Getting there was quite an adventure in itself. We decided to take the "slow boat" from Chiang Mai, which is slower than it sounds. It took us three days to reach the town including two overnights at small, rustic hostels along the Mekong river. The first day we were in a van for 7 hours with the impressive highlight of getting to see the White Temple. This is an intricate temple built over the past 15 years and still in progress. it is the brain child of an architect who is supposedly a bit insane and all the work is hand- done. It is quite the sight to be seen and perhaps our favorite temple of the trip, at least, so far...
We befriended two delightful, middle-aged Aussies and a sweet Brit on the way-sharing a bottle of whiskey to calm the nerves after the stress of getting onto the boat ( we were the very last ones and it was packed!). We ended up hanging out with them at Pakbeng, one of the tiny towns along the way. We shared food, laughter and many Beer Laos under teeming swarms of mosquitoes and ate our first traditional Lao food and our favorite-"Larp," an herbaceous chopped meat dish that we will be attempting to replicate when we get home.
All in all the boat ride was wonderful, with beautiful scenery, but we will never do it again. It was overcrowded and many of the tourists were very rude, taking up multiple seats, even when they saw people crammed together. But we did see some wild and working elephants along the way, wild water buffalo, tiny villages, drippy rain forests, and met some wonderful people too. A sweet man from India and some young girls from Montreal and Germany. But, as we said-never again! But, don't miss the experience if faced with the chance (: It was all worth it in the end. (Small note- had we been swindled into paying more to take the bus, we would have spent the night on the side of the road as the bus broke down mid way, it was supposedly quite the nightmare, and we are grateful to have taken the "slow boat.")
We planned on staying three nights in Luang Prabang, but fell in love with the slow pace and quiet appeal of the beautiful town and stayed an entire week. Not that there is much to do there but eat, read, relax and enjoy our big bed (; We avoided the heat of the day by chilling in this little bookshop/tea house called L'Etrenger drinking ginger-honey iced tea and reading to one another. We befriended a young lad that worked there who had just finished an 8 year stint as a monk and his peacefulness added to the ambiance for sure. It was great to have some slow travel time after the bustle of Chiang Mai and all the adventures we had signed up for.
I think the most active thing we did was hike to the top of Mount Phousi, a small mountain covered in all sorts of golden Buddhas with a beautiful temple that also provided an amazing view of the sleepy town.
We also traveled via a long, bumpy tuk tuk ride to a stunning waterfall with mint green pools perfect for swimming surrounded by sunken mangrove trees. We climbed the half hour to the top and were met by an incredible view. We climbed down and jumped in one of the perfect pools despite the teeth chattering cold of the minty water!
We ate Lao BBQ at a rustic, local hang out where you make your own soup and grill your own meat. It was a bit strange, but so fun and very delicious. They literally just plop a burning bowl of coals into a hole in the middle of the table and bring plates of raw meat, dry noodles, veggies and herbs and a big bucket of chicken broth. We were told by the owner that we were doing something wrong, but it was good anyway.
One morning we woke up at 5:00am to go down to the street to watch the alms giving ceremony. There were people lining the streets during sunrise to give sticky rice or candy to the monks who walk from the temple all over town. It was beautiful to see the chain of giving-the people on the streets give to the monks who then turn and give to the poor children who come from surrounding villages and whatever falls goes to the eagerly waiting dogs that also line the streets.
We were lucky enough to have been in Luang Prabang for the Loy Kra Thong Festival (Festival of Lights). It is meant to honor the Goddess of the River for all she gives and apologize for all we take, also it celebrates the end of the rainy (harvest) season and monks come out of a three-month silence to preach again and interact with others once more. In addition, small boats made of banana leaves and flowers are lit with candles and put on the river-Breen and I both sent one on it's way down the river as it is meant to seal the love between two people to let your lights float down the Mekong together.
The festival was absolutely nuts, or as our Brit friend, Paul, aptly put it -"This is MENTAL." A huge parade occurred with many intricately made boats lit with candles and lanterns that were brought down to the river. There were fire dancers and live bands. The Mekong was alight with many burning things as was the sky as people make small hot air balloon-like, rice paper floaty things that are released for good luck. Small kids and pre-teens constantly shoot off and throw big firecrackers (or as we would see them, small bombs) and Roman candles. And none seemed to care if a "Phalong" (foriegner) happened to get hit by one. In fact, Breen saved me from losing a toe or worse when a group of 10 or 11-year-olds threw a big one right in front of us. My hero.
Then it was off to Vang Vieng...but that's a different story altogether...
Sending lots of love to you from across the world!
Devon and Breen
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