Laos - Vientiane & Luang Prabang 22nd - 28th March

VIENTIANE

Finally we have arrived....it has taken us 4 days of flights and popping into cities to get here from the Cook Islands Auckland, Sydney, Singapore - brilliant fun for us all to see Freddie who has changed so much in two months - not to mention a mani pedi with Aunty Ems for the girls birthdays. We spent last night in a grotty airport hotel in Kuala Lumpur before catching a very early flight to Vientiane. We were met by our guide, Souk, and driven through the temple filled streets to our pad in the centre of town, we are back to crazy temperatures......35 degrees today! Tomorrow we are off at 0830 to explore the town.

0500 waiting for transport to the airport... after not quite enough sleep!

The pool, Clara cut herself badly just below the knee on one of the sharp edges in the pool so that meant today was a chill out day....would have been anyway!!!

Great Aunt Jilly arrived before lunch who is joining us for the final leg of our term out trip..

Amy enjoying me taking pictures with Clara bandaged up in the background

King Setthethirat presiding over his temple

Our first temple of the day - which was commissioned by King Setthethirat in the 16th century when he moved the capital from Luang Prabang down here to Vientiane.

Ready to head in to the temple gates with Clara getting used to her new mode of transport.

The cloister around the edge of the main temple. This is where visiting monks and novices would sleep

hmm, don't really understand this picture, as senior monks have both shoulders covered, whilst the novices have one shoulder uncovered. Maybe this chap joined as an older man? What I hadn't realised until meeting our guide was that you could join the monkhood and then leave if you want to. Souk did 8 years as a novice from the age of 12 and then 1 as a senior before he left. The temple is a great place for an education, but it did mean that he decided not to see his parents for all of this time.

Budda asleep!

  .

The locals refer to this as the third runway. Americans have been pouring in guilt money as a result of the horrendous 'bombie' campaign which was carried out here - more of this later. The money which was used for this Laos 'Arc de Triomphe' the Patuxai was intended to be spent on a new runway!

Grace looking down from the Patuxai

Hot, but happy campers!

The museum at the 2nd temple of the day. Clara noticed that different poses of Budda might mean different things. The most common here is meditation, while the one standing with its arms by its side means it is a Budda praying for rain.

Need a pedicure please.......bright pink will do!

Temple Street!

Amy chatting to some Budda's

These buddas were all destroyed during the Thai invasion.

After a morning of temples, we went to lunch at a restaurant called Makphet. This is a teaching restaurant for street children, with the aim of giving them a career in the hospitality industry. We were waited on and cooked for by a mixture of teachers and students, but mainly students.

Along with the restaurant, the charity also runs a craft scheme which gives a method of earning to parents and carers. This in turn means that their children do not need to beg on the street to keep the family fed. Result - more children going to school instead of having to beg; and then being educated, they are less likely to end up on the street again.

Lunch was delicious - apart from the buffalo and potato curry which we all thought was missable! The most delicious thing was a minced chicken and green papaya salad with mint and chilli - just incredibly fresh and delicious.

That afternoon, after a nap for everyone except those who needed it most (i.e. Amy and Grace), we headed out again to a local family. We went to their house complete with moped in hallway and the most divine baby boy who was the hostesses great grandson. Our host was a former monk and had organised a Baci ceremony for us.

The Laotian people believe that sometimes our spirits can escape - for example during travel, or trouble. They believe that it is important to hold these ceremonies as a way of calling back the lost spirits. They do this before any important event - ie a wedding in the family and before travel or the new year.

The Host chanted various things and at intervals the others joined in and threw marigold petals all over us. We then had little orange and white bracelets tied around our wrists which we were told to keep on for three days. As each person tied them around our wrists they chanted various messages of good luck and good health etc. Jilly's daughter Jenny is getting married in May and so they gave her some bracelets for the bride and groom and chanted some special messages for her.

What was brilliant about this was that while it was going on, the grandma wandered through the back of the room with a motorcycle helmet - other children were playing outside in the garden and life was just generally going on.

After the Baci we headed for the night market. Grace in particular was in heaven - stall after stall of tat!

Flying ants everywhere....

Lots of fabulous street food available.

Any got a great pair of baggy trousers here, along with a fistful of friendship bracelets.

