Laos Trip (30th Jan - 4th Feb 2010)

Ahhh... Just got back from my 1st trip for the year 2010. This time we went to Laos. I'm sure you guys will ask why Laos? Is there anything in Laos? Some even do not know where this country is. Well, I actually plan to go to this country long time ago and I was surprise that a few travelling buddies wanted to join in. There were 7 people in this trip and they consist of Sylvia, Kian Ping, Pei Zhi, Pao, Butt, Tracy and myself. Date was set and off we went to this unfamilliar country.

Luang Prabang (Day 1)
I must thank Sylvia and Butt for the research and infomation they gathered. We flew 2 hours and 30 minutes to reach Vientiane, the capital of Laos. Then we purchase the domestic air ticket (USD85) to Luang Prabang which is around an hour flight. Luang Prabang is actually one of the highlands and it has both natural and historical sites. As this was sort of a backpack trip, we will then need to look for accomodation. There were plenty of houses converted to guesthouses ranging from USD10 to USD 40 per night. We compared and viewed a few guesthouse and finally decided to stay in Oudom Souk Guesthouse near the Mekong river which cost USD13 per night. After setting in, off we went out looking for lunch. We walk by the riverside and found a lot of stalls situated. Food was acceptable but the view of the Mekong river was great surrounded with magnificient mountains side. It got even better when we down a few bottles of their local beer called Beer Lao for 10,000 KIP per big bottle (about USD1.20)... ha ha. After lunch, we kept venturing the area. It was a slow and relax town. Everyone seems to take their time with their chores. A significant appeal of the town was that there were a lot of French provincial style houses. We were surprise to see a lot of western tourists and all the time I thought no one would ever thought of travelling to Laos. Very clearly I was wrong.

As the day turns dark, the wheather drop quick too. It was about 14 degree celcius compared to 28 degree in the noon. Lucky for Tracy and I we brought along a jacket. But for others, they did not. As usual in most of our trips, a foot massage is a must but it turns out to be a dissapointing one. It was like touching here and pinching there. Even my wife could do a better massage than them. Anyway, at the end of the main street of Luang Prabang is a night market. Each stalls sells almost of the same thing like shirts, silk clothes, bracelets and paintings. The dinner was a simple one. We all had noodle soup which costs us about 10,000 KIP per bowl. The noodle was pretty good actually but their chilly paste was unbearable! A must try! We all went to bed early as we all felt tired.

Luang Prabang (Day 2)
The next day, we took a half day tour to see the historical Pak Ou Caves and the rice wine village. But before that, we had our breakfast at the food stalls. All stalls sells the same food, toast bread and Laos coffee. I must admit they are good especially the coffee. It has a smooth and yet a strong aroma. Anyway back to our tour. Pak Ou Caves are noted for their impressive Buddha sculptures assembled over the centuries by local and pilgrim. This cave is only accessible by boat and is about 25 km from the center of Luang Prabang. The journey was a long and a cold one indeed. None of us expected it to be so cold in Laos and we were all shivering.

Half way up the stream, the boat driver took us to the wine village called Xang Hai Village. They called them whisky but in fact they are rice wine. We then got the apportunity to see the process of wine making. We sampled some of these wines and bought a few bottles to warm up our body. They even sell wines dipped in with scorpions, snakes and centipedes. None of us dare to drink it but Ah Pao bought a bottle home for souvenier.

We then continued our journey to the caves which is about another 30 minutes ride up the stream. The cave wasn't a huge one but it laids hundreds of mostly wooden Buddhist figures on the floors and wall shelves. The caves has a lower cave (Tham Ting) and a upper cave (Tham Theung). Both caves contains approximately 4,000 Buddhas of all sizes. It was quite a view. You will have to walk hundreds of steps to the upper cave. Some of us are exhausted half way. In the upper cave, it was very very dark. You will need a torch light to see the sculptures and steps. We must thank Pei Zhi this time for her mobile torch light or else we might trip over the steps.


We then head back to our guesthouse to rest. We sat outside our rooms alley and gulping down Beer Lao. Had wonderful chats about life and friendship. As night draws near, it's time for dinner. Dinner was a good one that day. We had our dinner in the back alley of the shophouses. Most of the food they sell were either roasted or fried. We had roast fish, chicken, pork as we down them again with Beer Lao. After the heavy dinner, we went strolling the town and later on off to bed.


Luang Prabang (Day 3)
Another good experience was offering alms (food) to the monks. Luang Prabang is considered a holy city in laos and listed as the UNESCO World Heritage site. It houses about 33 Wats (temples). The monks food for the day comes from this ritual held very early in the morning. From what I understand, they are only allowed to eat food given to them on the morning of each day. To participate, you will have to get up very early in the morning. Sylvia, Pao, Butt and I woke up at about 5.30 am to see this ritual. Upon walking up to the main street, there were locals selling us sticky rice and bananas to be offered to the monks. Sylvia bought one and waited patiently along the street. There were hundreds of locals and tourist participating. They squated on the floor mats with their food in front of them. Tracy later on join us as she could not get back to sleep.


As time strikes at about 6.15am, we could already see the monks walking towards us. It was line of at least 300 monks. The monks then opened up their bowls for us to place the food in them. One by one, they were offered food. It was such a great experience. I could not help snapping away with my camera but dare not got to close to them. The ritual ended in about an hour or so as the monks continued their way back to their wats. Waking up so early to see this ritual is worth it! We then grab a quick breakfast and continued our journey to our next destination, Vang Vieng.

STAY TUNE FOR MORE............