Hi there all and happy end of february....things here in china are motoring along for me and now i have even started to get things organized for ghana...very excited about that, but can't make that my focus....yet....we have had a rainy month of february, but today the sun...and the pollution...have returned to shanghai...i guess you either get rain & low pollution or sun & high pollution....i just realized this weekend that i am four months away from my last flight out of china....which is both exciting and sad...but of course i am leaning toward exciting, because i head to a new continent and a new adventure....although, there are lots of things left to do here in shanghai, so those four months will fly by and be quite busy....
this update itself is a focus on the 3rd part of my winter break trip to laos...and what a trip that was...i think i officially found the most laid back country in southeast asia....the people were chill, the food was spicy, the days were lazy and the scenery was beautiful...it was a perfect place to hang after israel....if you have not been here...its a mellow, beautiful place, with much to offer....i would highly recommend a visit....i only made it to luang prabang...but i loved this town and this country from that visit....woot!!! on with the pictures....
for my first two nights i wanted to stay in a locally owned eco-lodge outside of town, close to the mekong river....and i got exactly what i wanted...in this shot you can see the pool, where i sat for most of a day, chillin' out and reading the last book of the game of thrones series...as you can see, it was sunny, but the water was chilly....the pool was "infinity" style, but naturally landscaped into the property on the top of a hill...laos was a very "hilly' country, of which i had no idea before i got there....i was in a section that was tropical and hilly...and loved it...
this was what greeted you when you arrived at the place i stayed...in the thatched roof cage was a very cool bird, that could mimic anything...it could sound like the land-line telephone or someone whistling or a cell phone or the little 2-year-old boy who lived at this eco-lodge with his parents who owned the property...but i am not sure what kind of tropical bird it was and forgot to ask...sorry....
after my two nights 30 km outside of town i moved into town...and this was one of the bamboo bridges you could cross to get to other sides of the rivers that surrounded luang prabang....the bigger river in the far left of the picture is the mekong...the smaller river is the nam khan (this has the bridge over it)...the bridge leads to a smaller "island" of luang prabang with many temples on it...it was a nice walk in the sunshine to visit...
laos is a buddhist country...so everywhere you walk you see monks in their orange or saffron colored robes...they are men or boys of all ages who give up their worldly possessions and connections and try to reach a stage of enlightenment....laos is like thailand in that all men and boys must become a monk for a period of time to try and reach an understanding at least of what it means to be buddhist...in thailand it has now changed a bit in that a man or boy can become a monk for one day and can say he did his buddhist "duty"....i am not sure if it has reached this stage in laos...but there certainly were a lot of monks throughout luang prabang....and here were some boys on the walking bridge....love the colors of their robes :)
i loved the color of the robes so much that i took pictures of them everywhere....here are some that have been washed by the monks at a monastery/temple and have been hung in the sun to dry...again, love the colors....
luang prabang has many buddhist temples and some of the oldest in the world...it also has many that are UNESCO world heritage sites...including the one you see above....named wat xieng thong....or temple of the golden city....the enamel and mother-of-pearl work at this temple is amazing...actually the entire town of luang prabang is a world heritage site....
but the back wall of this temple, which you see above is an amazing glass mosaic...simply stunning, especially when the sun shines through....all of the temples in luang prabang are working temples, meaning buddhist still come here to pray and monks still live here talking with followers and giving prayers and comfort for those that need it....it is a step back in history to come to a place like this...a sleepy, peaceful, buddhist town that is just awesome!
luang prabang is also home to a lot of artists...many of whom paint monks wandering through the streets and fields or buddha or mandala-type works...and all on hand-made paper....there is a lot of beautiful artwork in this city and here you can see some of it being sold along the streets next to the mekong....
one of the temples i visited as the sun was going down was this one, where monks were chanting their evening prayers...you can see them through the doorway....with the pictures above the doorway showing the scenes from buddha's life....in the courtyard of this temple (wat)...were two boys playing a fierce game of marbles...it was so cool to watch them and have the chanting going on as well...such a mix of old world and new world....and when the monks were finished some of them came and watched the game with me and wanted to practice their english....they told me about going to the local library in the afternoon and speaking with monks there as well, who wanted to practice their english...which i did the next afternoon...it was terrific...such peaceful and happy people :)
this was the entrance to the temple where the chanting was happening....the steps were guarded by naga...the snake that protected buddha when he sat beneath the bayan tree and meditated until he reached enlightenment....there is just something about this way of life that i love....and being in luang prabang reminded of this everywhere i turned....loved it....
