Return to Lao: Luang Prabang
I'm here in Thailand on a type "O" multiple entry visa which essentially means I get to stay here for one year but I have to leave once every 90 days. With the end of the 90 day period rapidly approaching, it was lucky there was a long school holiday. I had six days free! Last year I'd been to Luang Prabang and had a fantastic time. If you look back at the December archives for this blog, you can read about it. With the memory of that trip in mind, I sat down to arrange a return visit. I was able to get a cheap and convenient round trip ticket on Bangkok Airways and found a place to stay right on the Mekong. Luang Prabang is in the northern part of Laos nestled in a mountainous region. The approach on our prop plane afforded me a great view of the Mekong and 'suburban' Luang Prabang. Upon arrival on Thursday, I took a cheap tuk-tuk to the Sala Prabang hotel. As advertised it was just across the street from the muddy Mekong. I knew I didn't have a Mekong view room so I was not overly disappointed in my smallish room with a 'view' of a small concrete and brick courtyard. Overpriced? Without a doubt, but it was clean, the staff of the hotel was pleasant and the breakfast served across the street on the high banks of the Mekong was good and bountiful. It had air conditioning which I only turned on twice for about 10 minutes. Aircon is not a requirement in Luang Prabang from October to March. A leisurely breakfast was a great way to start the day while I watched the locals going about their river business.
On my first afternoon I revisited the town. I strolled up and down the main 3 or 4 streets getting reacquainted. In 1995, Luang Prabang was designated as a World Heritage City. A bunch of money was granted with the caveat that the character of the city must be maintained. Once the ten years have passed, the funding dries up. Road construction is going on at an incredibly feverish pitch and many buildings are in the final stages of rehabilitation. So far so good, the efforts to maintain the attributes that first led to the World Heritage City designation have been quite successful. While it's not the same dusty town of 15 years ago, it's still a charming little town that I'm sure I'll visit over and over.
I made a point of heading straight to White Elephant Adventures to see my friend Derrick Beattie. On my last visit, Derrick set me up with a fantastic tour which I encourage you to read about in the archives. Derrick had just returned from an extended trip to Canada with his lovely wife Lon. I have no idea of the spelling of her name but that's at least phonetically correct. It was great to chat with them and I was happy to see that they were still thriving and are looking at some new business ventures. Of course, I wanted another tour and we discussed what I was looking for. Alas, Hai O, my guide from the last trip has gone back to teaching and retired from the tour guide business. Good for the children of Lao, sad for me. Derrick suggested I come back tomorrow (Friday) to finalize things after he spoke to his guides. In the meantime, he suggested a trip to Tat Kuang Si, a gorgeous waterfall an hour or so from Luang Prabang.
On the first evening, after my stroll and visit with Derrick, I decided a Lao massage was just the thing to work the kinks out. I went back to the same place where I had a two great massages last year. Sadly, the girl was gone and the massage was just adequate. Still, for $2, it was hard to complain. After the massage I was ravenous. I found a riverside open air restaurant. After inspecting the menu at length, I went for the Lao version of fish curry with sticky rice. It was good, but surprisingly not very spicy. In fact, overall, Lao cooking despite many warnings to the contrary appears to be generally less spicy than Thai food. The curry was accompanied by a cold Beer Lao and in combination with the cool mountain air put me in the mood for a good sleep.
Day two brought a cool dawn and a tasty 'farang' breakfast of eggs, ham, fruit, good rich coffee, crappy orange juice and a great lightly toasted baguette. A morning trip to the beautiful waterfall of Tat Kuang Si was easily arranged with a tuk tuk driver lounging nearby. It was well worth the trip. The two pics below don't do it justice. I was happy to have gone in the morning as there was only a dutch couple to share the place with. On the way back, we passed many others on the way to see the falls. As usual the early bird catches the worm. It was cool and deserted in the morning. I imagine it was hot and touristy in the afternoon based on the traffic headed that way. A bicycle rental in the afternoon provided some additional adventure. What's the adage about riding a bike? I haven't been on a bike in years and guess what? It wasn't as easy as it used to be. I got the pedaling ok and the balance wasn't too bad, but steering???? That was a challenge. Hard to believe I used to ride with no hands for extended periods, going around corners even. Yikes! I only crashed and burned once and fortunately I escaped with minimal damage. That said, it's a great way to see the city.
