Mekong Waterfront

   The nicest part of Luang Prabang is its waterfront. I was impressed how big the river is this close to China, it appears to be 1/2 mile wide with fairly strong currents. Across the street from the river, many of the old French houses have been converted to Inns and cafes. The river is lined with palm shaded brick sidewalks fronting restaurants overlooking the busy boat traffic and fishermen below. 

   To deal with the multitude of international visitors, many restaurants have picture menus out front. The food here is much spicier than Vietnamese. Oddly, the Loa people don't use chopsticks, you are give a soup spoon and fork with meals.  French bread is available everywhere, baguettes are served with our breakfast. 

    The locals try to sell tourists taxi trips and boat rides on the river, but it's all low pressure and friendly. Artists hang their works for sale on the local hand made paper. Massage palors ( legitimate ones ) are everywhere. The whole scene is relaxed and slow paced, very enjoyable.

UXO Center

  I apologize for including this in my blog but I felt compelled after my visit.   UXO stands for unexploded  ordinance. I was urged to visit this center to understand the problems Laos is suffering as a result of the American Air War here. Despite 2 presidents insisting we were not doing it, Laos had more bombs dropped on it the any place in history. The worst bomb was the anti personnel cluster bomb, a huge bomb packed with baseball size mini bombs. 

   The consequences are still haunting this poor country. The UN and Australia

  ( not the US ) funded this project to help clean up the unexploded bombs littering this country. They are disarming 50,000 bombs a year, there is 70 MILLION more. 

     The poor villagers dig up bombs to recycle the metals, it often doesn't end well. In the markets they sell souvenirs made from bombs. The say a Loatian is blown up almost every day , often children. We've left a terrible legacy here. 

   

Lao Mountains

  Our driver/ guide arrived early in his Tuk-Tuk, a vehicle contraption similar to the ones in the Philippines. I was assured he spoke great English. We hoped in and headed to the mountains. I soon realized he spoke NO English. Oh well....

   We stopped at a house along the road an hour later, it was an apparent bathroom break. He jestered for us to go around back for the " bathroom ". We did as told and were a bit baffled as there was nothing there. He pointed to a metal shed inside an animal pen. Well, if you've gotta go, you've gotta go. We stepped over a low fence into a pen full of ducks. Karen's in the shed in photo while I waited and contemplated the scene. The " bathroom" had a concrete floor with a squat toilet  and was clean. 

  The house had no walls, packed dirt floors,  and a large bamboo platform in the middle. A woman was asleep there when we arrived. They soon dumped a big basket of rice on the platform and started the process of wine making. The wine was very strong and sold in clear baggies, a stainless steel bowl was full of them on the counter. They cooked with charcoal and had very few possessions. They did have electricity. We bought a tourist bottle of "wine" for $1, we felt sorry for him. I gave them eye glasses and 2 multi tools, they were pleased to receive gifts.

   We later hiked into a beautiful jungle preserve where I swam in a cold river.  The area was full of birds and butterflies. It was a really a nice spot. 

    We stopped on the way back at the most beautiful veggie farm I've ever seen, all done by hand labor. We watched a woman watering the rows by hand, a watering can in each hand. The broad rows were just wide enough to reach the centers,  they were meticulously thinned and weeded, I was really impressed

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Paper Village

  We decided to walk to a isolated village one mile upriver from our town, it sat on the banks of the Mekong . The village specializes in hand made paper and silk weaving. By the time we started it was already incredibly hot. We crossed a bamboo bridge after paying a " toll " of 80 cents,( only foreigners have to pay.) We were told the flood waters from the monsoon rains destroy the bridge requiring yearly rebuilding. A group of young monks followed us across. 

     The hand made paper was drying in the sun along Main Street. After sitting in the shade recuperating, we browsed a couple of shops viewing their paper and numerous prints, we couldn't resist buying a couple. 

Laos

  We arrived by plane from Hanoi, a one hour flight. We are staying in a town in Northern Laos, Luang Prabang, which is a World Unesco Heritage Site . It was the ancient royal capital of the country till the communists took over in 1975. The town if full of ancient Buddhist temples and monasteries. The Old Town contains many of the original French houses.  The town sites on the banks of the mighty Mekong River which flows out of the mountains of China about 90 miles north of here. The riverfront is lined with very nice outdoor restaurants , we eat there every night. 

    This area, along with parts of Myanmar (Burma) and Thailand, is the Golden Triangle, an region known for its traditional opium production. Laos is now a communist country ruled by a Politburo of Army Generals. It is considered one of the poorest and most corrupt countries in the world. 

    Luang Prabang is a prosperous town benefiting from a recent surge in tourism. Compared to many old Asian capitals, it is very well preserved and still quite inexpensive. Nice hotel rooms are around $35 a night,  with private bungalows like ours are a bit more. Our private porch , where they bring us breakfast, overlooks the river. We had a nice dinner last night splitting 4 dishes for under $7.00. Beers are $1.00. Private guides are cheap too.

    The pace of life is slow here, there's hardly any traffic. The merchants are polite, and unlike so many places in Asia, not aggressive. It's a refreshing change. 

   Our porch has floor futons, plus a nice breakfast table. Fortunately we have AC as it's over 100 every day. The mornings are cool till 9AM . Although it's not very buggy, this is an region with malaria so we are using the mosquito netting and taking malaria drugs. 

   

Ancient Village

  We visited a 1200 year old village in the country 30 miles outside of Hanoi. Our guide arranged for us to have access to a couple of private homes, one for lunch and another for tea. 

    Our host for lunch invited us in his 400 year old home, the 55 year old man said he was the 12 th generation to live there. The house is largely untouched and original with the exception of electricity . 

   They served us a huge meal , I had pork and chicken with stir fried coleslaw, steamed sprouted mung beans, and rice. He served us his own rice wine. The man was anxious to chat with us through our interpreter and guide. He rarely saw an American . He told us this village had a POW camp in it during the war housing American pilots. He said the villagers still spoke of the giant Americans toiling in their rice paddies. We both agreed it was good that we now come in peace as tourists. He shook my hand when we left.

    In the afternoon we stopped by another antique home. Great grandma

( 92 ) served us green tea in small bowls with no handles. She kept her tea warm in an insulted basket ( I'd seen these baskets in Hanoi shops ) Great grandma's daughter chatted with us, ( through an interpreter ), she was my age. People seem very interested in us as Amaricans. 

   Both houses had low buildings surrounding inner courtyards. One had a building on one side of the court yard clearly of French influence . As a colonial power, France controlled Vietnam for over 100 years till the Vietnamese thru them out in 1954. This village has a French Catholic Church, now padlocked, like all churches in this godless,communist country. 

  It was another rewarding day. 

Ao dai

    The Ao dai is the national dress of Vietnamese women. It is usually made of silk. A pair of slacks is worn underneath, often black, but can be any color. We happened upon a group of friends preparing for a wedding, as best I could tell they were just attending and not part of the wedding. Their white silk outfits were quite beautiful. 

  Small girls often wear them although western style school uniforms are standard for all students.