I really am quite in love with this place and I am sure you would like it too. Luang PraBang is a very tastefully developed backwater that isn't too touristy yet. There aren't the crowds, the tat is minimal and the bars/restaurants seem inviting without having someone attack you on the street to come in to buy their food. You are never hassled.
This evening we hit the night market where I was expecting to choose my food from a stall and eat it standing up in the street. Instead, there was a pleasant plaza with hawker stalls equal to or better than those in Singapore. The food choice was limited but the ambiance was chill. On the next table to ours an old stray dog got the pickings from the meal shared at the table. Children were out playing around the tables. It all seemed very natural. A mixture of locals and tourists shared the area.
I promised myself that I would buy nothing to take home on my travels and last night I weakened my resolve. I now need to find room for a snake and an egg in my luggage. When I was near the White Temple in Chiang Rai I saw a really beautiful jacket that fitted perfectly but didn't buy it as it meant more to carry. I do regret not getting it as it was so nice though. This time I fell off the wagon and it was difficult to resist buying more. I really will have to return here with an empty suitcase sometime in the future and buy cushion covers, table runners, bags, trousers, wooden bowls...
Besides the original crafts there are more than enough temples and ample stuppas to go round. We visited the one at the top of the hill in the main part of town. The views stretch over the city area and across to the mountains. These views really are quite breath-taking. Because the city is so small, we bumped into the passengers from the boat - a reunion of new - old friends on top of the hill and in the local cafe. Transient good friends now connected by a shared boat trip and whatsapp!
Typical of being English, we spend too much time playing with words. So being in a Buddhist country with Hindu influences, there are stuppas aplenty. Being in a stupour could be the result of Lao Beer or the popular local rice whisky.. I have been by too many stuppas to count but not yet in a stupour, to date. One big question that has stupified me about this place is how there is such a strong Sinhalese influence in the religious architecture which dates back to the 1500s.
If the Sri Lankans had got to this area, they would have had to either come up the Mekong or travelled over sea and then overland through Thailand. What was it that made the locals adopt this style and why were these intruders / invaders such a strong influence? Nothing in the temple descriptions explains this at all.
Another thing that is hard to explain is why the national artifacts are on display for such a short time each day. We arrived at the National museum and palace around 11:15 to find it closing at 11:30 and then opening at 16:00 and closing again at 16:30. It says on the sign that these are the closed-open times. This is probably an accurate description. We even got locked in the grounds without realising that everything gets locked up, including all but one gate. I narrowly missed my opportunity to be a living artifact.
I am on the loose and ready for the next part of the trip. The bus is arriving any time now.
Be good... Christmas is nearly here.. Love you,
XXX
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