Luang Prabang, Laos

Luang Prabang is the cultural capital of Laos. Once the ancient capital of Laos, it is still where everyone goes for cultural enrichment through the many well-kept temples, museum, and traditional hill tribe villages living within close proximity to the city.

Although it is a tourist hub as well, LP still manages to evoke the sense that one is in a small, quaint town through its many local restaurants, Hmong night market, and locally owned guesthouses. Naturally, I broke down the first night I was there and bought some gorgeous antique and vintage textiles made by the Khan tribes of Northern Laos. I bought some traditional baby carriers in bright shades of pinks and greens, reminiscent of traditional Mexican embroidery, as well as antique fragments of wedding blankets (sewn by prospective brides for their husband-to-bes) with lovingly sewn traditional representations of nagas (a sea creature which is the protector of the Lao people and the symbol of water and its life-giving properties) and the like. I spent 4 full days in this charming city strolling around observing the beautiful temples, taking a boat trip down the Mekong to visit a Buddha cave, eating yummy dishes along the river bank, and, of course, shopping. I also did a bit of volunteering for a local organization which prints and distributes English-Lao picture dictionaries free of charge to local schools and children. I spent a couple of hours helping the coordinators translate some clip-art which they had downloaded from the internet. It was quite simple really and I was happy to help.

I didn't really want to leave LP except that my Vietnamese visa is due to begin on April 30th and there are some beautiful things in Southern Laos that I would very much like to see. Namely the ruins of Wat Phou, claimed to be the most evocative Khmer ruin outside of Cambodia, and the area known as the 4,000 Islands (Si Phan Don), a collection of Mekong River islands whose inhabitants have largely been able to carry on their traditional lifestyles. This journey down south will also take me near the Vietnamese border where I will be crossing into Hue, a coastal town in central Vietnam.

At the moment, however, I am spending the day back in the capital waiting for my night bus to take me to Pakse where I will begin my journey south. I have spent a large part of my day cowardly running from the sun and nursing as many cups of iced coffees as possible. There is really not much to do in Vientiane and since I pretty much covered it all last week, I felt entitled to a few ice cold Lao coffees inside the air-conditioned bliss of the Scandinavian Bakery on Nam Phou Square.