at night in luang prabang they have a vibrant and street night market that takes over the main street of the town...here you can see some of the stalls and the mostly women selling embroidery, tapestries, t-shirts, lanterns, bags, jewelry and artwork....this night market happens every night and villagers from up to 2 hours away come to sell their wares here...it was fun to walk up and down and see what was for sale and what other travelers were buying...i don't buy much anymore, as i know if i do, i need to ship it to my next port of call....so mostly i just people watch....
during one of my days in luang prabang i took a cooking class...i am starting to do this more and more when i travel...so i can learn how to make "local" foods....for the one i did in luang prabang, i was taken first to a local market to learn what types of veggies and meats they use in their cooking, as well as the spices...many of the veggies were similar to thai cooking and chinese cooking...but i did feel that the spices in laos were more intense than thai, chinese or cambodian food....here you can see some of the veggies for sale....
this woman....so cute....was selling baskets for rice and other hand-made tools for the kitchen...the baskets to her right in the picture are used by students and families and monks to carry their daily supply of cooked rice for meals, because for laotian meals, rice is a main ingredient....i loved this woman's face....
here is a shot from the cooking school's platform where we cooked...it overlooked a lotus pond and was where they grew their own spices and some vegetables....all organic and extremely peaceful...this was the one place in laos where i couldn't hear motors from boats on the rivers or on the roads from the motor bikes....it was incredible...and our chef was great....a young, laotian guy who was both good at his craft and at cracking jokes :)
here is a shot of some of the ingredients we used that day to make 3 different dishes and a dessert....everything was fresh and tasty and combined to make quite spicy, flavorful food....some cooked in lemongrass and some cooked in banana leaves....and even one dish made with water buffalo, intestines and bile....i did a vegetarian version of this with tofu...but got to see and smell all of the other ingredients....it was a great class and a fun day :)
luang prabang is situated in the hills and in the center of town is phou si....a hill many folks climb to watch the sun go down over the town and the mekong river....i was headed up the hill when the sun went below the horizon...but had to stop and take this shot before it was completely gone....at the top of the hill is a another beautiful temple....just a relaxing and peaceful place everywhere i looked and walked....
besides seeing the monks everywhere you walk in town, you can also be part of the alms giving ceremony, which happens every morning as the sun rises....in the picture above you can see what i gave to monks - bananas, crackers, banana leaf-wrapped sweet rice cakes and in the basket on the left, cooked rice for the day....this has become very popular with tourists as you can see below....
but as you can also see it has become a tourist trap sort of thing...most of the people around me were polite and not sticking their cameras in the monks faces...except for the guy in the black jacket....by the middle of this procession of monks i really wanted to punch him in the nose....he was right in the faces of the monks and they were obviously uncomfortable...but that did not stop him....
after i ran out of food i moved to the other side of the street to watch the processions and be more respectful....the procession lasted for about 30 minutes and there were quite a few monks....from many different temples...one of the coolest things i saw though was the monks donating some of their alms received to little kids who obviously came from very poor families and were collecting food for their families....it was incredible to watch the generosity of the monks for those less fortunate than they, even though they give up everything except for their robes, their carrying bag and their bowl...this alms ceremony happens throughout luang prabang every morning around 6am...as i left very early in the morning the next day, i saw it again from the back of a tuk-tuk in less populated parts of town with tourists where just the locals were giving alms....
laos is an extremely beautiful tropical country...and is known for its waterfalls....i made it out to one set before i left...and here you can see the beautiful waters you can swim in....this really reminded me of the lake portion of croatia....the water was very similar in color....these pools you could swim in....this set of falls also had a black bear sanctuary where they rescued abandoned bear cubs and injured black bears and raised them....pretty cool situation for the bears i think....
just another pretty shot of the pretty water in the area...there were tons of waterfalls to choose from...plus many folks did mountain treks, mountain biking and kayaking in the area...and if i had had one more day i would have gone out on the river in a kayak...but it was not to be...overall though, i loved luang prabang and would recommend stopping and hanging in this town to anyone...it was so chill and easy to relax in...something you don't find in the big cities of southeast aisa....
hope you enjoyed the past few xmas trip updates...next to come will be a stop in harbin, china, where i went to the snow and ice festival for a weekend this past month...it was incredible....my next trip for spring break will be to maynmar, one of the newest destinations to open up in southeast asia...it is shaping up to be quite a trip and i look forward to the new experiences and adventure that awaits....
i have a short time left in southeast asia and i hope to enjoy every moment of it....i hope you have had a great start to 2014...and are enjoying the year of the horse from the chinese horoscope....hopefully i will have the next update out soon and until then....enjoy the ride of your own adventure....remember, if you have any questions or want to just say hi and send me your life update...please do....it's nice to hear from folks and know what they are up to :)
have a fab day :)
dani
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