Luang Prabang, Laos
Early trip to airport to join Bangkok Airways flight to Laos. It was on time and I got to Luang Prabang at 1pm, got my visa on arrival ($30 for 15 days) and checked into the Sayo Guest House in the center of town. It is slightly overpriced ($25 a night .. it would be $12 in Thailand) for a large room with all mod cons in the former servants’ quarters at the rear of the colonial style house (rooms in the main house $35 to $40). I spent nearly a week in Luang Prabang last year and my main purpose in coming here this time was to catch the boat which takes two days upriver on the MekongRiver to Thailand. I booked this on Saturday morning .. only $170 because they have so few takers on what they consider the return trip …. It is $300 plus a $50 single supplement coming downriver from Thailand to Laos.
One of the treats of Luang Prabang is to have drinks at sunset along the MekongRiver .. I followed this by dinner at a smart restaurant .. Coleurs … had an interesting stew of local vegetables and mushrooms. The food is not as spicy as in Thailand but the flavours are intense.
Went to the Bakery Bar (where my friend Gary worked last year). It is now a sports bar and there was a raucous crowd watching the Chelsea vs Barcelona football game. After the game conversation started. A black man from Trinidad (Andrew) was hoping to teach English in Laos .. I suspect he does not realize how difficult it is to get a work permit. We talked with other people there …. The big game seems to be (1) establish that you are not a tourist but a traveler … (2) have been to more countries (and to more obscure places within those countries) than the other party and (3) have been on the road for longer than anyone else there – 2 years at least. Boys will be Boys …..
Before you reach for your pen or computer to sort me out, I admit that I am not immune from this Travel Bore Syndrome. My friend Ken Johnson used to say to me “Continent dropping again, dear?’ when I started spouting all the places I’d been. Perhaps seeing these extreme cases of the Syndrome will make me hold back a little in future.
I walked around town and noticed many changes compared with a year ago. There are many more Internet shops and tour offices and fewer places selling the things local people need. Perhaps most alarming is that the colourful local Dara market is closed for redevelopment. The old building appears to be under restoration but somehow I fear that the new improved market will be selling tourist trinkets instead of barbed wire and agrochemicals. Closing the market also means that many of the quiet corners of the town are now taken over by the tribal people selling handicrafts (they used to be located one the fringes of Dara Market).
My favourite spot, a small park where the two rivers converge was a delightful place last year but now has lots of stalls selling textiles and tourist crap. I did manage to find a quiet spot to write up my journal only to be interrupted by a young man (16 years old) who seemed plausible enough at first until I realized it is the same story I have been hearing in that part of the world for years. Claimed to be a novice in a nearby temple until a week ago when the head monk threw him out because his family did not send food or money (a Thai friend later told me this is most unlikely). Anyway, he was looking for someone to pay for his English lessons… father dead, mother in remote village 3 hours away .. not enough to eat (but I note he had all the most up to date clothing and a cell phone). I finally got rid of him. I am not saying there were not con artists last year, just that I did not encounter any …
Perhaps it was not my day.. my sunset drink was ruined by a party of 10 senior age Germans arguing about how to divide the meager bill for their Cokes and drinking water. A young Australian couple sitting near me were getting angry because these people were disturbing the peace and quiet and also blocking the view of the sunset as half of them stood around the table arguing. Finally I exercised my schoolboy German and said ‘Sitzen Sie sich, Bitte (Seat down … Please). One man came over to me as if to start an argument when the young Australian fellow made his views known in more forceful terms, supporting me. The German scampered and they sat down but still ignored the sunset .. their tour guide finally came and led them away. I thought of Noel Coward’s song ..
Why do the wrong people travel?
Travel they say improves the mind,
An irritating platitude
Which frankly, entre nous
Is very far from true.
Personally I’ve yet to find
That longitude and latitude
Can educate those scores
Of monumental bores
Who travel in groups and herds and troupes
Of various breeds and both sexes, till the whole world reels
To shouts and squeals
And the click of Rolliflexes.
Why do the wrong people travel When the right people stay back home?
Noel Coward (from Sail Away)
By the way, this roadside restaurant is part of the Boungnosang Guest House – my favourite spot for sunset drinks and the best spring rolls ever! Not greasy, paper thin pastry, tasty veggie filling … and less than a dollar for a ample portion of three spring rolls.
Dinner at the Elephant .. a posh French restaurant near the Villa Santi. Unfortunately they have scrapped the Laotian meals they had last year and it now seems to feature meat in various forms including wild game (deer, wild boar). The highlight was the watercress soup .. it was such a deep green colour that I suspected additives but when I saw it in the market next day I realised it was genuine and recalled that this part of Laos is known for its watercress. I followed it with spicy sausages …. The place was packed with tourists living it up .. while dear by local standards (main course US $8 to $12) it seems cheap for the French in particular .. the quality and atmosphere are excellent.
Drinks in the evening at Nao’s Place (previously the Bakery Bar). The police now insist on 11pm closing. So I got home early and in good shape to join the boat tour next morning.
The fine print
Date of travel : March 2005
Country information : https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/la.html