C&J's Travels: Luang Prabang Day 18

So we decided to skip the 26hour bus journey from Hanoi to Luang Prabang and flew instead. Our flight was slightly delayed by Vietnam Air, but they let us know the day before the flight that they time had changed and it suited us better so we weren't complaining. And when we got to the airport we were given a free lunch, so we were pretty happy about the time change. We are never going to say no to some free pho :)
Flying into LP you get to see the beautiful mountains of Laos and even from the plane you can see that Laos is going to be a lot more relaxed than Vietnam was. Flying into HCMC was like flying into an ants nest with all the bikes and people but flying into LP it's more mountains and green spaces. This is exactly what we want to see after 2 weeks of crazy Vietnam and I could already see that I'm going to love it.
As we arrived in LP and went through passport control I had the immigration officer staring at me for about a minute not saying anything. I started getting nervous that something was wrong with my visa only for him to say "you are very beautiful!!" lol first time I have ever been picked up in passport control. A pretty interesting place to pick up men, but hey.
We didn't have anywhere to stay in LP but had read that there are tons of places behind Joma bakery so we decided to make our way there. Once we got the bakery the aircon and fruit shakes sounded to good to miss so we decided to sit down for a bit. Little did we know we will be visiting Joma quite a bit in the trip....They are pretty much like a Laos starbucks, the food was good and they were about 2 mins from our hotel so it was a convenient breakfast stop!
Anyway we eventually ended up at Somjith guesthouse the main selling point being the balconies...although LP was so hot that I don't think we used it once. But the room was good and cheap and the place is family run so it was a good choice.
After settling in we headed out for something to eat and ended up at Saffron cafe. One thing about LP is the number of bakeries/cafes around. Because it was a french colony at one point there is still quite a strong french presence which means a number of cafes, good coffee and loads of baguettes. I suppose it's not really a true reflection of Laos but they are awesome after a couple of weeks of Asian food. We got a great salad and wrap which was exactly what we needed. Jeremy even went as far as to say its one of the best salads he has ever had...but I think that might just be the lack of salads talking ;)
We headed off for a walk around town and happened across a temple with some monks doing their prayers. It was a pretty awe inspiring thing to hear, about 20 or so voices chanting in a temple in front of you that is glistening and glowing in the sun that is setting over the mekong behind you.
We couldn't miss the sunset so headed over to the river for a sundowner, a sight we saw quite a bit in LP but one I never tired of.
We then decided to walk around the town a bit and check out the Laos new year celebrations. Unfortunately for us we had just missed the main bit of the new year where everyone is out on the streets spraying each other with water. It sounds like it would be an amazing thing to have seen and I wish we had planned that a bit better! But oh well. We went to the main temple where they have a buddha statue. Everyone then takes water and pours it in big gutters which then pours the water over the buddha statue. There are also monks around the temple that have bracelets and flowers etc that people seem to buy. All the while there are monks chanting, and people praying. The mixture of the incense,chanting and perfumed water makes for a very spiritual atmosphere. It made me really interested in the religion as there are so many symbolic rituals and customs which makes it fascinating.
After seeing this I did some research and found here:
Water is for washing homes, Buddha images, monks, and soaking friends and passers-by. Students first respectfully pour water on their elders, then monks for blessings of long life and peace, and last of all they throw water on each other. The water is perfumed with flowers or natural perfumes. Some people prefer flowers in the water to give a pleasant smell, as well as adding cologne/perfume. The idea of watering came from the legend of King Kabinlaphom, whose seven daughters kept his severed head in a cave. The daughters would visit their father's head every year and perform a ritual to bring happiness and good weather.
In late afternoon or evening of the last day, in the temples, the Buddha images are moved back to their permanent homes. On that same evening devotees go to wats to listen to the monks chanting as an act to ask for forgiveness from the monks as well as from the Buddha images for what they did (pouring water on them) in this past few days that might have accidentally touched them (monks and Buddha are not to be touched). After that, a vien tien – a candlelight procession – takes place around the wat and that is the end of the Lao New Year celebration.
One thing we did notice straight off is that Laos is a lot more conservative than Thailand and Vietnam. They request the ladies not to walk around in Bikini tops and men can't walk barechested. It is also frowned upon to show affection in public. I think this is probably due to the strong religious presence.
I ended up buying a longer skirt as I felt uncomfortable at the temples, especially during the new year rituals, in my shorts.
It definitely makes for a change from Thailand and Vietnam's sex industries and girls in short skirts...but its definitely not a bad thing! Although all that goes out the window once you get to Vang Vieng, but that we will talk about in another post.
Candice