It doesn’t take long to see why Luang Prabang is both a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the most visited tourist spot in Laos. It is one of the mellowest, slow-moving, unrushed places we’ve been. Even the motor scooters take it easy.
We landed from our slow cruise down the Mekong and was taken to our hotel. We have now learned that a swimming pool and quiet area of town is not as good as being where the action is. The Alana Hotel is on the other side of the Nam Khan River than the old town/night market. Then we were told that the free shuttle to the old town was broken, so we walked 40 minutes, across a bridge intended only for pedestrians and motorcycles. The exercise was good, so all right. Given ‘that Grab didn’t work, we downloaded Loca to get home.
Lost in Baan
We’d read about this restaurant and decided to give it a try. It was spectacular. I particularly liked their Gin & Tonic menu, as they had about 15 different gins. They also served it with a glass with ice and gin, and a can of tonic to add at one’s leisure. We opted for two sharing plates:
BEEF X BETEL 115.000 Skewers of lemongrass beef wraped in wild betel Leaves. Topped with peanuts, fresh herbs and pickels. Served with magic sauce. CURRY CHEEZE ASIAN PEAR 145.000 Hibiscus poached pear stuffed with homemade cashew curry cheese. Served with 5 spices candied seeds, wild forest honey and mesclun salad.
This was by far the best food we’d had on the trip so far.
Dyen Sabai
Quite by accident, we found Dyen Sabai, a restaurant on the bank of the river, down a tiny dirt street. Turns out it is not only close to our hotel, but also featured in Lonely Planet.
We came back several times, and not just because their happy hour went from noon to 7:00, (I think this was because they were on the other side of the river). Turns out, there was a fix for this, as there is a boat that will take you across the river. Granted, for codgers like us, it felt a little like taking our lives into our hands.
On our way back to the hotel, these school girls decided to make a game of riding three on a bike. Oh Oh!
UXO Information Center
One of the hardest sights we went to was the UXO information Center. It is a small center about all the unexploded bombs that are still being found in the Laos country side. The center talks about the efforts made to clear the land ,and what happens to the poor farmers who accidentally hit them when plowing etc. and are killed or maimed. There is a video made by city girl, who was born 14 years after the war, and was curious about what was keeping her country back, and what “that war” was all about? It is very moving as she discovers, how it still lives on and I of course was brought to tears.
Here are some statistics:
- Approximately 25% of villages in Laos are contaminated with Unexploded Ordnance (UXO)
- More than 580,000 bombing missions were conducted over Laos
- Over 2 million tons of ordnance were dropped on Laos between 1964 and 1973
- Cluster sub-munitions or ‘Bombies’ (as they are known locally) are the most common form of UXO remaining
- More than 270 million bombies were dropped onto Laos
- Up to 30% failed to detonate
- Approximately 80 million unexploded bombies remained in Laos after the war
- All 17 provinces of Laos suffer from UXO contamination
- 41 out of the 46 poorest districts in Laos have UXO contamination
- Over 50,000 people have been killed or injured as a result of UXO accidents in the period 1964-2008
- Over 20,000 people have been killed or injured as a result of UXO accidents post†war period, 1974-2008
- UXO Lao works in the nine most heavily UXO contaminated provinces in the country.
- UXO Lao needs on an average, US$6.5 million, for operations. It employs over 1,000 people.
Miscellaneous
It may seem like all we did in Luang Prabang was eat at great restaurants. You wouldn’t be far off, as there was a steady supply of such. We did, however, take several days of pure sleeping, trying to rid ourselves of our coughs.
Here are some general shots.
Postcard from Ellen
Our week here, both being hit by nasty coughs has taught us well, that this trip unlike the last one for 9 months, is meant to be slower. We are older! It’s been really nice to allow ourselves to rest when we want. It got colder here by the end of the week which was a surprise! The Chinese are everywhere as they can get here quickly by fast train and its friendly to them.
