Upon arrival in Luang Prabang we scurried as fast as our overcurried tummies would allow to L’Elephant, a French restaurant.
Bread? Cheese? After two weeks in Thailand, where rice rules the plate, we were starved for both, and L’Elephant obliged with fresh-baked baguettes and mozzarella that melted in the mouth like chocolate.
As we sipped French wine, we were charmed by the twirling ceiling fan and French colonial architecture.
But the delicacy of the French touch ended outside the front door on the potholed dirt street. Laos is an impoverished, communist country with a healthy tolerance for Buddhism and an apparent disinterest in infrastructure.
Nonetheless, the prevalence of Buddhist culture is surprising. Temples are everywhere, and Buddhism is openly practiced. Each morning at 6:30, 100 orange-robed Buddhist monks line Luang Prabang’s main street carrying their baskets, into which the faithful dish rice and meals to feed monks and their young apprentices.
Tourists have only recently discovered Luang Prabang. Backpackers found it first when Laos first reopened to tourism in 1989. Since then, UNESCO added the city to its list of World Heritage Sites in 1995, and increasing numbers of Westerners–mostly European and Australian–began arriving.
Despite rubbled roads and buildings in disrepair, there is real charm in this small city of 26,000 with its swooping-roofed wats (temples), a hill in the middle of town, and schoolgirls in long navy-blue silk skirts and white blouses.
And the locals are schooling themselves in tourism. They don’t see the world beyond those communist borders, but they study English at night and are eager to please. The lack of sophistication is delightful to the traveler used to a snarkier world.
Of course, traveling is always fun when you’re racking up the bargains–a French meal with wine for less than $15, hotel rooms for a song. Laos is one of the least expensive, yet culturally interesting nations one could visit.
And yet, the bargains can be bittersweet. The Internet cafe I frequented had excellent high-speed access–and charged 40 cents an hour. Each morning the father/owner jiggled his baby and served customers while the mother chased the toddler and ran to make photo CDs for 50 cents. When I paid for my online time, I told the man to keep the change–his look of startled appreciation left me embarrassed that it was only a dime.
Then there was the night market. I left in tears during my first visit. It was like walking past beggars, yet the 40 or so women were selling their beautiful hand-woven silk scarves and wall hangings–thousands of hours of labor–for $10.
“Please buy my scarf, madam” a woman begged as she gestured at her gorgeous silks. As I leaned down and peered in the dim light–was that a burnt orange or a red to match my family room?–the vendor misinterpreted my hesitation, dropping the price to $9, then skipped to $8 — this woman who lived in a one-room shack and had no familiarity with family rooms, much less the finer points of interior decorating.
After a few similar episodes with other sellers, I fled to my hotel room to pull myself together.
The second night I had a new strategy: $100 in my pocket and a determination to drop it as fast as I could. As I quickly selected a silk, the seller burst into a smile and did a little seated dance. “First sale tonight–this good luck for me!” she beamed.
It’s less agonizing and a better bet for the family room to buy silk by daylight. Xang Khong Village is a few minutes away by tuk-tuk ride–little three-wheeled taxis that transport you in a wink. In the village, women sell weavings in front of their shacks, but the largest selection is at Lao Silk Textile, where unsuspecting silkworms lie in their baskets, should you wish to look.
Silks here are exquisite and inexpensive, and the women in our group would have warmed up their charge cards to haul home silk by the yard. But charge cards? Not a concept. Lao Silk Textile takes only cash in the same anything-goes fashion as all merchants in this town–pay in dollars, or Thai baht or Laotian kip–or any combination thereof.
Our group of women travelers also would have carted home suitcases filled with inexpensive clothing made from Laotian silk, which shows real French color sense, with color pairings more artful and sophisticated than Thai silk. But unlike in other Southeast Asian countries where seamstresses dash out of doorways to offer to make you clothing, the communist-trapped Laotians are not cued to the Western woman’s gluttony for clothing. There is one shop, OckPopTop, that sells some articles of locally made clothing.
