Posted by Karbo
Originally, we hadn't put Laos into our travel itinerary. We decided that we couldn't miss it after hearing my sister rave about her visit to Laos during our stay in Hong Kong. We spent the 9th travelling from Siem Reap to Luang Prabang and applied for our visa on arrival at the Luang Prabang airport. There were a bunch of Canadians on our flight and we were all surprised to see that the visa fee for Canadians is the highest out of all visiting nationalities at a whopping $42USD!!
We had free shuttle transportation from the airport to our accommodation, Phone Praseuth Guesthouse. We were picked up by Mr.Kamphone, the owner of Phone Prasueth (or, in his words, the owner/driver/front desk/bellman/tour organizer/.....you get the idea!)
We spent our first night in Luang Prabang walking around the main strip of town and through the night market. Luang Prabang is a beautiful, charming town that is obviously catered towards tourists. The riverbank and main street are lined with beautiful restaurants, souvenir shops, and tour organizers. We'd heard that Cambodia and Laos would be pricier than Vietnam and it was true!
Our guesthouse was on the other side of the river from the main part of town so everyday we had to cross a hand-built bamboo bridge. The bridge is built and maintained by a local family and a nominal fee is charged to cross it. It was a lot of fun walking across the bridge everyday and we also enjoyed watching the local people hurrying back and forth as they went about their daily errands.
Prior to arriving in Luang Prabang, we'd read about the daily alms ceremony that takes place around the town. The ceremony consists of the monks from each temple walking, single-file, around town and receiving alms from the townspeople. The alms include sticky rice (a staple food in Laos), incense, and other offerings. The offerings are given in silence and no words are exchanged between the locals and the monks.
Once we were in Luang Prabang, we also saw a lot of posters and bulletins informing tourists about the proper etiquette that should be followed while watching the alms ceremony. Unfortunately, many visitors to the area have been treating the ceremony as a tourist attraction when it really is an ancient ritual between the local people and the monks.
We'd been told that the monks walked right across the front of our guesthouse between 5AM-7AM each morning so we woke up at 6:30 and stumbled onto the road. We tried our best to be discreet and kept our distance but I'm sure we stuck out like a sore thumb!
Once we were in Luang Prabang, we also saw a lot of posters and bulletins informing tourists about the proper etiquette that should be followed while watching the alms ceremony. Unfortunately, many visitors to the area have been treating the ceremony as a tourist attraction when it really is an ancient ritual between the local people and the monks.
We'd been told that the monks walked right across the front of our guesthouse between 5AM-7AM each morning so we woke up at 6:30 and stumbled onto the road. We tried our best to be discreet and kept our distance but I'm sure we stuck out like a sore thumb!
While waiting for the alms ceremony, we'd met a bunch of other early-risers from our guesthouse. We decided to hire a tuktuk together the next day to take us to Kuang Si Falls. The waterfalls are approximately 45mins away by tuktuk and worth the trip! The waterfall cascades down a series of pools, each seemingly more beautiful than the last. It's possible to hike up to the top of the waterfall; we also went for a swim in one of the pools. We had a lot of fun!
We'd visited a few temples during our time in Vietnam and Cambodia but Laos was where we really felt the pervasiveness of Buddhism in everyday life. There are gorgeous temples scattered throughout Luang Prabang and there are monks going about their daily business everywhere you look. We also found sticky rice offerings all around town (we have a feeling the local birds got the lion's share of these offerings).
Luang Prabang is also home to the former royal palace, which has now been converted into a museum. The palace is much more modest than the ones we saw in Europe and they had a lot of interesting artifacts on display.
Luang Prabang is also home to the former royal palace, which has now been converted into a museum. The palace is much more modest than the ones we saw in Europe and they had a lot of interesting artifacts on display.
We also took the time to drop by the Big Brother Mouse storefront. Big Brother Mouse is based in Luang Prabang and the first Laos-owned book publisher. Everyday, the bookstore hosts an English-practice workshop where local Laos people can practice their English by having conversations with English-speaking tourists. The session was packed with both locals and tourists and we were able to meet some very nice locals and ask them more about their culture and life in Luang Prabang.
During our time in Luang Prabang, we had our first taste of Laos cuisine. They sure like things spicy!
Luang Prabang is a beautiful and (very!) relaxing UNESCO World Heritage site and we're so glad we took the time to visit. We hope to be back again one day!