Luang Prabang
Backpackers have discovered
the “best preserved
city in southeast Asia”. So, is Luang Prabang going
to become the new Chiang Mai? Kate Crockett visits northern Laos
to find out.
At 6.30am around ten Buddhist monks pass through the gates of
Wat Saen temple, forming a single-file line on the main street.
Shortly, more monks, from the very old to the very young, emerge
through the gates to join the line, and beyond them, another group
are working their way up the hill towards Wat Saen. Within minutes,
the trail of shaven monks in varying shades of saffron stretches
as far as the eye can see.
The sun begins to rise, illuminating the monks' robes and the line
begins to inch forward. There is a flurry of cameras going off.
A few paces along Sisavangvong Road a line of men and women are
kneeling on reed mats on the pavement, each with a basket of cooked
rice. As the monks pass by each visitor places a ball of rice into
the alms bowls.
This remarkable scene of monks collecting alms is one of the things
that attracts visitors to the beautiful city of Luang Prabang in
northern Laos. With more than 30 working temples, every morning
at sunrise a flood of saffron engulfs this tiny city as the monks
collect their offerings, against a backdrop of magnificent colonial
French and traditional Lao architecture.
Luang Prabang has been described by Unesco as the “best-preserved
city in southeast Asia” on account of the original French and
Lao buildings still standing. The city is listed as a world-heritage
site and extensive restoration of its important historic structures
is in full swing, with the Unesco team basing themselves in the
magnificent former Customs House, beyond Wat Saen, near the confluence
of the Mekong and the Nam Khan rivers.
Next door to the Customs House is Luang Prabang's most celebrated
temple, Wat Xieng Thong, with its sweeping golden roofs, elaborate
decoration and horde of Buddhist relics. Not only do the magnificent
buildings and serene grounds make for a pleasant morning's exploring,
but here you can also catch a glimpse of the daily lives of the
monks who live within the temple grounds. Saffron robes flutter
on washing lines and young monks practice shaving one another's
heads.
A walk through some of the back alleys of Luang Prabang, off Sisavangvong
Road, reveals the extensive restoration going on — almost every
building has either been revived or is being given a new lease of
life. Armies of local workmen and women are employed in plastering
and painting buildings and repairing roads.
A cultural revival is also taking place in the city. Young Buddhist
monks are being trained in the artistic skills needed to maintain
the temples and to carve and paint Buddha images, a practice that
stopped in 1975. In the grounds of the Royal Palace Museum the conference
hall has recently started hosting the reformed Royal Ballet, which
was also disbanded during the revolu-tion in the seventies. While
performances aren't quite polished yet, it's a chance to see the
young people of Luang Prabang revive their country's forgotten traditional
arts.
Outside the Royal Palace, the Hmong market sets up as the sun goes
down: the women of the local hill tribes spread out an array of
fabrics and needlework for sale. If the temple gates are the place
to be at sunrise, the summit of nearby Phousi Mountain is the place
for sunset, with its excellent view of the city and the surrounding
hills.
Sunset at Phousi attracts the majority of foreign visitors at least
once during their stay and is a chance to see just how many people
have discovered this quaint Laos city — the summit is heaving
with tourists. Down below, there is a growing number of internet
cafes and even an up-market Western-style bakery in the town, highlighting
this boom in visitor numbers.
But, who can blame them? Just as Chiang Mai was the frontier for
backpackers in south-east Asia, Luang Prabang is now enchanting
them with its relaxed lifestyle, friendly local people and its fascinating
mix of orient and occident.
Text & Photos: Kate Crockett
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