Lao Lao = Wow Wow

I am writing this from my room in Homestay #3 in Veng Viang.  They have no internet here so if you and this is the first of a few  posts I had to wait until Hanoi to upload.

We met up with our guide Mr. B (I think he picked his name himself) and went through the ethnicity museum in Laos where we learned a few things about the 60-some tribes of people in Laos.  The Lao themselves are the most populous but there are many Hmong in the area around Luang Prabang.  We then drove on to the Khong Si waterfall and walked through the bear sanctuary to see the beautiful cyan-coloured water and impressive falls.  It was a very nice morning.  For our afternoon we went to the Royal Palace museum and saw for ourselves the riches of the throne room renovated by the last king before he abdicated the throne during the unrest of the 70s.  The car collection is still intact and it was cool to see the Lincoln Continental.  There were also many gifts to the king from countries around the world.  I think Canada gave some kind of coloured glass plate and the US gave a model of the Lunar Landing Module and a moon rock. 

 

We then climbed the 318 steps up Phusi Hill to the summit, and then walked down the opposite side visiting many beautiful posed Buddha’s on the way.  We wandered along the old city to the bar ‘Utopia’ and enjoyed a much-deserved BeerLao.  There was a yoga class going on and at one point the instructor came over and asked us to keep it down a bit.  I guess with a yoga class in the middle of a bar and volleyball game going on, that happens a lot.

 

For dinner we went for a home meal and had a welcoming ceremony from three old women of the area.  I kind of wish I understood what they were saying as they tied white strings around our wrists but Pookie says it’s just a blessing of sorts. 

 

I found it very difficult not to buy a lot of things at the markets in Luang Prabang.  Many of the textiles are made by hand right there in the city and I now have three silk scarves with exquisite patterns.  Laos has no industry and it is know for farming, textiles, and handicrafts.  So I have been eating well, and have bought lots of little hand-made things for myself and gifts.  The cross-stitch work is excellent and I just wish I could think of a use for some of it.  The people here are poor and genuine and you want to help them out.  It’s a strange place too through because there is closed-circuit television everywhere and a curfew of midnight.  It’s not free but somehow still very happy. 

 

Our second day in Luang Prabang started with a walk to the rendezvous with the Grasshopper Adventure Cycling tour guide.  After being outfitted with our bikes our guide Bruce, who is Hmong tribe, took us through the town of Luang Prabang and then on into the countryside.  We visited the Wat Xengthong temple which was built in the 1500s and is so strangely beautiful and so different from all of the other temples we have seen.  Every year, people from all over Laos come to this temple for a five-day festival and run water down a pipe to shower a Buddha.  They then take this water home.  Laos is a sweetly devout Buddhist country and you can see that in almost all aspects of life. We stopped for a coffee along the river at the oldest coffee shop in Luang Prabang.  We shared a table with a group of old men who probably come there every day. 

The coffee was sweet, smooth, and rich, and served in a clear glass with a tiny spoon.   We then crossed the river on a private ferry and pushed our bikes up the sand to follow a dirt road to the Sa Paper factory where they make the paper that we seen in the local markets and all over Luang Prabang.  After this factory, it was off to the pottery village where you can see the pits where they dig the clay, dry it in the sun, grind it into powder, and then throw it, all by hand.  I would have bought some pots from the small girls who came out to us but I knew they would not survive the trip home.  Another interesting highlight was a visit to a nearby local ...let’s call it a distillery....where the traditional Lao Lao whisky is made and distilled surrounded by pigs and geese.  They ferment the rice for about a month or so before distilling it crudely over a charcoal fire and finally pouring it through a little filter. 

The finished product was smooth and clean and not at all like the hooch the village served us when we were passing through along the Mekong River.  I think that stuff was suitable as a hospital disinfectant and nothing more.  The trip was about 30 km in total and took us all through town and all the countryside.  We finished off with a nice dinner at a local restaurant where the walls are covered by the owner’s lovely photos.  I wish that I could take a bike tour every day because it is such a nice way to see things.

 

After changing and showering the dust off, Susan and I went for a traditional Lao massage.  It was like Shiatsu only with a few key differences.  They led me up some stairs and gave me some clothes to change in to.  The pants were so big that I could wrap them around me an entire extra time!  Imagine and opium den with cushions and curtains, and Marlon Brandon (the later years) – sized loose cotton clothing...and then a Lao woman using pressure points and sometimes crawling on my back.  Loved it.

 

The day finished off with Lao food at Tamarind.  That place is very accustomed to western travellers and their menu aims to educate as well as describe the short menu.  We ordered some fish steamed in a banana leaf, chicken in lemon grass, and barbequed pork.  This, and a nice Lao Lao whisky cocktail, was the perfect end to the evening.

 

Today we rose early to watch the alms-giving ceremony.  Every day the monks leave the many temples in the city and walk all around the town three times.  The local people wait for them in the dark and when they pass by, put some food into their baskets.  The monks take the food back to their temples and share it, and that is their food for the day.  It was really interesting to watch.  Susan and I bough a package of Oreos for the young monks but Pookie talked us out of giving it to them and once the ceremony started I could see why.  There are maybe 15 or 20 monks who pass by at a time so it would have been better to have many tiny packages of Oreos instead of one big one.

 

After breakfast we got on our bus and then drove up into the mountains.  The road was originally built by the French and has been gradually improved but it still has hairpin turns and many switchbacks, and as we approached Vien Vang, the road quality got really bad.  Our lunch stop was a highlight through because of the spectacular view.  Even the bathrooms are perched on the edge of the mountain with an open window...in each stall.  Easily my favorite toilet in the world.

 

We arrived at our homestay and this evening, we got a chance to see regular people living their every day lives.  Our hosts, along with our guide Mr. B (who has a great sense of humour and a tendency to tell dirty jokes –

always a surprise when you’re on your best behaviour), showed us their gardens where they keep vegetables,

and their fish farm and mini orchard.  We had another delicious meal which started with the head of the village offering us yet another taste of the Lao Lao.  This one had some strange roots in the bottle and tasted different yet again from the one I tried in Luang Prabang.  After dinner, we sat around the fire for a while talking to the neighboring children.  The kids here are so sweet and cute.  Apparently there is a risk of being kidnapped and brought to Vietnam.  That’s the saddest thing I ever heard.  We asked them how old they were and the oldest girl answered in English and we could see her going through the numbers in her head.  I got a good look at the stars tonight and had a good time finding some familiar constellations (in the wrong place in the sky of course).

 

Anyway, life is quiet here and everyone turned in early.  Our hostess led us back to our homestay house and we went in the back door because the shop in front was closed.  I would have liked to stay up a bit longer because Mr. B was playing chess with rocks (big rocks vs. Little rocks) but I didn’t think our wonderful hosts deserved being kept awake by me since they would have had to let me in the door.

 

I am loving Laos and I wonder if I’ll every come back here some day.