A Southeast Asian journey while uni is out. Part Five: Luang Pabang

Waterfalls

Eleven years ago I loved the quiet pace of Luang Prabang, its networked corner on the Mekong river and it's sleepy bars and restaurants. 2019 and my thoughts have not changed. The pace is almost rural and the temples, markets and people are still a delight.

Part of our project phase involved a visit to the Kuang Si sanctuary which is set within the waterfall zone.

The waterfalls cascade over limestone ledges in a pale blue that contrasts with the emerald fig trees in a true artist's pallet of colours. But being so beautiful attracts attention, some of it unwanted, bikini clad westerners, sunscreens and perfumes, Southeast Asian women with an inbuilt desire to wash their hair in a waterfall and litter!

But I don't let eco-anxiety creep in here, I don my less skimpy bikini, skip lightly into the cold water and ... ahhh ... lay back and let the fish nibble on my trek calloused feet while I try to ignore the squealing kids, the babel of foreign languages and the students trying to get me to spill the beans on my love life ... oh! If only they knew.

It was hard to draw myself away from such a wonderful place, let alone the students, but there was one thing we all had to do before the journey home and we took our inspiration from Vietnam ... that's right ... pose in our matching banana outfits!

Monks and Alms

Dawn in Luang Prabang is a spiritual part of the day and it begins with the purchase of sticky rice in a small woven basket. As the sun rises in the humid sky, orange clad monks walk in procession to collect alms. The procession is led by the more senior monks and ends with the younger students. All carry their own large bowls, and handful by handful, you place sticky rice into their bowls. This food will sustain them for the day. One dreads to think how easily a common cold or stomach bug would spread with such a practice ensuring that the food is well handled before it is eaten!

We were not too practiced at pacing our rice donations and by the second temple of monks we had run dry ... but I guess the monks knew tourists had no concept and blinked not an eye at us.

At the very end of the procession poverty stricken children collect, hands open to the monks, to receive food that they cannot afford to buy.

Markets

Six a.m. sees the opening of the morning market; fresh fruits and veggies, slabs of meat, fish, lotus flowers, herbs, spices and chillies. This is more of a locals market, restaurant owners and hotelliers buying the day's ingredients including bucket loads of noodles and vermicelli.

Dogs make full use of the market street too, hoovering up food scraps and protecting the stall they have chosen as their own. Cats are seen too, but they are less obvious amongst the kaleidoscope of fresh goods that lie across the vendor's tables.

The 300 metre strip of alleyway used for the morning market is bustling for only a few hours before the day's supply shop is over and vendors pack up and move off, but it is enough time to buy a fruit smoothie - mango, pineapple, dragon fruit and lime (that is my favourite). There was one morning morsel i simply could not bring myself to try though (and not even photograph) it was so grim .... laterally sliced, barbequed rat on a stick!

Evening brings a coolness to the muggy Mekong air that is a welcome break to the harmful sun. From the top of Phasi Hill the glow of the red, blue and white tents of the night market guide us down from our sundown show and lure us towards shopping with coconut pancakes as appetizers.

The night markets are full of colour and mass produced scarves, bags, slippers and baggy trousers that we Westerners just cannot resist buying.
A half kilometre section of road is barricaded off vendors have laid down tarps beneath tents on both pedestrian pavements and down the centre of the road.

Cross legged or on tiny stools, they sit amongst paintings, bowls, hair accessories and table ornaments, wind chimes singing in the breeze, bartering the order of the evening. 

Tips for Erasmus students:

• Use all that travel time on buses, trains, planes and boats to keep learning ... put the music aside and start listening to podcasts ... my favourite three are Malcolm Gladwell's Revisionist History, Hidden Brain by NPR and TED radio hour. 
• There are also lots of free learning apps to make full use of including Khan Academy, Udemy, Edex, Coursera and if course Duo Lingo for learning new languages. 

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Photo gallery