Adventures with Julia

Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Amantaka, Luang Prabang, Lao

Sabaidee (pronounced, Sab I D).  Hello in Lao.  We are into our last day in Lao and I must say I could stay here much longer.  We are still experiencing excellent weather, although it is a bit hotter today, and we are very much enjoying the local people, the town, and the surrounding countryside.

Wat Xieng Tong. An important Lao temple with the roof coming close to the ground.

Yesterday, Mark did not want to see any more temples, so Pon and I went on a walk through town to the most important temple in the area called Wat Xieng Tong.   It was not so different from many others except for the roof lines that shed the rain and intricate, inlaid, colored-glass mirror images on the walls of other nearby buildings.  I mentioned this work at the Royal Palace in the National Museum, but could not photograph it there.  Here it was outdoors and I was free to take all the images I wanted.   I will share a few with you in hopes you get a sense of the luminous images that I found so appealing.

Inlaid colored glass mirrors on a small temple next to Wat Xieng Tong

Along our walk, we passed a number of examples of Lao and French colonial houses, appreciated the shade of the tree-lined streets, overlooked the confluence of the Khan and Mekong Rivers, and enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere of the people—very little traffic, no crowds, no loud noises.

Close up of colored mirror inlay work

Examples of a Lao building and french colonial buildings in Luang Prabang

We talked about many things including politics and economics.  He is not a member of the Communist party, but believes the Communists have provided the people of his country with a much better life than they had under the kingdom.    When kings were in power, the people were basically slaves.  They could not own anything and had to do whatever the king asked of them.  They could not earn money or get ahead.  Their work allowed them to have shelter and food.   Schools and hospitals were scarce.   His parents lived under the last king and his father was forced to leave his wife and young children and do three years of hard labor in a camp for no reason other than that he was fit and able.   When the communists took over, people were allowed to own the house they lived in, earn money, borrow and save, buy other property and improve their circumstances.   Schools and hospitals were built and now, according to Pon, there is 97% literacy and medical care is readily available.  Given those choices, I would vote for communism too.

He told me that wages vary between $40 and $200 per month with janitors near the bottom and professionals at the top.  Best of all, however, is to speak English and be in the travel business.  As an English-speaking guide his salary is $100 per month and he makes enough on tips to put him well above the highest paid professionals.  He, of course, would not give me that information.  He did say that women make the same as men for the same job.   He is determined for his 2 young children to become fluent in English.  He owns his house, a plot of land in the country that he is thinking to sell and put that money into a rental in town.  He is certainly an enterprising young man.

After awhile, I realized it was getting close to 10am so we grabbed a tuk tuk and got back to the Amantaka in a few minutes.   Mark was waiting and we said our good bye’s to Pon, whose guiding service was complete.   We, having appreciated his care of us, gave him a generous tip.

Heading off for an adventure on our rented scooter.

Meanwhile, Mark hired a scooter and had it ready to go.   It seemed like the perfect way for us to be on our own, see the local countryside, visit a Bear Preserve and swim at the recommended Kuang Si Waterfalls.  It was also a fun way to spend our 19^th Anniversary.   The Aman staff loaned us a backpack filled with water, lunch and a towel.  We added our swimsuits and camera and off we went.

A rural farm not far from Luang Prabang

It was a super fun day.  We made only one wrong turn and arrived at the Bear Preserve right on time.  The Aman staff had arranged for us to be able to feed the bears and we did not want to miss that experience.

A rural scene near Luang Prabang, L

As it turned out, there are 25 bears in residence, all of whom are recovering from bad treatment of one form or another and a couple of whom are needing medical attention.   Feeding them is not what you might expect.  The bears are moved out of their environment into concrete enclosures, while we go out into their environment with buckets of food and hide it wherever we can, so they have to spend some time and effort finding it.  The bear rep told us the bears are mostly bored and making them work a bit helps pass some time.

A moon bear at the Bear Preserve in Lao

The facility was a rather sad affair, but it appeared as though the staff were doing their best to help these animals have a reasonably normal existence.  They would not be able to survive in the wild, so this is their best alternative.  When the bears came out, we were pleased to find that we had done a good job of hiding the food.  They were still looking for some of it when we left them and hiked up to the waterfalls, a short distance above the Preserve.

The lower level of the Kuang Si Waterfalls. Managed to capture the scene before swimmers inundated the place.

