Luang Prabang: Alms and Rainy Day Movies

Every morning at six o’clock sharp, the monks from Luang Prabang’s various wats silently file through the streets collecting alms from the faithful. Usually it comes in the form of khao nio, little balls of sticky rice doled out from wicker containers. I think khao nio must play a significant role in Lao spirituality because I see balls of it everywhere, from the tops of household staircases to window sills to temple walls to entryways and dashboards. But I digress. For a brief ten minutes while the event takes place, the town’s roads take on a saffron hue and a muted silence subdues the ambient street noise.







By the time the procession ended, I could feel the throbbing bags beneath my eyes, weighed down by several nights of sleeplessness, dragging my eyelids shut. I think everybody else was in the same boat - we agreed to go back to our respective rooms for some shuteye before meeting back at a more reasonable hour.

A steady drizzle had developed by the time we met later in the morning, giving us our first glimpse at the Lao rainy season. It was hardly a torrential downpour, I know, but it was still sufficient enough to throw a wrench into our plans. So, after breakfast, we found our way to ‘le cinema’ (essentially a house set up with three home theatre systems) where we enjoyed our own private showing of Ice Age.

The remaining hours of the afternoon were rounded off at the old royal palace/museum, where suspicious members of staff constantly checked to make sure we weren’t taking any photos (with good cause – I was running distraction while Andrew snapped a few quick shots).



As travel philosophies vary wildly between backpackers in the area (I've run into quite a number of unsavory characters in recent weeks), I feel I’ve really lucked out in meeting this group. Andrew, Thien An and Caroline are all easy going and great bunch to hang out with. Ado seems to have slipped off the radar though, showing up briefly only to go off on his own again.

Are they doing what I think they're doing?

Luang Prabang

The five of us met up mid-morning and discussed our day’s plans over bowls of muesli, freshly baked baguettes and cups of thick Lao coffee. Our decisions were finalized by the time the bill arrived. Ado, the Israeli, wanted to take in the town by foot while the rest of us agreed to go by rented bicycle.

It could be said that the highlight of Luang Prabang lies not in its sights, but rather, in its people. As the day wore on, the ancient temples, rows of old French colonial buildings, brick paved alleyways, and roads along the Mekong faded from our attentions and became mere backdrops for the townsfolk to play out their daily rituals.

Bringing baskets of fresh produce to the morning market:

Sifting rice:




Of the day’s activities, the one that stuck out the most, at least for me, was our invasion of the local schoolyard. We were welcomed in by a pair of children who ceremoniously pushed the gates open and ushered us in. It wasn’t long thereafter, that a group of youngsters attached themselves to us and remained so until we left.

Their reaction to seeing themselves on our camera’s tiny viewfinders was priceless. I’d imagine it the same way we’d react if we saw ourselves on television (but with more giggling).

You can tell from their work roughened hands and weather worn clothing that these children probably haven’t led easy lives; but you can tell from their broad smiles and hearty laughter that they’ve led good ones.

As the sun inched closer toward the horizon, we climbed the staircase leading to the temple overlooking town on Mt. Phousi. We had hoped to watch the last remnants of daylight pass behind the distant mountains but a slight drizzle and waning attention spans changed our minds on that.

We capped off the day with hour long massages ($3 per person) and a couple of drinks at Mr. Hong’s before packing it in for the night.

It was a good day if I do say so myself.

Other photos from today:

Wat Xieng Thong:


Wat Sirimungkhun:

Something got lost in translation along the way:

Rules for foreigners:

Travel Day: Pak Beng to Luang Prabang

I barely got an hour of sleep last night – the sound of the guy downstairs puking his guts out permeated my room’s paper thin walls until around 1 o’clock when he settled in for the night. The neighbourhood roosters began crowing not long after that. The final straw came when a noisy drum procession marched through the town’s main street at around quarter past four. I carefully got dressed in the dark, making sure not to wake up my neighbours, and made my way downstairs to see what the commotion was all about. The drumming had since stopped and the offending parties had departed, but it was curious to see that the town had come alive. According to the guesthouse owner, the morning procession didn’t have any cultural or religious significance as I had thought. Instead, it was simply the town’s early morning wakeup call.

