfits. As in most places in Laos, children where everywhere. At one stall they were being given strips of raw pork fat while the lady worked diligently at splitting a pig’s skull with a meat cleaver.
For a time I stopped to watch a line of barefoot, saffron-robed, monks silently and in single file snaking their way into the one street village for their only meal of the day. Ladies lined both edges of the road and silently knelt while the monks zig-zagged from side-to-side, receiving small portions of food. No words were spoken and when all had received food in their bowls, the monks formed a straight line, blessed everyone with a short chant, then snaked their way up the hill and back to the temple.
The second day found more relationships developing among the 10 different nationalities which comprised our young ship’s company. By the end of the cruise we would all keep running into one another in other parts of Laos and it was like meeting old friends.
In the hours before arriving at our destination, the geography changed to the limestone karsk type of structures so typically seen in old Chinese paintings. At last, near dusk of the second day, we arrived at the beautiful, unique little town of Luang Prabang.
Here the Mekong is very wide and merges with another river, the Khan. We were still in the mountains but Luang Prabang sits high over the water and a small hill in the centre is crested by a lovely wat and golden stupa. The town is small and one can walk everywhere in about 4-5 hours. You can rent bicycles for about one US dollar a day and one has to travel only a very short distance out of town to get into the traditional rural, Laos lifestyle.
This town and it’s temples was put on UNESCO’s list of World Heritages sites in 1995. Of the buildings being preserved, many show the distinctive French colonial architecture of the 20’s and 30’s. We even saw a 1938 Citroen driving about! Because more tourist have flowed in recently, the streets were sometimes crowded with noisy motorcycles, buses and vans. Unlike Thailand, few here can afford cars.
Traffic declines when darkness comes until, by 10.00pm, the streets are virtually empty. With few exceptions, I cannot recall a place which has impressed me more with its warm, wonderful, people and the magnificence of the land. I miss it so much I am already eager to return.
My 3 week visit permitted only snapshot glimpses of a small portion of this tiny nation of 5.6 million people.
A ‘must’ in Luang Prabang: what is thought to be the smallest royal palace in the world!
Composed of 68 separate ethnic groups, enclosed in a land area slightly smaller than UK (but with only 8% of the UK’s population), Laos has been, traditionally, the least developed and most enigmatic of the 3 former French Indochina states. Up to 1946, there were never more than 600 French in the whole country but, the influence they left was tremendous.
Following 2 days of travel, the sight of the sunset glittering off the golden dome of Luang Prabang’s famous Wat Xieng Thong sent a surge of awe and excitement through us all.
Sitting high above the river, the scene was backstopped by the golden glow of several of the city’s 32 temples, with snaking lines of saffron-robed monks. The hustle and bustle of busy canoes and traditional Mekong cargo boats sitting in the brown water contrasted with the dominating summit of Phu Si with its glowing, golden stupa piercing the heart of heaven itself. Wide, steep stone staircases stretched from temple doors to the water’s edge, each inviting us to explore this fairy tale city.
But there were more plebian matters to attend to - like finding a place to stay. The larger the group, the less it costs. There is greater safety in numbers as well, but, never in Laos did I feel any sense of danger or need for extra caution.
For the true budget traveller, a guest house room with shared, communal bathing facilities may go for as little as 6,000 Kip (75 cents) a day. More commonly one pays 10,000 to 30,000 Kip. My friend and I decided to upgrade, and rented rooms in a newly completed guest house with toilet and hot shower for 30,000 Kip ($3.75 a night).
One could walk around and see most of the sites within 3 to 6 hours, depending on one’s pace. The original French administrators nicknamed it “the refuge of the last dreamers.” I agree, and am incapable of describing the special charm and mood of this place. The population is about 20,000, while the surrounding district numbers up to about 70,000 souls consisting of ethnic and hill tribe minorities. Resting atop a long, elevated peninsula at the confluence of the Mekong and Khan rivers, an altitude of 700 meters keeps Luang Prabang cool and pleasant. This is a city for walking!
There are many restaurants of all types, interspersed by shops selling local crafts. Student monks stroll everywhere - sheltered from the sun by their black or saffron coloured umbrellas. This adds to the riot of visual delight when blended with the colourful hill peoples in their traditional outfits.
Unlike Thailand, with western tee-shirts and jeans, most of the people here still go about in their traditional clothing. Nearly all the women wear full length, richly-decorated, silk or cotton half sarongs. The rich, gleaming coloured silks blend so naturally with the bright flashing reds and golds of the temples and chedis. Now stir into this mix a bustling multitude of hill people wearing native costumes and headgear, some festooned with silver motifs, and laden down with twin baskets of goods supported by bouncing shoulder poles! Motorcycles whizz past carrying cheerful, beautiful, young girls with
long hair trailing in the breeze. Perhaps this helps explain why it is so easy to fall in love with the charm of Luang Prabang?
At about 6.00am, monks begin a single-filed barefoot, procession, each with a large bowl, usually gold or silver.
Women kneel, dishing out food as each monk passes by. Occasionally, the monks form a line and chant a prayer.
A great experience for all but photographers - it is still too dark for good pictures!
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Travelling and living in Laos is like going backward into a magical time past. Such places are rare indeed!
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