I was expecting a nice waterfall, similar to many I have seen in the Sierra and was blown away by what we found.  As we walked up the gentle hillside, we encountered a large swimming hole with a series of broad 20 feet high spills into the pool.   It was the perfect place to swim and we joined dozens of others with the same idea.   The bottom was full of sharp rocks and the water was pretty cold, but we got in anyway and enjoyed the experience while watching other people jump from a rope swing.   We ate our lunch and thought we had seen a nice falls.

The upper falls with mist filling the air.

Mark suggested we continue up hill and that is when we began to realize the best was yet to come.   There are cascading terraces of falls from small to large and as wide as 50-200 feet or more.  Eventually we came upon a bridge and looked up at a huge cascading stream that fell and bounced off boulders and fell again and bounced again.   There was a constant mist in the air that gave me the sense of being in a primeval water world.  We did the best we could to capture the scene on the camera, but there is nothing like being there.

Eventually we headed back down hill, took one last look at the bears and headed for the scooter.  The drive home was uneventful, although I got Mark to stop for a few photos I had spotted on the way up.  Not quite the end of a lovely day.

We got home in time to have a swim in our pool and clean up for dinner at a place called the Tamarind, which was highly recommended.  The Aman staff gave us a tuk tuk ride there and we enjoyed a delicious, traditional Lao meal including a wonderful soup, appetizers with lots of different spices, and 2 strange but tasty dishes of minced chicken and chopped frog meat.   Desert was black sticky rice with coconut milk.  Good, but rich.   The air was still very warm and we did not feel like working up another sweat so we had the tuk tuk take us home.   Now it was the end of a lovely day.

The artist, V Hai, and the oil painting I could not resist. The old Hmong lady’s eyes followed me around the gallery.

Well, all the above was yesterday.  Today, we had our “day at leisure”.  We had breakfast beside the resort pool, walked several blocks of town and identified a few things we were interested in checking out further.  Came back to the Aman and went out again on resort bicycles.  This time we headed directly for the art gallery we liked and I bought a painting I had admired earlier.  It is not often that I see something I cannot resist, but this painting really captured my emotions.  Mark gave it a 7-8 out of his 10 points.  That, coupled with my 10 points clinched the buy option.  The next time you visit our house, you will see this painting in the gallery.  Not sure what will have to go yet, maybe some of my own photographs.   We also purchased several scarves to give away and then had our second lunch at to Blue Lagoon.   We were back in our suite by 2pm and spent the rest of the day lounging around and dipping in the pool.

The Baci Ceremony in honor of our Anniversary.

At 6pm we were met at the lobby by a gentleman who planned to perform a private ceremony in honor of our anniversary.  The Aman staff had arranged it for us so we had no idea what we were getting into.  We were ushered into a small space that had been prepared with floor cushions in a circle for six people.  In the center were three silver urns stacked together and filled with candles, flowers, bananas, rice  and other cakes in the shape of a pyramid.  Long fabric threads were placed in such a way that each of the six people could hold onto 2 ends and thereby be attached to everyone else in the circle.  On the side were 2 smaller urns filled with small arrangements of flowers and thread cut into short pieces.  We were introduced to the other people, who were familiar with the ceremony and there to assist .  The man explaining the ceremony told us that Baci, or Sou Khounan, is a pre-Buddhist ceremony performed on significant events such as our anniversary.

The ceremony itself lasted about 15 minutes and included prayers spoken in Lao while we held onto the long threads in the large urn.  While other prayers were said, two people tied the short threads onto our wrists.  Finally we were each presented with the small flower bouquets and told to place them at the head of our bed for additional blessings.  The purpose of the ceremony is to call back wondering spirits and charm them into staying and providing good health and protection.   The whole event was very touching and we did indeed feel honored.  Afterward, we had a drink and nice visit with the General Manager followed by a private dinner prepared for us poolside.  After dinner the chef came out to meet us and Mark remembered him from the Aman we had stayed at in Bhutan.   Apparently the higher up staff move around within the chain as needed.

Anyway, it was another end to another lovely day.  Tomorrow we fly to Bangkok and cool our heels there for 5+ hours before flying on to Myanmar.

I received only one response regarding my question about which three other countries are Communist besides Lao.  Thank you Rick Copeland.  You named too many countries, but did include the correct ones.  They are Vietnam, Cuba and China.

