Like yesterday, today I basically walked around Luang Prabang seeing what I could see, an activity that took up basically my day. It started with the National Museum of Luang Prabang on the site of the former royal palace. As strange as it might seem from my pictures, Luang Prabang was once the capital of Laos, an independent, albeit weak, city state, and the capital of the powerful Kingdom of Lan Xang Hom Khao or the Kingdom of "Million Elephants and White Parasols". The Royal Palace was actually a very livable building, the King still had a gold throne in a room covered in mirrored mosaics depicting Lao life (that I couldn’t take a picture of) true, but most of the building while very comfortable was a place I could actually see raising a family. I then walked around and visited several different temples, or wats (hence the pun). While some were more impressive than others all were pretty cool. What is nice is that most were functional religious sites. They had real monks who did real rituals for real worshippers. While this is something most Americans take for granted, China in particular is famous for having tourist trap temples with fake (not ordained) monks preaching to people who don’t believe any of the theology but want to look cool. The smart people in Luang Prabang, tourists and locals, wear slip on sandals because Lao tradition dictates that you can’t wear shoes anywhere respectful, like wats or people’s homes. I spent a good bit of my day tying and uniting my shoes. I also didn’t relize how hard it is to walk barefoot until I had to do a lot. I basically hobbled around the temples thanks to my flat feet. Finally I crossed the bamboo bridge by my hotel (since Luang Prabang actually has two bamboo bridges). While there is really nothing on the other side of much interest crossing the bridge itself was a cool experience. I think across the bridge is where the actual Lao people live, the little bit I saw looked like a developing nation not a weird tourist destination. Consequently, the bridge is actually used by real Lao people during the six months a year it is standing (the current are too strong in the rainy season to support the bridge). While the Lao residents cross for free the tourists pay to support the bridge, though the toll is about 5,000 Lao Kip or about 0.61USD at time of writing. I also got to try more of the Lao food, curry for lunch and beef larb for dinner. I really like the curry, it was that kind of coconuty Thai curry taste but a bit more watery. Larb is a beef based meat salad, though it can be made with other meats or fish, which is considered the unofficial official national dish of Laos. Basically it is heavily spiced hamburger with bean sprouts and mint. I kind of like it but I don’t think it is a dish I would eat regularly. The Lao people apparently agree with me on because, according to the Official Lao Airlines Magazine, is eaten on mostly special occasions. If I was a body builder or a hard core believer in the Atkins diet I would love larb, it is basically all meat with just enough vegetables to stay healthy. The restraunts here continue to amaze me. They all serve basically the same massive Western/pan-Asian/Lao menu; in one of two locations, the main drag or by the Mekong River; with one of two price points, more expensive main drag and cheaper Mekong River; and one of two opening hours, main drag actually open hours or Mekong Lao almost never open. I like the ones by the River a bit more since I can watch the sun set over the Mekong with my dinner, which is nice.
I forgot, today is Christmas and the anniversary of my Torah portion (Vayeshev). The most Christmas here is some decorations at the super touristy places, and a “Marry Christmas” from a person I met in Vietnam, a Luxemburgish guy who I had a conversation with because my hat, and a friend from ECNU. There must be another Jew in this city but I would be surprised if there is more than that. While Chabad has gone far Luang Prabang, Laos is still a bit out of their reach. Just for the record, the year I am studying abroad in China is the first year in some time I haven’t had Chinese food on Christmas.
1 Comment
Dad
12/24/2016 10:03:34 pm
And we too will not have Chinese food for Christmas this year. There are so many Jews in Norther NJ (the antithesis of Laos) that we could not get a reservation at any decent Chinese restaurant. We will be dining of Thai food, instead.
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AuthorI am a junior at Juniata College spending a year studying abroad at East China Normal University. Please feel free to join my on my journey to China and beyond. Archives
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