| A BIKE RIDE ALONG THE MEKONG VALLEY
Photos by David Chandler
One of the first things you discover about Luang Prabang is that it is actually quite a small place.
The natural peninsula between the Mekhong and Nam Khan rivers provided an easily defended site on which the old city developed. More recently, the town has simply expanded in the area available to the south of the confluence.
If you arrive by plane, the very newest building projects, in various stages of completion, can clearly be seen between the city limits and the mountains - yet even this space is limited by the closeness of the mountains themselves.
Unless you are an independent traveller and have arrived here on the bus or boat, then the chances are your length of stay will be dictated by flight times and tour itineraries. The average tourist stay in Luang Prabang is only 3 or 4 days - then it’s off to sample further delights in Cambodia or Vietnam. So, how do you make the most of limited time once the obligatory boat-trip to Pak Ou has been completed (a real “must-do”) and you’re feeling a bit “templed-out?”
I would suggest widening the horizons beyond the city itself and sampling rural life in the surrounding villages. Because of the flat nature of the Mekong valley, this is best done by far on a bike. And keep right in Laos, like I do (below).
Hiring a pushbike in Luang Prabang is extremely easy. Many of the tour companies have them as do the shops in the main street. Even a few of the bars along the Mekong river have 5 or 6 bikes for hire in a rack. You don’t even have to barter the price – it’s the same everywhere - $1 a day. One of Luang Prabang’s best value deals. Two distinct types up for grabs: mountain bikes with gears, or the typical Laos sit-up-and-beg variety with no gears. Although it is tempting to look the part of the fit and healthy trekkie on a mountain bike, I always go for the traditional type for one important reason – they all come complete with a basket on the front! This is a must for carrying all the paraphernalia I seem to end up taking with me: camera and lenses, bottles of drink, photopack etc. I do hate cycling with a backpack. I have hired from a number of places and wouldn’t say one was better than any other. They all require a passport number (don’t leave the actual passport) and details of where you are staying and that seems to be all. No deposit, no legal forms, couldn’t be easier.
The only thing to be careful of is getting a puncture! Finding a repair shop in down-town Ban Khan Keuam could be difficult and 6k is a long walk back to town! But it is so typical of the friendly Lao people that on the only occasion I did get a flat, the first man at the first house I called at fixed it and just would not take anything for doing it!
In February I decided to give photos to some of the families who had been so welcoming on a previous visit, plus a bottle of Mekhong for the puncture-repair-man! Two of us (always a social event, cycling!) hired bikes, paid our dollars and set off towards the old wooden bridge which spans the Nam Khan. For a day out and to experience rural Laos in very close proximity to Luang Prabang I would thoroughly recommend this trip.
Down Phousi Road past Phousi mountain on your right, go left over the wooden bridge, take the first left on the other side of the bridge into the almost unpronounceable Mahaouphalathphetsalath Road and keep going straight.
The wooden bridge offers the first photo opportunity and it is worth leaving the bikes at the side of the road and walking out onto the bridge along the right-hand walkway. The view here along the Nam Khan (top photo) is one of the most stunning in Luang Prabang, especially in the morning when the golden temple is often to be found emerging from the low-lying early mist. Until recently the bridge was open to 4 wheel traffic but is now only available to 2 wheel vehicles. Don’t plan on stopping in the middle!
As soon as you turn left onto the dirt road which follows the river, the whole world seems to change. The noise from the traffic fades, the vegetation encroaches far closer to the road - almost obscuring the many wooden houses which make up the majority of the village dwellings - and an overall sense of quietness descends all around. On this trip the kids were at school so it was very quiet. I could hear the chanting of the monks at both Wat Phan Luang and Wat Phonsaat.
This road hosts an abundance of temples as it makes its way through the riverside villages: Ban Xiang Kong, Ban Nong Xia, Khong Keuam, Ban Se La and Ban Khan Hin. All have at least one temple (of the same name) and ruins of others hide amongst the trees – easily found by those with sharp eyes. We stopped at Wat Phonsat and walked up through the temple complex to admire the view across the Nam Khan back towards Luang Prabang. A dirt footpath steeply descends to the river and a small boat was ferrying half a dozen monks back from the town to start making the climb. Ten minutes later and very much out of breath they still wanted to stop and talk. Another half hour pleasantly disappeared! The first planned stop was Ban Xiang Kong, just 2km up the track and a major centre for weaving Lao silks. Showrooms and workshops abound - and be prepared for the young kids hawking their home-produced bracelets. All good fun and a “must buy” at 20 cents!
