Month: December 2008

Every morning, there flows a river of orange through the streets of Luang Prabang:

From where we stand, it's a quiet river, a solemn river. Instead of the rush of water, there is just the sound of bare feet shuffling against against asphalt…

and the swishing of robes….

For the uninitiated there is the distinct feeling that something special, and perhaps sacred is taking place. Even the dogs stop their search for food and tuk-tuk chasing to stop and watch:

Sometimes called the "Saffron Circuit", it is the collecting of "alms" by the Monks that occurs every morning. At just before 6am every morning, the Monks from the Wats around Luang Prabang start lining up. And at a prescribed drum signal start a well beaten path around the city of Luang Prabang collecting sticky rice, fruit, and other sustenance for the day. This occurs every day…. rain or shine.

  Upon check in to the Chang Inn, the young fellow working at the front desk asked us if we'd like to give alms the following morning. Having just an inkling, of what needed to be done, we said yes. And woke at 5am. Walking to the front desk we were prepped for alms giving. Right on street in front of the hotel everything was nicely made ready for us.

It was a nice touch that we, being totally ignorant of the how and what's of alms giving, really appreciated.

And so it came to pass…. kneeling on my creaky knees, we gave sticky rice and bananas to the young Monks…. some of them looking no older than 8 years old. They would walk by, discreetly open the container by their side, and we'd place some sticky rice or a banana in it.

For some reason, I felt a deep stirring, and was touched in a strange way that I wish I had the eloquence to convey.

After the rice and bananas were gone (we were told that at this time there were over 300 Monks in the Wats surrounding Luang Prabang), we retreated across the street.

Even though we found this to be beautiful and exotic, we tried to keep a respectful distance. During our stay in Luang Prabang, we woke every morning at least by 530 am, and stood outside to watch this. Watching this ancient tradition became our own little ritual.

We had another little ritual in Luang Prabang…. breakfast here:

Located at the end of the "Fresh Market", on the street which heads to the Mekong, is this little stand. The sign is in Lao, except for the phrase "Lao Coffee". We had been wanting to try some Lao Coffee, so we stopped here on our first morning in Luang Prabang.

The Woman running this stall, never moved quickly, but at an exact measured pace. And always exactly the same steps were followed each time.

The coffee was made following some exact steps; glasses were rinsed out with hot water from the boiling water pot. An exact amount of what looked like very highly condensed coffee was placed in the bottom of the cup, followed by condensed milk and a sprinkling of what looked like raw sugar. The cup was topped off with hot H2O, and served in the traditional manner, with a chaser of mild hot tea.

The coffee was wonderful, rich, smooth, yet strong, with chocolate overtones. Much better than any cup of Vietnamese or Thai coffee I've ever had.

While savoring our coffee, the Missus and I decided to try some of the noodle soup, which everyone else seemed to be getting.

  You chose the type of noodles you wanted, and what kind of meat, and again the Woman worked at a careful cadence, with exact steps that were followed for every customer on every visit. The soup can be adjusted in taste with fish sauce, chili sauce, limes, various herbs, etc, etc…..

This was a great bowl of soup. Even though it looked clear, the mild essence of pork came through. And though I'm pretty sure that the infamous 3-letter flavor enhancer was used in the broth, it was savory without being too salty. The noodles were fresh, and obviously bought from one of the many noodle vendors in the Fresh Market. It had a nice stretch, and a good al dente chew. The pork was an afterthought……tough and chewy….but man this was great broth and noodles.

And the Missus enjoyed munching on some green beans while waiting:

  So why do we call this place "same-same"? The Woman running the place doesn't speak much English. When we arrived on our second morning, She greeted us with a small, pleased smile, and simply said; "same-same?" And so, every morning, we'd walk pass the main streets and the Fresh Market, up to the stall, smile and greet the Woman, and place our order; "same-same". Same order, same price (2 coffees + 1 bowl noodle soup – 20,000 Kip, approx $2.50/US), same great coffee, same comforting soup. Same-same……..

One last word(s) about the Saffron Circuit:

The area we stayed in was a short distance from most of the Guest Houses, and Lunag Prabang's main drag. We were situated right next to Sensoikharam, and several other Wats. This made the viewing of the morning alms collecting a peaceful and relaxing experience.

On our fourth morning in Luang Prabang, we noticed a bunch of buses parked alongside the road. With ever more mini-buses driving and parking along the street.

We noticed loads of Thai tourists disembarking, and had also realized that our little Hotel was booked solid with Thais. Many of whom lined the streets giving alms.

But for each person giving alms, there were two friends or relatives taking photos…..whether a photo opportunity, or to prove they gave alms, I'm not sure. But these folks were getting right up close and personal with the Monks.

We followed the procession down into Luang Prabang and couldn't believe the feeding frenzy.

Having checked my cynicism at Luang Prabang Airport I found this a bit disillusioning. These are still young men, and they are following a time honored tradition, so we tried to approach things with respect and discretion. It is a special moment for us tourists, something that I may never have the chance to see ever again. But this was a bit much, and very tough for us to see……….

Upon return, I watched Anthony Bourdain's episode on Laos, and paid special attention to the last portion where he mentions the mixed feelings about doing a travel show, and the damage to a culture that it can do….. I've come to really appreciate his viewpoints, he seems to get it. Striking that balance is important………..

This obviously well to do "businessman" was especially aggressive…….

It made us concerned about the future of this tradition. What's going to happen in 10 or 15 years? Our tourist dollars are important, but I'd hate to see a culture forever altered. And will rue the day that some facsimile of this becomes a tourist show. And even more….. I wondered what the dedicated true believers thought of us? And even worse, what terrible things were we(the Missus & I) doing to this culture. Did we do things the right way???