Good night everyone.  Sweet dreams.  Julia

Sunday, October 7

Amantaka, Luang Prabang, Laos

Good morning everyone,

We are at last in the heart of Laos, having arrived here yesterday afternoon from Bangkok.  The flight north through central Thailand and southern Laos was very revealing.  Over Thailand we saw miles of flat arable land full of cultivated fields.   Then the land began to change and we could see sporadic, steep, sandstone karst hills.  Gradually those gave way to more-rounded hills and low mountains covered with conifer trees with narrow valleys in the folds.  Several of the hills were terraced and planted, I later learned, with rubber trees provided by China.   Even from the air it was easy to appreciate the landlocked isolation of this small country.  The closest measurement I have so far is that it is 7 times the size of Switzerland.   We descended between the hills to land at Luang Prabang.   The airport was small and unimposing and the air was warm but not too hot and the humidity quite bearable.   Town and our hotel were close by.

Thankfully, no activities were planned for the rest of the day.  What a treat.  The Amantaka, one of several Aman Resorts we have enjoyed since our first experience during our honeymoon in Bali at the Amanwana, is not full.   So we were upgraded to a suite that includes a living room, private outdoor garden and pool.  We immediately ordered a poolside lunch, took a dip, read and napped the afternoon away.  It felt great to be treated so luxuriously.   Sorry you all could not be here with us—-not.

At 5pm we met our guide and went on a walking tour of the town and the evening market.  Luang Prabang, an ancient city that was the royal capital of the country until 1975 when the Communists ousted the last king and took over.  Travelers were not welcome until 1988 and the country remains undeveloped even now. It lies between the Mekong and the Khan Rivers, sports 33 Buddhist temple complexes, many crumbling French colonial buildings and at least 300 monks.   The town of 40,000 (hard to believe there are that many) is very laid back.  Even Vientiane, the capital of this small country of 7M, is very relaxed according to our guide.   Arriving here is like stepping back in time.  No wonder it became a UNESCO world heritage site in 1995.  The noise level is low, the traffic sparse, the crowds small, the architecture interesting and the scenery lush and lovely—our kind of place.   How have we managed not to learn about this gem sooner?  There are hardly any tourists and very few of those are American.

We walked for a couple of hours enjoying the people and taking photos of the friendly and accommodating locals.  The vendor stalls carried many items we have seen elsewhere in the world, but the layout was less crowded and hectic.  No one seemed anxious for us to buy.  There were many food vendors selling a wide variety of prepared, ready-to-eat meals.  Most of it looked very unappealing to us.  Our guide, Pon, confirmed that we should not eat any street food and admitted that he does not eat it either.  Arriving back at our hotel, we ate a small meal and headed for bed at 8pm.

Monday, October 8

Amantaka

Wide-awake at 1:30am, I decided to read more about the country and work on this blog.  We learned right away that Lao people call Laos Lao.  Apparently the French added the “s” to the word and it stuck everywhere, except in Lao.   The food here is a blend of Thai, Vietnamese and Chinese in flavor and in presentation.  It is typically very spicy as chili is applied generously.   So far we have liked everything we have eaten.

Due to the mountainous condition of the land and the lack of infrastructure, the Mekong River, which spends more time in Lao than in any other country, is the primary highway for transportation.   Lao is one of only 4 communist countries left in the world.  Can you name the other three?  This is a test. J  Let me know your answers via the comments section.   I will provide the answer in the next message—if I remember or you remind me.

I am about to provide a very brief history of Lao.  If this is not your cup of tea, skip the next few paragraphs.

The area was occupied by the Chinese in the 4^th and 5^th centuries.  Indian influence began to increase from the 8^th century and people slowly adopted Buddhism.  During the 11^th and 12^th centuries, the area was part of the Khmer Angkor Empire (Think Angkor Wat in Cambodia).   During this period Lao people originating from Thailand invaded and displaced the formerly dominant Chinese.  After the Khmer Empire collapsed in 1349, the independent kingdom of the Lan Xang was established and occupied the area now known as Laos.   This empire lasted 300 years until internal power struggles were exploited by next-door neighbors and finally Siam(Thailand) conquered Vientiane in 1779.

The 19^th century was chaotic politically with the Siamese dominating until the French arrived, after setting up a firm grip in Vietnam in the 1870’s.   Laos was part of French Indo-China until the 1950’s, except for the Japanese occupation during WWII.   Self-reliance was achieved in 1953 during the rule of King Sisavang Vong.   The kingdom survived guerilla warfare against the remaining French, the Vietnam War and the impact of US bombing.    Eventually the communists, under the banner Laos Peoples Democratic Republic (LPDR), became dominant and took over the country in 1975 with the abdication of the last king, the son of Sisavang Vong.

