32. Laos... Luang Prabang

So I flew from Hanoi to Luang Prabang in Laos. Such a contrast! I could hear the sound of the cicadas, and the river moving, hear myself think, and see the stars.... This was the view of the Mekong that I saw when it got light...

And the riverfront...

And this is where I stayed, in a traditional Laos house...

Luang Prabang is a beautiful city, it's so easy to chill there and time drifts by... I had 6 nights there in the end and I could have stayed more... It has many temples and monasteries.... This is the most famous one... Wat Xieng Thong

Some of the decorations on the walls, showing Laos life

I went up to the top of the Phu Si hill in Luang Prabang, to a wat where there was a beautiful view over the town. It was quite a climb up, but obviously as the photo says it's less to come down!

A fabulous view from the top looking down at the Former Royal Palace, now the National Museum

And looking the other way over the Nam Khan river...

And at the top was this.... An old anti aircraft gun placement

And this on the way down

This was the National Museum, the former Royal palace and residence 

With the new temple in the grounds of the palace that houses the Pha Bang Buddha which has huge historical significance to Laos and which the town is named after

One evening I did a boat trip down the Mekong to see the sunset.... I was in a boat with a guy from Germany, one from Austria, and one from Belgium. And one from Laos of course.... This sounds like the start of a joke... But it isn't! The Austrian and the Belgian were cycling through Laos, Cambodia, Thailand.... Wow! How far! And how hilly! And the sunset was spectacular!

And I saw this beautiful bamboo bridge over the Nam Khan river 

 

So one evening I walked across it

To watch the sun set from the shore... It's the Mekong behind me...

In the wet season when the rivers are high the bamboo bridges are taken down as the water runs too fast. The proper bridge is quite a bit further down stream. 

I got up early one morning to see the local alms giving ceremony to the monks, at dawn... The local dogs know there is food going so they all turn out too! 

After the alms giving I went to the UXO museum, having breakfast on the way from this lovely lady selling tasty baguettes on the roadside

The UXO museum tells the horrific story of the Secret War when the US denied they were bombing Laos over a period of nine years between 1964 and 1973. More than two million tonnes of ordnance were dropped on Laos, more than the total used during World War 2. They also used Agent Orange and other defoliants and herbicides. And so many bombs dropped on Laos did not explode, they still have a problem even today... People are still getting maimed and killed by unexploded bombs. Children find them and pick them up to play with, there is a huge trade and people use metal detectors risking their lives for some money from the scrap metal. UXO are still buried under rice paddies, affecting agricultural production, and there is a direct correlation between the poorest provinces in Laos and those that were most heavily bombed. There has been and still is a huge clearance programme, and a huge education programme but it will take years..... And Laos is amongst the 20 poorest countries in the world..... 

On a lighter note I visited the Tat Kwang Si waterfalls nearby, which were fabulous..... And the water was wonderful to swim in! 

They also have several sun bears in compounds near the waterfalls. They say they have been rescued from poachers, and they are being held there to protect them from harm. They certainly seemed happy bears and they had lots of space and toys to play with...

I could have stayed longer in LP.... But needs must and I moved on.....