Since sleep was no longer in the equation, I sat along the front of the guesthouse and watched as the townsfolk carried on. Adolescent children darted back and forth from the communal water supply, gathering buckets of water to bring home, shop fronts were carefully arranged in preparation for the morning exodus of tourists, children swept the front porches of their homes as their parents worked inside.

I took a seat above the docks to watch a cloud crawl its way over a mountain at sunrise:


Today’s journey was essentially the same as yesterday’s, except it was in a painfully smaller boat.

That said, I’m glad I went with the slow boat option because it has afforded me a fine group of traveling companions: a fellow Canuck, an Israeli guy and two very lovely Swiss girls. This is certainly a welcomed change from traveling solo.

Our protection for the trip: A bored teenager with a loaded kalashnikov.

Travel Day: Laos and the Mekong

A lot had to be accomplished in a relatively short period of time this morning. The first item on my ‘to do’ list was a two hour bus ride to Chiang Khong along the Thai side of the Mekong River. With urgency rising at each passing minute on the bus, I worried that I might not be able to accomplish my border jump today. When I arrived, I only had a couple of hours to line up a visa, catch a ferry over to the Lao border town of Huay Xai, go through immigration and catch the two day slow boat to Luang Prabang (whew!). Things went smoother than expected and I was on the boat long before the departure the time.

A cigarette break in the Chiang Rai bus station:

The slow boat definitely lives up to its name as the same two day trip could easily be done in six hours by speedboat. I had dismissed the latter option because it is reputedly quite accident prone. The crash helmets given to passengers prior to the trip are probably a good indication of that.

They say that this particular boat ride is a joy for some and a nightmare for others. The cramped, rock hard seats certainly leave something to be desired, especially when you have to be seated in them for the whole day. A few of the guys found alternative seating arrangements, though it doesn’t look any more comfortable:

On the upside, the journey along the Mekong provides a glimpse at a simpler way of life in Laos. Little fishing villages line the banks of the river, where you’ll see children playing in the shallows, nets propped up on bamboo rods along rocky outcrops and fishermen tending to their day’s catch. The scenery along the way is also breathtaking as the karst limestone mountains loom all around the mighty river.


We’re overnighting in Pak Beng, a town approximately halfway between Huay Xai and Luang Prabang. From what little I gather of the place, its relies heavily on tourists passing through for the night. Our waiter tonight said that the town’s electricity, provided by generators, is only turned on when the tourists arrive and is shut off at 10 pm in the evening.

On tonight's menu in Pak Beng:

Chiang Rai: Mae Kok, Tham Tu Phu, Buddha Cave

The temples within Chiang Rai’s city center were out of the question for today’s itinerary – I got templed out somewhere in Mae Hong Son and have decided to take a break from them. So instead, I put down a few baht, rented a mountain bike and rode a number of kilometers north of the city limit to see the countryside and check out some marginally interesting sights along the way. In order to do so, I had to cross over the Mae Kok river.

Some random facts about Mae Kok:

-A bridge had to be constructed over Mae Kok to accommodate for its ample girth.
-Mae Kok has a temple dedicated in its honour.
-Countless people travel up and down Mae Kok every day.
-Mae Kok is truly a magnificent sight to behold.
(tee hee)

The bridge over Mae Kok:


I do apologize for that temporary lapse in maturity. It had to be done. They made it too easy.

Anyway, the casual bike ride in the countryside led me to Tham Tu Pu caves, where a small shrine was set up.

The place was deserted except for a few puppies caged up by a generator. The resident monks must have gone out for some errands.

Further up was the thousand Buddha cave, which was a bit of a letdown. I only counted a couple of dozen.

This one didn't look like Buddha at all:

Not the most exciting days, I know, but it was a good change of pace, especially with my impending trip to Laos just around the corner.

Temporary Blackout

I'm off to Laos tomorrow for a couple of weeks and I'm not too sure about how readily available internet access is.

Don't worry about me. I'm (probably) not dead.

