The heart of Laos: Luang Prabang. Royal capital and seat of government until the communists took over in 1975, Luang Prabang retains its romantic atmosphere, magnificent wats, French provincial architecture and surrounding natural beauty. Walking the streets of the old town you can understand why the entire city is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. You can’t go more than a block without seeing a wonderfully aged temple. Not to fall into a cliché, but most temples are like fine wine: they get even better with age. The mosses and water marks seem to bring out all the character that these majestic structures naturally possess.

The temples are also an integral part of daily life. Hundreds of monks collect alms of sticky rice at dawn. They are always present on the streets or on temple grounds where they study, teach, sweep, garden and work. While we were hesitant at first about interacting, since we don’t know all the rules and etiquette, we found that especially the young monks are often excited to chat a bit when they have free time. One afternoon we had a great talk with a sweet 18 year old boy who had finished his morning duties and was sitting looking out at the river near a temple on Mt. Phou Sí.

This 300-ft hill is a major feature of the town. The views from the top are amazing, as are the sunsets. On the ascent from the old town side is a giant Bodhi tree (the type under which Buddha attained enlightenment), a gift from India, wrapped in colorful ribbons and with offerings around the base. At the top is Wat Chom Si with its gilded stupa taking center stage. Wat Tham Phou Si is halfway down the other side of the hill. There is also a large cave with some statues and another containing an indentation said to be Buddha’s footprint at Wat Phra Buddabhat. The grotto containing the footprint is reached by crossing a passageway with a black naga (dragon) at one end and a white one at the other.

We stayed a short walk from the main tourist area of town. Our guesthouse had only been open for about a month or so and it showed. The wood was beautiful, as in most places in Laos. There was a little sawdust on the floor in the bathroom which added to the charm, even though it seemed to be generated by critters in the walls. Our section of town had more of a local feel than the other side of Mt. Phou Si, with small shops selling everything imaginable, untranslated eateries and some government and non-profit offices. It wasn’t long before we found a favorite spot for our morning khao soi spicy noodles and strong Lao coffee with condensed milk. One of our favorite temples was right across the street, and we spent a lovely late afternoon just watching people pass until some young boys started up a game of rattan ball. Donny was quick to be included, and language was no obstacle to the enjoyment of the game. A while later, some older guys arrived, and switched things over to soccer. (Donny scored two goals!) One of our best memories of Luang Prabang was formed as the sun went down behind the temple and I sat with the baby brother too little to play while we watched the big boys run around. Two monks in their bright orange robes watched from the terrace of a hall by the opposite goal.

Another day, with too many activities to choose from, we strolled down Sisavangvong with all of its restaurants and tour booking companies, trying to sort out the best options. We had skipped any elephant visit while in Thailand because we hadn’t found any that seemed to be exclusively trying to benefit the elephants. We had read about The Elephant Village in that round of research, and found their office with a little luck. This was our opportunity to get close to the amazing giants and we grabbed it. The elephants at the village are all retired from logging or rescued from abusive conditions on the street. They arrived there either after being bought from the owner or in some cases being brought in by an owner or mahout who couldn’t afford the upkeep once logging jobs became scarce. The animals have a comparably light work-load compared to their previous 12 hour work days. Each day the elephants take visitors for a short ride through the jungle and later get a bath. The bath consisted of riding the elephant into the Nam Khan river (with its mahout), and then scrubbing the elephant’s head, neck and ears as she sat in the river. Sometimes the elephant was bathing us more than being bathed: every so often it used its trunk and threw water back over its head soaking everyone nearby! All and all it was an awesome experience spending time with these incredible creatures. The day was capped off with a visit to Tad Sae waterfall for a dip in the cold waters. This was one moment to be thankful it was wet season, as during the dry season they falls are totally dry!

Another highlight of our visit to Luang Prabang was volunteering at The Big Brother Mouse literacy program. The program is based here, and we spent one morning practicing English conversation with local students. All of the students were there on their own volition and on this day, all were studying in the local university. Most had notebooks with tons of notes from previous sessions and a few had workbooks with plenty of vocabulary practice exercises. We talked about were we were from, favorite foods and our families. The students were very eager to ask questions about why certain words were pronounced a certain way or why some words have an “s” at the end to make it plural and why others do not. This was quite an exercise for us, attempting to explain things in simple terms while not always knowing the exact reason ourselves. A simple “because” was definitely not going to cut it. Most of the students were from other parts of the country, and the only ones their family could afford to send to school. Big Brother Mouse’s mission is to get books into the hands of kids in rural areas who may not otherwise ever have a book of their own.

We spent the rest of the afternoon visiting the National Museum, set on the grounds of the Royal Palace, built in 1904 to house the Royal Family. There were lots of treasures from the days of the monarchy, some interesting gifts from other countries’ leaders, and the former King’s car collection in a side building. Another building had some good exhibits on different ethnic groups in Laos, native medicine, beliefs and natural resources. The evening market is set up in the late afternoon, and features handicrafts made by the Hmong. On one end is an awesome evening food market, where we indulged in something from several of the stalls: papaya salad, fresh spring rolls, grilled meats and of course the obligatory cold Beer Lao. The end of several days was a Lao coffee shake, a blend of strong Lao coffee, condensed milk and ice.

Even after almost a week, there was so much more we wanted to see and do. We negotiated with a boatman, and crossed the river on our last day and wandered past a number of initially hard-to-find temples. The highlight was just beyond Wat Tham Xiengmaen, where two young girl guides held the keys to a pretty deep, damp cave housing a bunch of statues and shrines among the stalagtites. There was not a single other tourist on this side of the river, and we really felt “out there.” Luckily our boat captain came back just when he said he would, and we got back across the river before the rain came.

The Traditional Arts and Ethhnology Center, Pak Ou Caves, Kuang Si and other waterfalls, river trips and so much more will have to wait until our next Laos trip…

Photos can be viewed HERE.