For the past 8 days I have been in the French colonial town of Luang Prabang . After being under the French for 70 years, noticeable marks remain in both food and architecture. The town has a certain charm to it and in the evening on the main street all the old French style buildings light up and host dozens of guests for dinner. In front of the hotel, 3 Nagas, two 1950 era cars sit as a throwback to that time period. The people are laid back and you will most definitely see monks in their saffron robes walking about the city. It isn’t big and can be traversed by foot. The top sites in my opinion are the Royal Palace, Phu Si Hill, Wat Xieng Thong, and the Tribal Market. My guide book recommends other temples, but they weren’t that impressive to me. If you are a weary traveler, take a day at the bar Utopia to relax. They have a free sand volleyball court and yoga classes twice a day. Oh and their Buddha Bowl Salad rocks. If you are not making the trip farther north, I recommend doing at least a two day trek from Luang Prabang. The natural beauty of the region is phenomenal.
Due to Luang Prabang’s prominence as the cultural and religious headquarters for Laos, in 1995 it was declared a World Heritage Site. Several of the sites missed the mark in my opinion, but the overall feel of the city made up for lackluster attractions. The Royal Palace was one of those places that was extremely unimpressive, but that fact in itself was interesting. I learned a lot about the Royal Family and the takeover of the Communist Party. In 1975 the Pathet Lao (Communist Party) took over and Crown Prince Savang Vatthana and his family were sent to an isolated part of the country never to be heard from again. What happened to them has never been confirmed, but I would assume the worst. The people seem to still hold the royals in high regard because many people bowed to their statues in the palace. The entire complex feels like it is just a summer home of a wealthier family in the early 1900’s. I will just touch on the four things I found most interesting. The décor of the throne room was odd. At one point the Japanese donated glass for the decoration of the throne room’s walls. So the king had the entire throne room decorated with a mosaic of small glass figures fighting one another. The murals in the king’s reception room were painted in 1930 by French artist, Alex du Fautereau, and depict every day scenes of life in Laos. Each scene represents a different time of day. In the queen’s reception room gifts that were presented to the royal family are on display. The most amusing being a boomerang from Australia, a plate from Canada, and a model of the Apollo 11 moon lander and a moon rock from the US. Nice gift Nixon! Lastly, the royal garage was nice to see. Their cars were almost all gifts from the US, but they did have a wooden motor boat from Canada.
At the gate of the palace stands the Ho Pha Bang Temple. It is significant because it houses the Pha Bang, a gold Buddha statue that weighs 100 pounds and is less than 3 feet tall. I have heard two accounts of its creation. One being that it dates back to the 1st century and it was cast in Sri Lanka. It then made its way to Luang Prabang from Cambodia in 1353 as a gift for the king. This event is seen as the arrival of Buddhism to Laos. Other sources claim it was cast in Cambodia in the 1300’s. Who knows! Either way it is worth a visit. When you are done visiting the palace head across the street to climb Phu Si Hill for sunset.
Also worth noting is Wat Xieng Thong. The temple was built in 1559-60 and has stood the test of many invasions from the Vietnamese, Chinese, and Siamese (current day Thai). It is considered one of the area's best preserved Buddhist structures.
One of the main pulls for tourists is the early morning alms giving tradition. People will sit on their knees starting around 5:30 am. At around 6:00am the city’s monks will walk the streets with alms bowls and receive kernels of rice from the people. In the past this must have been an absolutely beautiful procession of peace and generosity. Yet, now it is an ugly tourist mob. The monks have been getting sick from unclean food donations, but the government forces them to keep receiving the alms for the tourists’ sakes. Not only are tourists unknowingly buying the poor quality rice that makes the monks sick, but they are invasive and rude. They stand on the sidewalk in front of the monks flashing pictures. It is very disrespectful to stand higher than a monk that is why the locals will kneel on the ground. In addition does any human want cameras flashing in their face? No! See the procession, but please don’t be part of the problem.