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Still, the lack of outside exposure is what makes Luang Prabang appealing. It has that sense of being an undiscovered place.
To be sure, a handful of entrepreneurs from the outside world have set up shop, working with Laotians to create wooden bowls, silk bedspreads and pillows. There’s also a wonderful jewelry store, Naga Creations. Its owner, Fabrice Munio, a Frenchman, is as enthusiastic about Luang Prabang as he is gifted at creating jewelry. I bought lovely Vietnamese pearls, then, as an afterthought, I asked if he had the “stop fighting” Buddha–its arms held forward in the “halt” position.
Munio did indeed, and he hung it around my neck and grinned charmingly as he said it was “a very expensive price,” and gave it to me for free.
Our days in Luang Prabang weren’t all about shopping and eating; we also visited the Royal Palace, with several interesting Buddhas, including a reclining one. We saw temples, including Wat Xieng Thong, with roofs that sweep to the ground and a tree of life mosaic. We felt we were seeing a greater variety of Buddhas here–Buddhas for all reasons and seasons. We were enamored with the “stop fighting” Buddha.
It’s an apropos symbol, for Luang Prabang is a peaceful place. Some might say this derives from its location on the confluence of the Mekong and Nam Khan Rivers–a location considered by Laotians to be most auspicious, something like a Laotian version of feng shui.
At the very least, it allows you to sit in a cafe overlooking the river for a pleasant meal–most likely more curries but also the sweetest mouthwatering mango and coconut ice cream.
Our lodging in Luang Prabang was the very pleasant Villa Santi. The courtyard was rich with tropical plants, and rooms were small but comfortable. That was, until the episode on the last night.
It began when my roommate, Tricia Fischer, an easygoing 30-year-old from Denver, emerged from showering.
“You’re going to wonder,” she announced, “why the bathroom is flooded with water. Well, I’ve been using the shower sprayer to chase three cockroaches down the drain.” Tricia was still very calm.
Then she opened the door to peek and then–“Omigod, they’re back and they’re huge!!!” she shuddered.
I rushed to the bathroom door, then slammed it when a cockroach the size of a playing card waggled its antenna at me.
Thus ended our detour into gentle Buddhist culture. Who cared if that cockroach might be Grandpa–we wanted it good and dead. The poor housekeeper arrived with her spray can, then we called her back for a second round when the whole cockroach family started climbing out of the fumigated drain. Then we called her back again to remove dying Grandpa from the bathtub, on his backside with legs a-waving.
But we were, after all, in the tropics, and I was surprised those were the first creepy bugs we saw.
We left Luang Prabang with some regret, knowing that this unique city will draw more tourists and turn up more sophisticated tour operators.
Still, it may be hard to resist the call of a Southeast Asian city that combines Asian intrigue with pain au chocolate.
– – –
IF YOU GO
GETTING THERE
You can fly into Luang Prabang on Thai Air or Lao Air. (Pick Thai; Lao Air does not have the best reputation.)
WHEN TO GO:
November through February are the best months, beating both the rain and the heat.
CURRENCY
U.S. dollars and Thai baht work well in most stores; street vendors may want Lao kip, but you get a big pack of paper bills for a small amount of American currency (50,000 kip is $5). There is an ATM machine in Luang Prabang, but machines are not located on every corner.
LODGING
There are a number of guesthouses in Luang Prabang; some of them looked quite nice.
We stayed at Villa Santi, a great location and the former residence of King Sisavang Vong’s wife. You can also get a great massage in your room here for $10. Room rates start at $150 U.S. a night. Book at www.villasantihotel.com or call 011-856-71-252157.
GUIDEBOOK
Joe Cummings and Andrew Burke’s 2005 “Laos” guidebook from Lonely Planet ($19.95) offers in-depth information on traveling in Laos.
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–A.C.