At the end of the little lane which runs from opposite Wat Xiang Kong down to the Mekong, Som Samai runs the weaving centre at the top of the steep flight of steps which lead down into the river. If you come here by boat (and most of the river tours to Pak Ou Caves stop here) then these are the steps you will climb.
During the previous visit I had taken some pictures of Som Samai’s family and wanted to return some prints for her. I also wanted another of the richly patterned Lao silk scarves I had purchased before. The silks are woven on the hand-looms which surround the house and each scarf or hanging represents literally days of work. After a warm Lao welcome we spent the next half an hour browsing her “Aladdin’s cave” and taking photos of the looms at work. How they ever manage to string the things up in order to start the weaving in the first place will for ever remain a mystery – amazing!!
Som Samai was thrilled with the pictures, especially those of her young daughter, (who coyly hid behind the silks on this occasion) and presented small gifts of handmade paper books and drawings of the local village. Time, however, was pressing on and there was a truck to load up.
It is from Xiang Kong and other local villages that the trucks descend on Luang Prabang every evening for the famed night market – tonight was to be no different. We said our goodbyes and departed.
To the north a temple in ruins appears to the right on a hilltop surrounded by dense clumps of huge bamboo plants. To the left the river peeps regularly through the trees as a reminder that we are not actually that far removed from reality or humanity. We had now reached the end of the school day and the silence was transformed. We seemed to meet groups of children on every corner and at every tiny shop. “Hello!”, “sabai dee!” or “how are you?” hailed from every direction and our general pace slowed somewhat. We decided to stop at the local shop in Ban Kham Keuam to top up on the water, followed by a beer. A whole load of kids on their way home from school stopped for a chat and, inevitably, out came the camera – the smiles and the sunshades were too good to miss! There are two great things about digital photography in this context:
1. You can fire away happily and then throw out all the bad pictures later (in my case, most of them) and
2. You can show the subjects their pictures instantly, which the kids obviously love.
The downside is the amount of time that flies by when you are
having a good time – bang went another half-an-hour! We did, however, get one of the best pics of the day at this point – one which I must print for the families concerned and bring on the next ride.
Our final destination was Ban Khon Hin, the last village on the road before it turns slightly inland and joins the main road to the north. I first stopped here over a year ago at the tiny corner shop in the village centre. Hot and tired, we had needed the inevitable water and a beer!
I remember we were taking pictures of bamboo houses with huge satellite dishes outside them when a heap of kids arrived. I remember it well because a very pretty little girl asked me my name – in English! Her name was Tookda and she explained that she was learning English at school and enjoyed her studies. She really did speak very good English and was quite rightly proud of the way in which she could converse with us. We had quite a conversation and very soon the whole family arrived from her house across the street!
We arrived at Ban Khon Hin and received a super welcome from everyone. Another weaving village, the family home has several looms and at these were working both Tookda’s mother and her elder sister. As the light was just right, we took a whole series of weaving pictures.
Drinks were brought out and we bought some silk and bamboo wall hangings made from silk and bamboo, a weaving technique I had not seen before. Colourful, intricate and excellent presents to take home – just that bit different. Tookda had still not returned from school so we left a little money for her school materials, said our farewells and started the ride back to Luang Prabang.
The dirt road joins the tarmac about a kilometre beyond the village and so the return to Luang Prabang from this point has two options: back-track exactly or continue out to the main road and turn right for the straight run back to the city. The main road is far quicker and, having a good surface, is far kinder on the body, but is not really interesting. This time we returned the way we had come, stopping at the ruined temple near Ban Xieng Kong for a further photo-session. This is well-worth a stop if you spot its brick stupas amongst the trees and creepers. The rough brickwork of the original buildings and the long forgotten Buddah images combine with the jungle location to give an almost “Indiana Jones” feel to the place.
Twenty minutes later we had re-crossed the wooden bridge and were settling down to a very welcome meal at the Nam Khan Riverside Food Garden on Phousi Road – always my last port of call before returning the bikes. Great food and a wonderful location at which to simply relax and rest sore legs – in my case, much needed! A trekky I am not!
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