As we arrived at Luang Prabang Airport and walked to the transportation stand, things just felt right. We were dropped off on Ban Wat Nong, and went looking for accommodation. Our first choice was full, but just as with Vientiane, we lucked out, and chose The Chang Inn. Quite expensive by Luang Prabang standards, but it was located away from the real touristy part of Luang Prabang. Which proved to be a blessing as I'll describe a bit later.

If you thought Vientiane was laid back, just arriving in Luang Prabang dropped my blood pressure and pulse rate several notches. We were indeed charmed by this UNESCO World Heritage site. But even more captivated by the people, who, though a bit quiet at first, are warm and friendly.

Make no mistake about it; parts of Luang Prabang, especially Sisavong from Luang Prabang Primary School to Kitsalat are very touristy. But even during the busiest hours, except for a short period in the morning, and the afternoon rush, things are relatively quiet.

Even the evenings exhude a quiet charm. And though we didn't spend much…. or in fact, hardly any time on the main tourist drag, we walked past it several times a day.

There are only 4 main streets going East to West in Central Luang Prabang, so you'll be familiar with the town in no time. There was one Australian couple who caught the same van to the airport in Vientiane, whom we kept seeing. And we saw one young lady from Singapore, named Audrey, who came up to me, because she thought she knew me, everyday. In other destinations, when we started seeing the same folks more than twice it was time to leave. In Luang Prabang, we joked that no day would be complete until we saw them!

Luang Prabang is the "City of Wats", with over 30 temples! Don't worry, I won't bore you with all of our Wat photos. Here are just a few:

Wat Xiengthong:

Called the "Golden Tree Monastary" this beautiful Wat is located on the tip of the Luang Prabang Peninsula.

Built in 1560, the Monastary was under royal patronage until the monarchy was terminated in 1975. The North Gate has an direct entry from the Mekong River.

For us the most interesting of the 20 or so structures in the Wat were the tapestry of the "Tree of Life" and the Tripitaka Library(built in 1828), with it's beautiful mosiacs of local traditions.

If you check out only 1 Wat in Luang Prabang, this should be the one.

Mount Phousi:

Smack dab in the middle of town, and right across the street from the National Museum are the steps up Mount Phousi (also called Phu Si):

At the top of the mountain, you'll get a total 360 degree view of peninsula-like Luang Prabang, with The Khan River, Vatmou-Enna (the main street from the airport) 

And a distant view of Wat Phol Phao (aka Santi Chedi – The Peace Pagoda).

And the beautiful Mekong and the distant mountains on the other.

And of course at the summit of Phousi is ….. you guessed it; a Wat:

Check out the "little guy" taking a rest near the Buddha in the lower right hand corner. Rising out of the summit is That Chomsi:

Which can be seen from all over Luang Prabang.

We left via the winding stairs, opposite of the way we came:

Pastanother shrine (not really a Wat), and large collection of Buddhas:

And even Buddha's Footprint….a photo oppotunity not to be missed!

Since we had such a wonderful dinner on the banks of the Mekong in Vientiane, we thought we'd do it again here in Luang Prabang. There are many restaurants lining the cliffs alongside the Mekong. Every Guesthouse has a restaurant! View Kheam Khong was one recommended by Lonely Planet, so we thought we'd give it a try. Being famished, we ordered a ton of food; and many dishes that I'd been waiting to try.

We started with the Khai Pene served with the traditional accompanyment of Jeow Bong:

This was love at first bite! Khai Pene is made from river moss that is dried and pressed with sesame seeds, garlic, tomatos, and the like. It is fried before serving. Jeow Bong is Luang Prabang's signature chili dip, garlicky-salty-mildly sweet-spicy, laced with Water Buffalo Skin for texture. The Khai Pene tastes like high-octane fried kelp with the bitterness toned down, or nori with flavor cranked up times 10. I'd end up getting this dish whenever I could. Great with a Beer Lao.

Here's the Missus's love at first bite; the Luang Prabang Watercress Salad:

The Missus loved the tender and leafy, shoot-like watercress in Luang Prabang, which was less bitter than any watercress I'd ever had. If I could only tell you how many times the Missus had this dish in Luang Prabang. I've already covered the dressing, which is egg yolk based. This was the second best version of this dish we had in Luang Prabang.

Fish Laap (Fish Larb):

The fish was kind of mushy, but not muddy in flavor. A bland version of Laap.

The Lonely Planet recommended the Fried Green Chili with Duck:

Which was nothing more than a mediocre stir-fry. And the duck was tougher than the water buffalo skin in the Jeow Bong!

I'd been looking forward to having the classic Laung Prabang version of Or Lam, a very distinctive "stew". So we ordered the Or Lam Pa (fish stew):

Again the Missus had problems with the "bitter" flavors that pervade certain Lao dishes. The fish was mushy and without flavor. There were lots of hard pieces of lemongrass stem, and of course there was the Sa-Khan, pieces of stem from the Piper ribesioides tree…..more like branches. The Sa-Khan when eaten….you actually knaw on the stem/branch (minus bark), gives you a tingling sensation, not unlike Sichuan Peppercorns. I was to help make a version of this when I took a cooking class, which tasted much better than this.

Half the fun was just having a Beer Lao (or two), marveling that we were actually in Luang Prabang. Sitting in this empty restaurant, watching the Mekong quietly flowing by, I was embraced by a feeling of tranquility. Author Natacha Du Pont de Bie mentioned a legend that said the site for Luang Prabang was chosen because it was "so remarkably beautiful". All I know is here I was having dinner (again) on the banks of the Mekong, watching some folks fishing….

And I don't ever recall feeling so relaxed during a vacation………