As Wikitravel puts it
"Set at the confluence of two rivers that almost surround the town, and beneath a temple-topped hill, Luang Prabang is a wonderful patchwork of traditional Lao wooden houses and hints of European architecture; reminders of when Laos was part of the French colony of Indochine. Golden-roofed wats, decorated with mosaics and murals of the life of Buddha, sit under the gaze of wrap-around teak balconies and 19th century shuttered windows. All of this is set against a backdrop of verdant greenery and rugged mountains." We found it to be all that and more...for us a place to explore and recharge our batteries after all the tensions in Dhaka. We spent a full week in Luang Prabang, and still had not finished all of our list of sights and to do's.
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| Seems perfectly sensible to dry your laundry on hangers to us |
We visited the Traditional Arts and Ethnology Centre - which was a small but fascinating museum which displayed textiles and baskets from different tribal areas of Laos
On an unexpectedly cold and rainy day we made our way out to Ock Pop Tok which is among other things a kind of living textile museum. I am still fascinated by the hand weaving process which although we have seen many times in different countries remains so interesting.
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| silk worms |
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| cocoons |
dyeing the yarns using natural colours
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| a batik which is later dyed indigo |
We found Luang Prabang to be exceptionally clean and beautifully decorated. Once we saw the fireworks we knew something was up! The city was in the midst of a very important ceremony, and all the VIPS (President, Army chief etc) visited due to the relocation of the sacred Prabang (http://www.vientianetimes.org.la/sub-new/Previous_294/index.htm)
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| men and women in traditional dress carrying rice bowls |
The royal palace and museum were fully decorated and the site of much activity and photography
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| Haw Pha Bang (or Palace Chapel) |
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| Luang Prabang's famous night market |
We decided to take part in a cookery school for the day - which began with a trip to the market
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| sticky rice containers |
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| dried fish |
it was great to go along with a guide, as he was able to explain what some of the unidentifiable foodstuffs we could see were.
The cooking class itself took place half an hour from the city by tuktuk and was in a beautiful location. Lon and I both enjoyed cooking using such different ingredients and utensils
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| spiced minced chicken stuffed into a lemongrass stalk |
Another day - another day trip...this time a trip down the Mekong river to see the Pak Ou Caves or Buddha Caves, complete with stop to visit traditional Laos whisky making village. The river was swollen after a full day of rain
Lao lao (whisky) distillery
Pak Ou caves
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| thousands of buddhas |
Back in town we were drawn into a wat by the sound of drums
2 comments:
Fantastic pics:) recognize so many shots!!!
Cookery class looked great, so glad you enjoyed Laos xx
Great cooking course, next time in the Netherlands you have to show us your cooking-art in our kitchen, we like to enjoy that food.
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