The Chinese failed to gain much influence and Laos became dependent on military and economic assistance from Vietnam.  In the late 1980 ‘s tensions with China relaxed, diplomatic relations were restored and trade agreements signed.  Gradually relations improved with Thailand and western countries.  A new constitution was adopted in 1991 and a National Assembly elected in 1992.  Financial reforms started as Laos looked to emulate the changes being made in its neighboring countries.  In 1995 the US ended sanctions, which had been in place since the communist takeover in 1975.   Unfortunately, the economic crisis of 1997 brought collapse to the value of the kip, the Laos unit of currency.  There has been little political advancement as the Communist Party continues to keep tight control.

It is now 5:30am and time to meet Pon to watch the daily walk of the monks as they pass around town collecting alms from the local people.   Pon set us up in his favorite spot in front of a boutique hotel, where we could get coffee and have a seat while we waited.   He brought bags of individually wrapped cakes for us to put into each monk’s pot.  According to Pon, the monks arise around 3:30am, dress, chant, meditate and clean their rooms before beginning their barefoot, silent, single-file walk through town.  They reached our location around 6am and Mark and I put a cake into each pot until we ran out.  I looked into the pots, rather commodious ones by the way, and saw balls of sticky rice, dollar bills and other wrapped cakes and cookies.   Every one of the monks was dressed in clean, pressed and well made saffron robes.  No one spoke or smiled, not even the small boys.   The only sound was the click of our cameras.  Even the many dogs hanging around were silent.  Apparently, it is compulsory for every Lao male to do a stint as a monk at some time during their life.  Most do it as children for a few days, weeks or months and then drop out.  Pon said he did it when he was 15 for 2 months.  He quickly decided it was not his calling.  He told us the monks combine what they collect, which is usually more than they need, and give the unused portions to the poor.  While they are collecting alms, other people are cooking a stew to put over the rice they receive.  Sounds like way too many hands touching the food to me, but he says, everyone uses clean hands and the monks do not get sick.

After the monks, all 300 of them, had passed by, we walked through the morning open-air market, which was more interesting than the evening one, we thought.  Rather than cooked foods, this market was for raw vegetables, meats and fish.   We saw many products we did not recognize and kept Pon busy identifying things.   One of my favorite displays was of live bullfrogs tethered together by their feet.  Looked like bunches of large Mexican jumping beans from a distance.   Again the sellers and buyers were relaxed and friendly.  By 7:15am we were back at Amantaka having breakfast by the hotel pool.  Nice.

So far the weather has been very comfortable—cool evenings and mornings, gradually getting hotter and stickier during the afternoon.  A slight overcast has kept much of the direct rays of the sun at bay and we have had, knock on wood, no rain.

After a short break, we met up with Pon and our driver, Don, again.   We drive the short distance to a jetty on the Mekong River and boarded a long boat for a ride up river to visit two caves.  The ride was quite pleasant, with a little breeze to keep the heat at bay, dense and lush tree cover rising up the hills on one side of the river, fertile farm land on the other and hazy larger hills in the distance.   The river was moving very fast and the boatman had to work the boat along the edge of one side or the other to get us upstream.  We learned that the river, which is still brown from recent rains, is low at the moment and will drop another 5+ meters before the rainy season starts again in March.  During the height of the rainy season in August, the river is nearly 30 meters higher than now.  Huge and dangerous is how I describe it.   Not a river to swim in.

The caves, when we reached them after 1½ hour, were very anticlimactic.   The first was very shallow and contained hundreds of old and rotting wooden sculptures alongside cheap, gold painted ones of Buddha figures in various sizes.  In ancient times, valuable Buddha sculptures had been left as offerings and many had precious gems and gold on them.  Needless to say, none of those were left and nowadays people leave garish, inexpensive statues instead.   The second cave was a bit more interesting than the first as we had to walk up over 200 steep steps to reach it and then walk into a dark cavern where we needed flashlights.  The statues were not quite as rotted out as in the first cave and there were bats hanging from the high cave ceiling.   Our assessment was that the boat ride was the best part of the excursion.  However, if you are Buddhist, this is a sacred place to visit.

