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Each evening around sundown in Luang Prabang, you can hear Buddhist monks chanting in their temples. I would catch the sunset on Mt. Phusi, then hurry down the steps to the street where the Night Market was being set up and sit on a bench right outside Wat Mai. You can't go inside, but you can hear beautifully from right outside. With the sun setting, the Night Market setting up and the sound of the monks chanting, I really felt liek I was in a different world.
This probably could have fit under the "Tourist Trap" heading, but I've always been the type of traveller to insist on trying the local beverages as well as the food. You can find cobra whiskey for sale in bottles at the Morning Market in Vientiane, the Night Market in Luang Prabang, and for sale by the shot at some bars and little stands by the Mekong. You'll notice the trademark dead snake floating in the bottle. My impression is that this is strictly for tourists. If you do decide to tipple a little, be prepared. This is probably one of the worst tasting beverages on the planet. It's like licking a rusty tail pipe. That being said, I can attest that a bottle of cobra whiskey makes an intimidating sovenir on one's shelf.
I visit Laos with my Thai girlfriend in february 2007. Laos is a very beautiful and lovely country with friendly people. We crossed the border in Chong Mek and go by local transport to Pakse, the second largest city in Laos.The Champasak Palace hotel is located in the heart of Pakse District, the capital city of Champasak Province. It was originally constructed to be a palace of Jao Boon Oum, the last king of life in southern Laos. The palace was built in 1969 and was not finished when Jao Boon Oum left Laos and took a refuge in France in 1975. Only the building was finished in 1975.
Vang ViengNestled beside the Nam Song - River, Vang Vieng's main attraction has always been the stunning beautiful limestone karst terrain.Honeycombed with unexplored tunnels and caverns, these limestone cliffs are a spelunker's heaven. Several caves are named and play minor roles in local mythology - all are said to be inhabited by spirits.These caves and cliffs have also earned a reputation for some of the best rock-climbing in the region.The Nam Song meanwhile, plays host to kayakers and travellers floating along on tractor inner tubes.
What PhuThe ancient Khmer religious complex of Wat Phu is one of the highlights of any trip to Laos.Sanskrit inscriptions and chines sources confirm the site has been worshipped since the mid 5th century.On the uppermost level is the sanctury which once enclosed a Shiva lingam. The sanctuary now contains a set of Buddha images on an altar.The lintels showing pictures off Krishna, Vishnu and Indra.East of the Sanctuary a winding path leads north to the so-called crocodile stone, a boulder with a deep, highly stylised carving of a croc that is believed to date from Angkor period. Crorcodiles were semi-god figures in Kmer culture, but despite much speculation that the sculpture was used for human sacrifices its function, if there was one, remains unknown.Further along the same path is the elephant stone, a huge bolder bearing the likeness of an elephant thought to date from the 16th...
Royal Palace Museum The Royal Palace Museum was built in 1904 during the early French colonial era as a residence for King Sisavang Vong and his family. The site for the palace was chosen so that official visitors to Luang Prabang could disembark from their river journeys directly below the palace and be received there.Architecturally, the building features a blend of traditional Lao motifs and French beaux-arts style, and has been laid out in a double-cruciform shape with the entrance on one side of the lower crossbar. Most of the private chambers of the royal family have been preserved since the day the Pathet Lao forced the royals into exile.The large entry hall displays royal religious objects, including the dais of the former Supreme Patriarch of Lao Buddhism.The front right corner room of the palace, contains a collection of the museum's most prized art, including the Pha Bang....
Other Temples Wandering Luang Prabang's cracked pavements, sweat making me resemble a fried tomato, I spy a Wat, not unusual in itself. It looks rather shabby from the outside, but upon approaching it and pausing in the shade of the entrance i am greeting with a hearty sabqi-di from a couple of friendly monks. Intrigued by this open welcome I ask if it's Okay to wander around. Yes they nod in unison, and usher me in. As i enter the grounds and turn a corner of one of the buildings, a youngish monk calls to me in Lao. I indicate i can't understand him and in excellent English he asks where i am from. and when i tell him Holland, he get a grin and says Van Basten.This and other things you can encounter wandering around in the north eastern corner of town, where there are several active temples.See Wats of Luang Prabang for more information upon other temples.
VentianeSet on a bend in the Mekong river, Vientiane was first settled around the 9th century AD and formed part of one of the early Lao valley meuang (city-states) that was consolidated around the 10th century.In the ensuing 10 or so centuries of its history, Vientiane's fortunes have been mixed. At various times it has been major regional centre, at other times, it has been controlled by the Vietnamese, Burmese and Siamese.The height of Vientiane's success was probably in the years after it became the Lan Xang capital in the mid-16th century. Several of Vientiane's wats were built then and the city became a major centre of Buddhist learning.In 1867 French Explorers arrived and made Vientiane capital of the French protectorate.See Wats in Vientiane for more information.
PatuxaiReminiscent of the Arc de triomphe in Paris, the Patuxai is Vientiane's most prominent monument. It was built in the 1960s with US-purchased cement that was supposed to have been used for th construction of a new airport. hence it's sometimes called The vertical Runway.From a distance, Patuxai looks much like its French source of inspiration. up close, however, the Lao design is revealed.The bas-relief on the sides and the temple-like ornamentation, along the top and cornices are typically Lao, though the execution is at times shoddy.Don't miss the painted description on the southwest corner, which in a few lines reflectsbith Lao's endearning honesty and naivety to "First World" preoccupations like marketing. One sentence reads; from a closer distance, it appears even less impressive, like a monster of concrete.A stairway leads through two levels stuffed with souvenir T-shirts to...
Xieng Khuan In a field by the Mekong River about 24 km south of central Vientiane, Xieng Khuan is a park full of Buddhist and Hindu sculpture that is a monument to one eccentric man's quite bizarre ambition.Xieng Khuan was designed and built in 1958 by Luang Pu (Venerable Grandfather) Bunleua Sulilat , a yogi-priest-shaman who merged Hindu and Buddhist philosophy, mythology and iconography into a cryptic whole.Originally, Bunleua is supposed to have studied under a Hindu rishi (sage) who lived in Vietnam. Legend has it that their meeting was fortunate, as while Bunleua was walking in the mountains he fell through a sinkhole and landed in the rishi's lap.Bunleua developed a large fellowing in Laos and northeastern Thailand, and moved to Thailand around the time of the 1975 Revolution.The concrete sculptures at Xieng Khuan (wich means "Spirit City") are bizarre but compelling in their...
La Residence Phou Vao Luang Prabang
4 Reviews and 281 Opinions TOUGH MANAGEMENT While this facility may be nice, I know the management is tough and does not have...
Settha Palace Hotel Vientiane
5 Reviews and 132 Opinions Settha Palace is a small luxury family owned hotel.It has its importance as a historical example of...
Ban Sabai Riverside Bungalow Vang Vieng
84 Opinions
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Q: do any VT have any experience with the VIP overnight sleeper bus from Vientiane to Luang Prabang??? is it reasonably...
A: I took the VIP bus from Luang Prabang to Vientienne in 2010. There is a toilet on the bus. I was on the upper deck and the airconditioner was very weak. So it was a VHB...
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