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עברית
January 22, 2007
In the early morning hours we went sailing on a long tail boat toward the Pak Ou Caves north to Luang Prabang.
Villages on islands on the way to the caves
On the way we stopped in one of the villages for a fifteen minutes and arrived in the caves after an hour and a half. There are two caves in the compound which are not so special. We got out of there after half an hour, visited two more villages and came back to Luang Prabang at noon. The price for this boat tour, not including entrance to the caves (10,000 kip) is $5 USD.
In the first village we visited we were offered an alcohol bottle with a surprise inside. This surprise came in a form of black scorpions and various snakes. According to locals belief they are supposed to give special virtues to those who drink it. The price was not expensive but I skipped the idea of buying one.
In the village are fabrics shops and different items, turkeys which are not common in that area, a man making a fish net, monks working in a construction site and a small girl feeding her baby brother.
Pak Ou Caves
We continued sailing to the Pak Ou Caves. There’s a nice viewpoint from the top cave over the area. At the entrance along the stairs, small girls stand with small bird cages and sell the right to release the bird out of its cage. It’s a cruel action because even after the bird is released, another one will take its place and be used as another for different tourists. You shouldn’t encourage them buy releasing the birds because nothing good will come out of it.
There are two caves. A lower and an upper one and lots of stairs in between. Inside the caves are various statues and a small shrine. The caves are small and so the time required to see them both is little. Most of the time is wasted on climbing the stairs. When you get to the top one, you can get into a small crypt to get a better view of the river.
Villages on the way back to Luang Prabang
On the way back from the caves, the boat stopped in another village. Weavers’ village. Women weave silk fabrics in old machines. This village was small so there’s wasn’t much to do in it. A goat that was tied in the entrance to the village was not pleased when I started taking his pictures.
The National Museum in Luang Prabang
I still had half a day free in Luang Prabang so I entered the National Museum. It’s located right in the center. You don’t have to pay to get in the compound. Inside you can see an art exhibition for free and also see a film about this city. There’s also a temple and a statue of the king. The museum itself looks pretty small. Entrance price of 20,000 kip to the small museum gave me a good reason to pass. Inside the museum you’re not allowed to take any photo, but outside I found an evasive lizard hiding in the bushes.
In the museum’s compound there’s a temple covered with gold. Entrance is free for all.
Walking by foot in the city
Since I was denied from renting a motorcycle, and a bicycle looked to me more like a nuisance than a transportation tool in such a small city, I decided to go by foot between the alleys of Luang Prabang and along the river. Looking back, it was a really good and recommended idea.
Monks are coloring the streets in orange with their special costumes. The afternoon hours are an excellent timing to watch them walking in the streets. Many of them are young, aged 13 to 18. You can look over the Mekong River from the main road andand see children playing in the water and the landscape of the rural houses at the other side of the river.
Suicide tales of monks
I climbed to one of the temples. It was a tiring climb because of the dozens of stairs in a steep slope, like in other temples in the city. Inside you can see more monks and go to a nicer viewpoint over the area. The young monks actually enjoy talking to foreigners. One monk, sixteen years old, told me he wants to kill himself by jumping off a temple because his girlfriend left him a month ago for someone else. It was a little weird to hear in light of my knowledge on monks, but he was probably still a student.
I had lunch in an Indian restaurant called Nazim which is a network of restaurants all over Laos and Thailand. The food was nice, but there’s a group of small girls hanging around, selling bracelets and necklaces. They are asking tourists to buy stuff in a really annoying way, so if you choose the wrong way and decide to give them some attention, you might be bothered for up to twenty minutes. During that time I learned that a bracelet’s price can go down from 10,000 kip to 1,000 kip (10 cents). Eventually I didn’t buy anything, so they will not get the feeling that bothering other people is worth the effort.
Wat Chomsi Temple
I continued from there to the Wat Chomsi temple, which is located on the top of the mountain Phousi (also called Phu Si) to watch the sunset over the city. This place is attracting tourists and photographers with professional cameras from all over the world. They come at 5:30 PM to photograph the landscape and the sunset. In order to get to the top there’s a rough climb of hundreds of stairs. There’s a fee of 10,000 kip that you have to pay to get inside. After climbing you have to wait until the sunset starts. the sun goes down right behind the top of one of the mountains, a beautiful sight. The viewpoint over the surrounding area is not bad either. You can see the Mekong river, the National Museum, and the entire city of Luang Prabang from a panormaic angle of 360 degrees.
Wat Chomsi is located right at the top. This is where I found an amazing rare butterfly. I’m not sure what it was doing there, but it became an attraction for quite a few travelers.
Amazing sunset
After waiting half an hour, the big moment came. The sunset was amazingly beautiful and breath taking. The sun goes down right into the mountain in front of the viewpoint, creating an amazing sight. Professional photographers come with their huge cameras here to take a picture of this event every evening.
A couple from Japan who sat on a rock watching the sunset, created another perfect postcard. That was one of the most magnificent sunsets I’ve ever seen.
During the sunset I met a small puppy that probably lived there. He had a bell tied to his neck just like they’re doing to cows. His teeth were still growing, which caused him to bite and play with everything that moved.
While talking to monks who climb this mountain every Sunday, I found out that they have to wake up every day at 4:00 AM. Every morning they go to the temple to pray until 7:00 to 8:00 AM. Then they have English studies for about an hour, which explains the relatively high level of their English. After studying they go to work in the rice fields around the area.
After the sunset came the twilight.
It was getting really late and the stairs were completely dark. I switched my flashlight on, and we went down with the monks back to the night market, which was already full with tourists and merchants.
This article was originally written in Hebrew. It was translated to English at a later time.
English