We nearly flew downstream on the return leg.  About half way back, we disembarked at a tiny village that specializes in making whiskey.  We got to see a couple of distilleries in action and Mark bought 2 small bottles of some very high proof hooch.    It was fun to watch the rudimentary process being done outdoors on the banks of the Mekong.   The village was full of craft vendors all selling hand stitched textiles.  At the end of the village we met Don with our air-conditioned car at the ready.   Then began a pleasant drive through the dense greenery and several small villages back to town.   The dirt road was in good condition, but I can imagine it would be a royal mess during heavy rain.

Don and Pon dropped us off at a restaurant called the Blue Moon for lunch.  We sat on the terrace overlooking the street with an oscillating fan keeping us cool.  The food was very good and we had a delightful conversation with the owner-chef.  He was born in Lao and went to Switzerland when he was 19.  He spent many years there, went through cooking school and married a Swiss woman.  Eventually he came back to Lao to provide a dining experience that was missing from the regular Lao fare in most restaurants.  His idea is fusion—blending Lao and European cooking styles to make more interesting and new flavors.   We think he has succeeded.

Right around the corner from the Blue Moon is the National Museum, which was the next stop on our program.  The museum is actually the palace of the last kings who lived in it until 1975.  It is a 2-story affair with very large teak floored rooms filled with original furnishings.  The grandest space is the throne room, which contains the royal chair—a gold leafed affair that looks regal and uncomfortable.  The walls and ceiling are painted in a deep red color and inlayed with hand cut individually colored pieces of mirror in the shapes of people, boats, animals and other figures.  The figures tell many stories of life in the kingdom, from war to boat races and more.  It was hard to take it all in but the overall visual effect was quite lovely.   I went back for a second look. The royal garage contained a huge old Lincoln Continental not unlike one my parents had in the 70’s.

By now, we were hot and wanted to head for our pool.  We declined a visit to another temple—a first for me.  Mark wondered what happened to the real Julia.  For once I was glad to be able to say no, let’s stop and relax.    Bach at our suite by 3pm, we jumped into the pool and felt like hot rocks letting off steam.   That respite allowed me to write more.  Yet the day is not over.  At 5:30 we were off again to climb another set of 200+ steep steps to a golden stupa and a sunset view of Luang Prabang and the Mekong River.   The walk to the top was hot, the view hazy and the sunset a bust due to the cloud cover.   We took one photo and headed down.  At the bottom we found ourselves back at the night market we had walked through the night before.  We walked several streets window-shopping and people watching and eventually ended up at our dinner destination, a highly recommended restaurant called The Elephant.

Again we sat on an outdoor terrace and enjoyed good food—perhaps more traditional that the Blue Moon.  Anyway, I had a delicious watercress salad and frog legs.  Having seen them in the market I was definitely in the mood.  Eating frog legs always reminds me of my childhood when my brother and I would go frog spearing on the banks of a creek on a property we owned at the foot of the Sutter Buttes near Yuba City.  He would stand on one side and I on the other about 5 feet above the water’s edge.  The banks were vertical.  I could see the frogs on his side and he the same on my side.  We each had pitchforks with long handles and would motion to the other how to maneuver the fork so it was directly over a big frog.  Once in position we would jamb the spear straight down.   We got lots of frogs.  Mom cleaned them and we would watch as their bodies, she cooked the backs along with the legs for the extra meat, jumped around on the frying pan.  Don’t mean to gross you all out.  Those are fond memories for my family.

Took a pleasant took-took ride home and dove into bed about nine after having stayed up all day.

Dear Friends,

It has been many months since I last made an entry in this blog and I am feeling very rusty.   However, I will do my best to regain my blog legs, so to speak.

We are leaving this Friday, October 5 for Laos and Myanmar (formerly Burma).   We will spend 4 days on our own in Luang Prabang, Laos, then travel on to Myanmar via Bangkok.   Once we arrive in Yangon, we will join an Asia Transpacific Journies group for two weeks and then continuing on our own for another 10 days, visiting places not on the group itinerary.  We return home on November 2.

If all goes as expected, those of you who signed up to receive Adventures with Julia any time in the past, will receive this message as you did previous travel messages.

Several of you have asked me to be somewhat briefer and speak more about our feelings and thoughts than the ordinary travelogue.  I will try to comply.  As you all know, I am naturally wordy and not so good at expressing feelings.

This message is to give you a heads up and drive out the rust.

Happy Autumn and Halloween to all.  We will see you in November, All Soul’s Day,

Julia