Mekong Meanders

Ahhh, Luang Prabang—tonic for our souls. The greens of the giant shade trees contrast with the burnt sienna robes and barefoot silence of countless Buddhist monks collecting alms. Gleaming temples, French-era palace and villas and the multi-ethnic peoples who live here give Luang Prabang a romantic and relaxed feel. It is a tourist showpiece for the country of Laos in part because it is Unesco Heritage listed and also because of its uber-cool French restaurants and wine bars. Above, the Wat Xieng Thong is its most magnificent temple, built in 1560 and featuring classic Luang Prabang architecture with roofs that sweep low to the ground.

Buddhist monks beat a drum as a call to pray.

South of town is a wide, many-tiered waterfall called Tat Kuang Si, tumbling over limestone formations into a series of cool, turquoise pools. To beat the intense heat Tim jumps in for a dip just after we snap this photo.

After whiling away a few dreamy days in Luang Prabang we hire a driver and guide and head north in an air-conditioned minivan to the hill country visiting many local tribes including the Hmong, Akha, Lahu, Tai Lu, and Khamu.

We buy a colourful, little hand-embroidered bag from this lady from the Lanten tribe. It is fascinating to observe the dress of the different tribeswomen, each so unique, from the colours to the jewellery to the way they do their hair. Sandi admires (and covets) their interesting silver jewellery.

Everywhere we go, and we mean everywhere, are scenes like this one—locals harvesting and drying a type of broom plant to export to China to make, you guessed it, brooms. Along with silk, teak wood and tourism, it has to be one of the top products that keep the country's economy going.

Carrying home their days sweep of broom.

Visiting Thai Lu villages like the one above is a highlight of our trip to remote Luang Nam Tha, the most northerly province.

The local villagers are extremely shy about getting their picture taken and hard as we tried, again and again they refused us, so sad to say we have only a few. Tim secretly snapped this devoted sister toting her brother who’s almost as big as she is.

In Muang Khua we leave our car driver and board this boat with our pilot, Lun, for the two-day ride down the Nam Ou and Mekong Rivers.

The river trip is a highlight and a welcome relief from the bumpy, dusty roads and gives us a glimpse into authentic Lao life. We decide it isn’t such a bad life as shown by these two, happy, little boys frolicking in the waters without a care in the world.

Fishing on the banks of the Nam Ou provides a livelihood for many of the villagers.

We stop at Bansop Jam, one of the small villages along the river, where women pass the day weaving and embroidering fine silk into scarves and other home decorations.

We can’t believe and can’t resist the beauty of the hand-woven and embroidered silks in Laos. They are everywhere from the smallest villages to the mass markets of Luang Prabang and Vientiane. Now there REALLY isn’t any room left in our backpacks!

Sand’s haul of silk scarves.

The craggy, karst mountains reflect in the river offering magical views as we speed by.

There’s gold in them thar... river beds? Yup, cruising down the Nam Ou we see dozens of local villagers panning for gold. We watch this young man swirl away and after 10 minutes he proudly shows us the fruit of his labour—a teeny, tiny sliver of gold the size of the head of a pin. Appreciate your gold ladies!

Back in Luang Prabang after returning from our northern adventure we rise at 5:30 a.m. to meet up with the monks who perform a daily ritual of collecting alms of rice. They softly walk barefoot around the block of the temple while locals, and now some tourists, drop fingerfuls of sticky rice into their baskets.

On occasions we’ve caught glimpses of international economic news which all seems extremely gloomy. Since we started out our pound sterling budget has been depleted by the steady devaluation of the currency. Tim decides we need to cut costs and so we set out on the next leg of our journey on the sleeper bus. Help!

They call this a sleeper bus but we’re not sure why.

The ubiquitous tuk tuk has become our main means of transport around town. For all of you who believe that only England drives on the ‘wrong’ side of the road (left), Laos is the first country in our five months of travelling where driving is on the right side. Bhutan, Nepal, India, Sri Lanka and Thailand are all on the left, as will be Malaysia when we get there. Sandi finally feels right at home but Tim’s a little disoriented.

A local woman in Vientiane off to try to sell her wares (woven sticky rice baskets).

Stupendous Pha That Luang in Vientiane is the most important national monument in Laos.

In Pakse we book a 3-day tour that takes us by boat south along the Mekong to Champasak, once the capital of a Lao kingdom and one of the most impressive archeological sites in Laos, the Wat Phu Champasak, worshipped since the mid-5th century, though what remains is from the late Angkorian period.

Cute, giggly local girls.

Lazy days cruising the Mekong...

Our boat pulls up to the bank of the small village of Don Khon in Si Phan Don (Four Thousand Islands) and we spend the night broiling in 37 degree heat with only electricity and a ceiling fan from 6-10 p.m. It is the first time we welcome a cold shower. Si Phan Don is where the Mekong fans out forming an intricate network of channels, rocks, sandbars, and islets and also home to the impressive Khon Phapheng waterfall and rare Irawaddy dolphin (we’ve never heard of them either).

After a cycle around the small island of Don Det we decide we’ve had enough of ‘roughing it’ and head back to Pakse to recuperate with cappuccinos, air-con and massages. We thoroughly enjoyed soaking up the heady mix of culture, ecology and laid-back c’est la vie of Laos.

Had to throw this one in—dried frogs anyone? Enough to make you croak.

Fashion Find

Tim’s Valentines Day gift to Sandi—a traditional, vintage Hmong silver necklace. Needless to say it scored him a lot of love! The Hmong are one of the largest hill tribes in the Mekong region, spread throughout much of northern Laos, northern Vietnam, Thailand and Yunnan. They are known for their embroidered indigo-dyed clothing and ornate silver jewellery. Beware of fakes.

Tim's Trivia Corner

The Lao kip is one of few currencies in the world that is only issued in note form (no coins). At 8,500 to one US dollar the above 500 kip note is worth about 1.1 US cents.

Today it’s off to Siem Reap, Cambodia and the Temples of Angkor Wat.