August 30, Day 9 Luang Prabang and the Mekong

 This morning we were before the sun rose - we were joining the daily morning alms-giving ceremony, or Tak Bat. We sat on baby chairs on the side of the road waiting to give out rice and snacks to the monks who walk down the main street at dawn every morning. Ours were meagre offerings but it was a unique experience. We then dived into narrow lanes to explore the morning market before heading back to the hotel for breakfast. Our westernised breakfast was pretty bland after the astonishing array of food on offer in the morning market.

Most dwellings in the street where we stayed had shrines in front

A marvellous start to a day which promised much more - we were headed for a boat ride on the Mekong. But not before a visit to the Royal Palace ‘Haw Kham’ which was built in the early 1900s during the French colonial era. In 1975, the Communist Pathet Lao seized power in Laos establishing the Lao People's Democratic Republic and thus ending a 600 year-old monarchy and forcing King Savang Vatthana to abdicate. The Royal Family was arrested and sent to brutal ‘re-education camps’ in remote, northern Laos where they died from illness or starvation not many years later. After the gentleness of these people and their culture and spirituality hearing this struck a note of horror in most of us. 

Wat Xieng Thong one of the most important of Lao monasteries  

Haw Kham, Royal Palace, now a museum 

We were soon whisked away to board a ‘slow boat’ - long, narrow wooden vessels - to journey up the Mighty Mekong. And mighty it is!  Idyllic trailing your hand in the water watching the world slide past providing glimpses into the life of people who live, or make their living, along the river.  Fish farms and fishing, produce gardens being reestablished after the annual flood waters, woodmen out sawing up huge trees washed down by the river. And of course, we made a mandatory stop to ‘inspect’ local crafts which included whiskey and wine making and weaving.   Quite fascinating. 

The riverside gardens have to be rebuilt after each flood

Massive trees wash down the river and are stranded on the bank

Refueling stations along the river

Many riverboats ply the river

The universal problem of litter spilling into the river

A riverside wine and whiskey distillery - all manner of things are preserved in the whiskey 

Magnificent mountains 

Strange fruit clustered around trunks and branches 

Floating fish and produce farms hug the banks 

The vegetation was interesting and had me craning my neck to see more.  One eye-sore however was a newish development supposedly aimed at establishing a green and sustainable area – the ‘Luang Prabang Smart City’.  And not far upriver at the confluence of the Mekong and Nam Ou River near Pak Ou, there is a large hydropower scheme is under construction. I will admit to my bias as a person visiting this lovely place and feeling a sense of horror at its destruction/manipulation but I acknowledge the need of the locals who struggle.  It is a hard call. 

We diverted to a delightful restaurant on stilts opposite the Pak Ou caves for lunch. The Pak Ou caves are a group of two caves, the Tham Ting and the Tham Theung caves deep within the limestone cliffs. From the water they are dark cavities looking out from soaring limestone cliffs over the Mekong. Once monasteries, the monks had to move out after many floods prevented them receiving food, but their labyrinthine depth houses many Buddhist figures mostly made of wood. Most people walked up into the caves but I remained outside because the steps were very high to get into the first of the cave. 

Our quite idyllic lunch stop

From our table we looked out over the river to the Pak Ou caves

Beerlao was always deliciously cold

Reboarding our boat was a little challenging - slippery mud and our boat was of course the furtherest

The Pac Ou caves

It is a beautiful river

It had been a day full of unique experiences and sights. Lindsay and I finished the day by escaping the crowds in a pizza joint where we had hamburgers! and a bottle of wine alone.