Other than sightseeing we relaxed and met some really amazing people. On the first night we dined at an Indian restaurant and there was a very nice looking couple at the table next to us. I leaned over and asked if they recommended anything. The man laughed and said it was his first time there, but not to order anything with potatoes. He was tempted to go in the kitchen himself to show them how to properly cook potatoes. Their names are Aruna and Jagan. They were born and raised in India, but have lived in the US for the past 50 years. We ended up walking them back to their hotel, joining them for dinner the next night, and joining their tour the following day. Aruna is a very nurturing kind soul and speaking with her was really inspiring. Jagan is an oddball who speaks a mile a minute and has an impeccable ability to make strangers laugh. I absolutely adore them both. I hope to meet you again and take you both up on the offer to teach me Indian cooking!
Due to Luang Prabang’s prominence as the cultural and religious headquarters for Laos, in 1995 it was declared a World Heritage Site. Several of the sites missed the mark in my opinion, but the overall feel of the city made up for lackluster attractions. The Royal Palace was one of those places that was extremely unimpressive, but that fact in itself was interesting. I learned a lot about the Royal Family and the takeover of the Communist Party. In 1975 the Pathet Lao (Communist Party) took over and Crown Prince Savang Vatthana and his family were sent to an isolated part of the country never to be heard from again. What happened to them has never been confirmed, but I would assume the worst. The people seem to still hold the royals in high regard because many people bowed to their statues in the palace. The entire complex feels like it is just a summer home of a wealthier family in the early 1900’s. I will just touch on the four things I found most interesting. The décor of the throne room was odd. At one point the Japanese donated glass for the decoration of the throne room’s walls. So the king had the entire throne room decorated with a mosaic of small glass figures fighting one another. The murals in the king’s reception room were painted in 1930 by French artist, Alex du Fautereau, and depict every day scenes of life in Laos. Each scene represents a different time of day. In the queen’s reception room gifts that were presented to the royal family are on display. The most amusing being a boomerang from Australia, a plate from Canada, and a model of the Apollo 11 moon lander and a moon rock from the US. Nice gift Nixon! Lastly, the royal garage was nice to see. Their cars were almost all gifts from the US, but they did have a wooden motor boat from Canada.
At the gate of the palace stands the Ho Pha Bang Temple. It is significant because it houses the Pha Bang, a gold Buddha statue that weighs 100 pounds and is less than 3 feet tall. I have heard two accounts of its creation. One being that it dates back to the 1st century and it was cast in Sri Lanka. It then made its way to Luang Prabang from Cambodia in 1353 as a gift for the king. This event is seen as the arrival of Buddhism to Laos. Other sources claim it was cast in Cambodia in the 1300’s. Who knows! Either way it is worth a visit. When you are done visiting the palace head across the street to climb Phu Si Hill for sunset.
Also worth noting is Wat Xieng Thong. The temple was built in 1559-60 and has stood the test of many invasions from the Vietnamese, Chinese, and Siamese (current day Thai). It is considered one of the area's best preserved Buddhist structures.
One of the main pulls for tourists is the early morning alms giving tradition. People will sit on their knees starting around 5:30 am. At around 6:00am the city’s monks will walk the streets with alms bowls and receive kernels of rice from the people. In the past this must have been an absolutely beautiful procession of peace and generosity. Yet, now it is an ugly tourist mob. The monks have been getting sick from unclean food donations, but the government forces them to keep receiving the alms for the tourists’ sakes. Not only are tourists unknowingly buying the poor quality rice that makes the monks sick, but they are invasive and rude. They stand on the sidewalk in front of the monks flashing pictures. It is very disrespectful to stand higher than a monk that is why the locals will kneel on the ground. In addition does any human want cameras flashing in their face? No! See the procession, but please don’t be part of the problem.
Other than sightseeing we relaxed and met some really amazing people. On the first night we dined at an Indian restaurant and there was a very nice looking couple at the table next to us. I leaned over and asked if they recommended anything. The man laughed and said it was his first time there, but not to order anything with potatoes. He was tempted to go in the kitchen himself to show them how to properly cook potatoes. Their names are Aruna and Jagan. They were born and raised in India, but have lived in the US for the past 50 years. We ended up walking them back to their hotel, joining them for dinner the next night, and joining their tour the following day. Aruna is a very nurturing kind soul and speaking with her was really inspiring. Jagan is an oddball who speaks a mile a minute and has an impeccable ability to make strangers laugh. I absolutely adore them both. I hope to meet you again and take you both up on the offer to teach me Indian cooking!