I stopped back at White Elephant Adventures to chat with Derrick and we decided that I'd have my tour on Sunday. He still had a few details to work out and I had plenty of time. I let him know I wasn't overly excited about my lodging and it turned out that his wife had been the manager there before she and Derrick got together. Again, it was OK, just not special for the price. He had another idea. Some acquaintances of his were building a new place just outside the city on the banks of the Nam Khan. While the overnight stay part wasn't officially open, the restaurant was and he thought they might be willing to let someone give the place a test run prior to a planned mid November opening. Sure enough they were. So a quick checkout and transfer on Saturday morning proved to be a great move. I heartily recommend Nam Khan Villas Resort and El Gecko restaurant. By the time anyone who reads this blog will be going to Lao, they should definitely be officially open. It's a mostly peaceful place on several acres with unimpeded access to the river. Our hosts were Carolyn and Graham (I hope spelling is correct) and their son Oliver. Most recently they lived in Spain and have done similar things. Carolyn is an experienced and accomplished chef and Graham was a shipbuilder in a previous incarnation and has supervised and done much of the construction work. They have a great staff. The waitstaff are mostly students and all speak good English and are eager to practice. A few sentences ago I said MOSTLY peaceful. Like most rural places, the cacophonous call and response of the roosters in the morning will not let anyone sleep late. Carolyn said they were pretty used to it and were now able to sleep through it. In Lao, waking up early isn't a big problem. They roll the sidewalks up pretty early, so early to bed and early to rise works just fine!
After the move on Saturday, I elected to take a boat ride on the mighty muddy Mekong. It wasn't as long as I had asked for, something must have been lost in translation. But it was still quite amazing when I think back to being in my teens and early twenties and the war years. Sitting in a boat in the heart of opium country would have been unthinkable in the 60's. After the boat ride, I headed back to the villa where I had a tasty dinner featuring a variety of tapas and a glass of red wine. It was a great way to cap the day. Breakfast on Sunday before the trip was a large plate of absolutely heavenly banana pancakes with a cup of tasty coffee. YUM! In my next post, I'll put up a bunch of pics from the tour which I'm sure you'll enjoy!
As always, stay in touch!!
andym528@hotmail.com
On my first afternoon I revisited the town. I strolled up and down the main 3 or 4 streets getting reacquainted. In 1995, Luang Prabang was designated as a World Heritage City. A bunch of money was granted with the caveat that the character of the city must be maintained. Once the ten years have passed, the funding dries up. Road construction is going on at an incredibly feverish pitch and many buildings are in the final stages of rehabilitation. So far so good, the efforts to maintain the attributes that first led to the World Heritage City designation have been quite successful. While it's not the same dusty town of 15 years ago, it's still a charming little town that I'm sure I'll visit over and over.
I made a point of heading straight to White Elephant Adventures to see my friend Derrick Beattie. On my last visit, Derrick set me up with a fantastic tour which I encourage you to read about in the archives. Derrick had just returned from an extended trip to Canada with his lovely wife Lon. I have no idea of the spelling of her name but that's at least phonetically correct. It was great to chat with them and I was happy to see that they were still thriving and are looking at some new business ventures. Of course, I wanted another tour and we discussed what I was looking for. Alas, Hai O, my guide from the last trip has gone back to teaching and retired from the tour guide business. Good for the children of Lao, sad for me. Derrick suggested I come back tomorrow (Friday) to finalize things after he spoke to his guides. In the meantime, he suggested a trip to Tat Kuang Si, a gorgeous waterfall an hour or so from Luang Prabang.