JoN

Chiang Rai: Shades of Chicken

Back when I was traveling Malaysia, I had a conversation with a few fellow backpackers regarding exotic foods. I can’t remember who with but it went something like this: Each of us would bring up the strangest food we’d eaten and described its taste. While most of us used chicken as a standard of measure (like chicken with soy sauce, or deep fried chicken) to get the message across, one of the guys was a little bit more creative. He said that he had alligator, which tasted somewhat like ostrich.

Anyway, I really didn't accomplish much today aside from hitching a ride out to Chiang Rai. So, for the sake of doing something interesting, I went to the night bazaar and picked up a bag 'o random deep fried insects.

I’ve laid out the experiment high school biology style to keep things as objective as possible.

Hypothesis: Bugs taste like chicken

Materials (as per diagram):

1. Bag of fried bugs
2. Towel for cleanup (as kindly provided by guesthouse)
3. Moral support
4. 50 ml Listerine
5. 1.5 L purified (through reverse osmosis) water
6. 1 pack (40 pieces) Extra minty chewing gum
7. “Ultra V” vomit cup
8. Bugs for taste test (see fig. a)

Fig. a

a. Silkworm
b. Mole cricket
c. Cricket (regular)

Procedure:
Eat bugs
Try not to throw up (use provided cleanup materials if step fails)
Describe taste

Observations:
Silkworm
Appearance: Beige, with soft membrane revealing partially formed pupae. Not a worm in its truest sense but equally as unappetizing in appearance.
Taste: Squishy creamy filling had a chicken/peanutty taste. Unpleasant texture made the item difficult to swallow.

Mole cricket:
Appearance: Like feces but with legs and a head (sounds good, doesn’t it?).
Taste: Crunchy shell tasted OK, with the taste and consistency of a crunchy chicken wing tip but with soft meat inside.

Cricket:
Appearance: Lightly browned shelled insect completely formed with head, thorax and legs.
Taste: Tasted more like fried shrimp with its shell on than chicken. Completely crunchy. Not bad at all, actually.

Conclusion:
I suppose one could argue that shrimp tastes like chicken, in which case, all of the tested insects tasted like chicken.

Tachilek: Lady Boom Boom

It almost seems that a good portion of the legitimate (or slightly less than) businesses in Myanmar are fronts for something seedier. For example, right as you cross the bridge to Tachilek, you’ll most likely be swarmed by a dozen or so brochure wielding túk túk drivers, offering cheap trips to nearby tourist traps.

The túk túk driver will start by pointing at a picture in the brochure.

“You want see temple? One hour 100 baht”

Then
“You want go town?” [points at picture] “One hour 100 baht”

Then, after he looks around to make sure no one else is listening, he asks in a hushed tone:
“You want lady boom boom?”
This is where my drink (green Fanta, how fitting) came out my nose

I have a new phrase in my vocabulary and I'm trying to find good cause to use it.

Another example, if I may:

Men with baskets of cigarettes strapped to their chests descend on tourists like vultures as soon as they cross into the market area. The cigarettes are cheap knock offs and not really that suitable for smoking, so I’ve been told. They’re also illegal to possess on the Thai side of the border.

This is one of the more memorable sales pitches from today:

Cigarette Man (CM): “Marlboro cheap, Lucky Seven cheap”
Me: “No thanks” [keeps walking]
CM: “Porno DVD?”
Me: “Nope” [keeps walking]
CM: “Biagra, work good.” (The misspelling was intentional)
[Slightly thrusts his hips]
“From India”
Me: “Not interested” [keeps walking]

As a last ditch effort to make a sale, he digs under his fake cigarettes, pornos and pills and pulls out a little pink vibrator. I heard it buzzing away as I walked off.

Strangely enough though, stalls selling endangered animal parts were operating right in the open:

This one had tiger skins and gonads, monkey and leopard skulls, deer antlers, jars of strange looking fluids (probably bear bile smuggled from China).

I stayed in Tachilek for a couple of hours before heading back to the more civilized Thai side.

Photos from Tachilek (Myanmar)

Burmese novice collecting alms. People seem sadder here.




Photos from Mae Sai (Thailand)

A lot of important Buddhist temples sit atop long flights of stairs. It's probably my #1 form of exercise here.

Rio de Janeiro has a big Jesus statue overlooking the city. Mae Sai has this:

Checking out the hot plumage: