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No place for haste high in Laos |
The Australian, Irish and Welsh backpackers I met at the Hive bar
in Luang Prabang, Laos, invited me 10 pin bowling. It's not the
sort of thing you'd expect to do in a UNESCO-protected town high
up in the mountains of northern Laos.
But not surprisingly this town has few western night clubs or late
night bars. And the only place to drink late at night in town is at
the bowling alley.
But, by the time we'd had a few drinks of beer Lao, a deliciously
spicy dinner at one of the many restaurants in town, then nightcaps
of Lao Lao (or locally-made whiskey) with local Diet Coke (I'm not
sure what was worse) we never got there.
I was lucky to find a tuk tuk driver to take me back to my hotel.
It was a fairly active night for what could be one of the most
languid places I've ever been to.
It's almost as if time stands still in this French colonial town
known more for its spirituality than bowling.
Even the Buddhist monks seem to move slower than normal.
And walking around town in 38 degree heat, I'm reminded that only
mad dogs, Englishmen and then maybe tourists go out in the midday
sun. It's so hot you can almost feel the air swallowing you.
Everybody else seems to be lying inside or in the shade using as
little energy as possible.
It's low season and local school holidays. They say Christmas time
is better for visiting and can even get chilly at night.
I visit the 16th century Wat Xieng Thong, known as a masterpiece of
Buddhist architecture with a tiered roof, glittering golden facades
and richly coloured mural painting. It's a working temple and
monks have hung their orange robes out to dry after doing their
laundry.
I stop for an iced lemon tea and lunch at one of the riverside
cafes overlooking the murky brown waters of the Mekong. The son of
the restaurant owner is painting pictures of monks with pen and ink
on saa paper made from the mulberry tree and its bark.
He tells me he's an art student. The town seems to be full of
them, if you go by the number of art shops and galleries.
In the late afternoon, men play boule along the river front, on
even the smallest patch of dirt.
In his book The Mekong: Turbulent Past, Uncertain Future (Allen and
Unwin, 2006), former Australian diplomat Milton Osborne says the
Mekong has ``always been a river for work, for travel and for
fishing, and, not infrequently, for war''.
Luang Prabang was once known as Asia's sleeping beauty. The former
capital of the ancient Lam Xang kingdom, with around 32 pagodas
along with religious and historical monuments, was made a World
Heritage town by UNESCO in 1995.
It has especially strong ties with Buddhism, being a traditional
destination for novices and students of the faith.
Flying over the mountains on the way in, you can't imagine anybody
living in such rugged land. This is the country where what became
known as The Secret War was played out - US bombings including
attacks on what came to be known as the Ho Chi Minh Trail, a North
Vietnamese supply route through East Laos and the Cambodian-Vietnam
border.
The Communist Pathet Lao took over in 1975; they've only opened
the place to tourism in the past 10 years. Now, around 140,000
people or seven times the city's estimated population visit the
place over a one-year period.
UNESCO's role is partly to try to support the town's growth
within the framework of strict controls so the historic buildings
are preserved.
Development must take into account ancient Laotian social,
architectural and religious mores.
Buddhism is a force that underpins every aspect of life here.
Around 6am every day, hundreds of monks and novices attend the
alms-giving ceremony, where locals give them sticky rice, fruit and
sweets.
Tourists are asked not to be obtrusive.
The Pathet Lao forced the last king of Laos, Savang Vathana, to
abdicate, snuffing out a 600-year-old monarchy. Twenty years later,
Christopher Kremmer, an Australian foreign correspondent, tried
unsuccessfully to crack the mystery behind the fate of the royals -
as outlined in his book, Stalking the Elephant Kings: In Search of
Laos.
The former Royal Palace is now a National Museum, which is worth
visiting for its rooms that give a glimpse of what life was once
like for the royals. There's an eclectic mix of exhibits,
including gifts from other countries, among them a boomerang from
Australia.
It's where the Pha Bang Buddha is kept, which gives the town its
name.
It's said to be have been cast in Sri Lanka in the first century
AD and twice stolen by the Thais. But, it has been back in Laos
since the mid 19th century.
A beautiful exhibition known as The Quiet in the Land of
Buddhism-inspired images, including photographs, was on display in
an outer building. Luang Prabang is now on the backpacker route. My
new friends had made their way across country after doing an
elephant trek near Chiang Mai in northern Thailand then crossed the
border and came by boat up the river, taking two days to get there.
Others come down the river from Vietnam.
And it's also a town with a growing number of more well-heeled
visitors.
Many fly in to what is considered one of the most difficult
airports to land in in South-East Asia.
The hotel where I'm staying, La Residence Phuo Voa, has a spa
which overlooks the mountains with its own small swimming pool -
lazing in it after a massage is like having a huge bath to
yourself.
At night, staff place candles in the main swimming pool overlooked
by the floodlit shrine on top of Mount Phou Si. The food at its
Phou Vao restaurant is traditional Laotian cuisine alongside
European dishes with local influences.
The walk up Mount Phou Si from the town gives spectacular views and
is popular at sunrise and sunset.
Apart from exploring the town and its wonderfully photogenic
architecture and temples, shops and galleries there's also the
night markets full of traditional clothes, woven cloth, scarfs,
jewellery and souvenirs.
The only two relatively close excursions out of town are the Pak Ou
caves and the Kuang si waterfall. Many agencies run half-day tours.
But then there's also bowling.
By Diana Plater
Source: Brisbane Times
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