After the markets it was off to this restaurant looking like something out of James Bond circa 1960 - i am sure that someone with more motor knowledge than me is going to tell me exactly the year of this car!

Our hotel at night - very pretty

The following day, we were meant to be visiting the Buddah park, but we all decided that we had had plenty of Buddahs and temples the day before and did not want to put the children off it for life. So, as an alternative, we went to a silk weaving factory which we ALL found absolutely fascinating. It really made us all realise how much good silk should cost when we saw women making scarves and telling us that they could possibly make three in one day, whilst other women were making very intricate fabric which they may manage to create half a metre of in one day.

Above is the raw silk which comes from the silk worm farm, ready to be first boiled and beaten in order to soften it and then spun to make it finer.

She may make half a metre of the above in one day.

This is a younger weaver using rougher silk to make a scarf - she would manage three of these in one day.

A senior male weaver above tying the threads one by one before he can continue with his pattern.

Another example of a senior weaver who may manage half a metre of the above in a day.

As always fascinated by these white/blonde children!

Not exactly actively touting for business -he was fast asleep!

Meals on Wheels Laos style...she turned up outside the factory and the ladies all swarmed out! Their living quarters are above the factory. 

Pleasant form of begging! We actually ended up giving him more than he asked for because he was so nice!

LUANG PRABANG

From Vientiane, we flew north to Luang Prabang - the former capital. Jilly's friend Melissa had warned us that it was likely to be burning season when we arrived - glad we were told before we arrived to the below view!

Coming into land.......thick smoke everywhere!

 Gam!! (Name given by girls for Charlie's mother) It is her birthday today, rather apt! We were met by Vienge, our guide who is lovely - incredibly quick to laugh and makes the children incredibly welcome.

We are staying in the top floor!

 Girls back at home

Natural - with early birthday present!

On arrival to Luang Prabang it was thick with smog....this is actually all the farmers burning their land before planting and also between their trees in the teak plantations, prior to the rain that is due in a few months. The only issue is the sky is thick with smoke, this shot is the sun taken at about 1630, would be a bright clear blue sky without the smoke cloud. 

Typical scenes when driving out of town

 Luang Prabang sits between two rivers - the Mekong and the Nam Khan

Gone fishing...

You can see the smoke very clearly here, there are some lovely hills in the background.

422 steps to the top of the hill, sadly the views were terrible due to the smoke.

 Almost there! 

'Baaaa' (Aunt in Lao!) king Jilly

Off to the night markets on our first day here - lots of lovely silk scarves and other handicrafts - they are such lovely gentle people - there is no shouting or pushiness, just smiles and hellos.

Busy busy with Tuk Tuks, bicycles, cars, vans and people, but again absolutely no tooting or shouting - everyone just waits patiently.

Morning alms. Every household in the town goes out in to the street at around 0630 with basketfuls of freshly cooked sticky rice. They sit patiently with their offerings waiting for the procession of monks to come through town. In a way it is a type of insurance for their future health and happiness and it is also seen as a way of respecting their deceased loved ones. The monks are given a small bit of rice from each person, in to their alm bowls. Neither the monks or the householders speak, and tourists are asked to sit quietly at a respectful distance.

Heading off after the monks have been through

After the alms, we headed for the incredible morning market which was literally a riot of colours and smells - Grace said it was bleuch, but we think that this is mainly on account of the spatchcocked frogs!

 Frogs....

.....Legs!

Fresh Tamarind above and parcels of sticky rice packed with chicken below.

From the market we headed back for breakfast - it was still only 0730! After that, Jilly, the girls and I all headed out of town to these gorgeous waterfalls.

Leg was kept straight, but waterproof dressing did not do what it says on the tin - hey ho, steri strips still seem to be holding!

Our boat.... unbelievably all to ourselves! We really are out of season with the smoke

 A table each!

Two tables ready for lunch

 This was the village ferry...goats and dogs on the roof....

....and pigs at the stern!!

Dip one of the helpers on board.

The cause of all the smoke.....

Girls helped prepare the food and to clear away, Clara at the hatch.

Collecting insects to eat....sticky bamboo poles to catch them!

All aboard!

Gold hunters having some sticky rice for lunch

View up the river

Bye Bye Laos checking in for departure to Hanoi