Land of Sabaidee's, 9864 times a day, Glad to be out of Vietscam
December 2, 2006
Paper Parasols at Luang Prabang Night Market
On the plane from Hanoi to Luang Prabang, I met a nice Swedish girl, who was studying in Hanoi for a month and then taking a quick 2 week holiday in Laos.
We both decided to carpool, and try to find a little guesthouse to stay at. However as we arrived in Luang Prabang town, almost every guesthouse we checked out were full, or the rooms were not so cheap.
It took a while to find a room, but we ended up staying at different guesthouses as there wasn't enough rooms. We decided to meet up for dinner after settling down.
Luang Prabang seemed like a haven compared to Vietscam, the people were sooo nice, everyone and I mean everyone greets you "Sabaidee", the town was so laid back and relaxed.
Stina from Sweden
The night market along the street was trully an amazing site, with street vendors selling their handicrafts which was obviously for tourists. We walked through the street and came across a Vegetarian buffet, it was ONLY 5000kip (50cents) and by god it was delicious.
The following morning we met up for breakfast once more, and went our own ways for the rest of the day as Stina wanted to find a more comfortable room, as she was planning to stay for probably a week. I ended up renting a bicycle and paddled it up and down the small town to check out some of the local wats, and by god there are many!
The bike wasn't exactly a hill friendly bike, as soon as you reached a 2 degree inclination the bike would be so hard to peddle.
Wat Xiang Thong
The Royal Palace Museum was an amazing showcase of the Palace, and other bits and pieces of Lao culture and tradition. The Wat's I visited were;
- Wat (can't remember the name its on my camera)
- Wat Xieng Thong
- Wat Visounnarath
- Wat Aham Outama Thany
- Wat Monolom
- Wat That Luang
I visited each Wat for probably 10 or so minutes, but didn't exactly like the idea of paying an entry fee at almost every single "functioning" Wat. I would of rathered prefered to pay a once of fee to visit all the temples, as it just seemed to be Entry Fees, Entry Fees, Entry Fees everywhere... (and these Wat's are like only a few metres/blocks away from each other and there are MANY MANY MANY Wats).
Buddha's at Wat Xiang Thong
A bit before noon, I arrived at Wat Monolom and a few points resulted in me staying there for literally the rest of the evening. The heat, the peace and quiet, the company of a novice monk (well a few novice monks, who came and went and said hello), and of course the beauty of the Wat.
The time flew by so quick, as I was chatting with Touy (his nickname, means fat in lao) about the problems in life, about Lao and Australia. Touy was very interested in the world outside Lao, and unfortunately he admits he will never have the same opportunity as I do... sigh...
Anyhow I quickly popped by to Wat That Luang at around 4:30, as I wanted to come back to Wat Monolom at 5:30 and watch and listen and of course pray with the novice monks as they chant in pali and lao. At Wat That Luang, guess who I managed to stumble upon... Stina... so I ended up inviting her to the prayer session and it was soo soothing and peaceful... I can so do it again.
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Paper Parasols at Luang Prabang …
Stina from Sweden
Wat Xiang Thong
Buddha's at Wat Xiang Thong
Wat Xiang Thong Rooftop
Wat Xiang Thong
Wat Visounnarath
Wat Monolom (Wat Monorom)
Young Novice Monk, Touy
Wat Monolom (Wat Monorom)
Wat Monolom (Wat Monorom)
Wat Monolom (Wat Monorom)