On the first evening, after my stroll and visit with Derrick, I decided a Lao massage was just the thing to work the kinks out. I went back to the same place where I had a two great massages last year. Sadly, the girl was gone and the massage was just adequate. Still, for $2, it was hard to complain. After the massage I was ravenous. I found a riverside open air restaurant. After inspecting the menu at length, I went for the Lao version of fish curry with sticky rice. It was good, but surprisingly not very spicy. In fact, overall, Lao cooking despite many warnings to the contrary appears to be generally less spicy than Thai food. The curry was accompanied by a cold Beer Lao and in combination with the cool mountain air put me in the mood for a good sleep.
Day two brought a cool dawn and a tasty 'farang' breakfast of eggs, ham, fruit, good rich coffee, crappy orange juice and a great lightly toasted baguette. A morning trip to the beautiful waterfall of Tat Kuang Si was easily arranged with a tuk tuk driver lounging nearby. It was well worth the trip. The two pics below don't do it justice. I was happy to have gone in the morning as there was only a dutch couple to share the place with. On the way back, we passed many others on the way to see the falls. As usual the early bird catches the worm. It was cool and deserted in the morning. I imagine it was hot and touristy in the afternoon based on the traffic headed that way. A bicycle rental in the afternoon provided some additional adventure. What's the adage about riding a bike? I haven't been on a bike in years and guess what? It wasn't as easy as it used to be. I got the pedaling ok and the balance wasn't too bad, but steering???? That was a challenge. Hard to believe I used to ride with no hands for extended periods, going around corners even. Yikes! I only crashed and burned once and fortunately I escaped with minimal damage. That said, it's a great way to see the city.
I stopped back at White Elephant Adventures to chat with Derrick and we decided that I'd have my tour on Sunday. He still had a few details to work out and I had plenty of time. I let him know I wasn't overly excited about my lodging and it turned out that his wife had been the manager there before she and Derrick got together. Again, it was OK, just not special for the price. He had another idea. Some acquaintances of his were building a new place just outside the city on the banks of the Nam Khan. While the overnight stay part wasn't officially open, the restaurant was and he thought they might be willing to let someone give the place a test run prior to a planned mid November opening. Sure enough they were. So a quick checkout and transfer on Saturday morning proved to be a great move. I heartily recommend Nam Khan Villas Resort and El Gecko restaurant. By the time anyone who reads this blog will be going to Lao, they should definitely be officially open. It's a mostly peaceful place on several acres with unimpeded access to the river. Our hosts were Carolyn and Graham (I hope spelling is correct) and their son Oliver. Most recently they lived in Spain and have done similar things. Carolyn is an experienced and accomplished chef and Graham was a shipbuilder in a previous incarnation and has supervised and done much of the construction work. They have a great staff. The waitstaff are mostly students and all speak good English and are eager to practice. A few sentences ago I said MOSTLY peaceful. Like most rural places, the cacophonous call and response of the roosters in the morning will not let anyone sleep late. Carolyn said they were pretty used to it and were now able to sleep through it. In Lao, waking up early isn't a big problem. They roll the sidewalks up pretty early, so early to bed and early to rise works just fine!
After the move on Saturday, I elected to take a boat ride on the mighty muddy Mekong. It wasn't as long as I had asked for, something must have been lost in translation. But it was still quite amazing when I think back to being in my teens and early twenties and the war years. Sitting in a boat in the heart of opium country would have been unthinkable in the 60's. After the boat ride, I headed back to the villa where I had a tasty dinner featuring a variety of tapas and a glass of red wine. It was a great way to cap the day. Breakfast on Sunday before the trip was a large plate of absolutely heavenly banana pancakes with a cup of tasty coffee. YUM! In my next post, I'll put up a bunch of pics from the tour which I'm sure you'll enjoy!
As always, stay in touch!!
andym528@hotmail.com