I used to dream of Luang Prabang. It seemed in my imagination to be the most delectable of all Shangri-las. Other countries in Southeast Asia might be tainted by tourism, but not Laos. And whereas Vientiane must be the shabby, dusty capital it is so often described as, Luang Prabang must surely retain the purest essence of Buddhist charm, pastoral quiet and Asian serenity.
The reality proves rather different.
"We accept Lao kip, Thai baht, US dollars and euros," says a notice outside Nao's Place where the big draw is a large-scale satellite TV screen and live coverage of UK soccer. On the night Liverpool was playing Manchester United it was impossible to find a seat.
PHOTOS: BRADLEY WINTERTON, TAIPEI TIMES
Luang Prabang is the kind of place that would produce insanity after a relatively short period in any reasonably active mind. There's quite simply little to do other than eat and sleep. It's true you can walk along the road above the bank of the Mekong during the hour after sunset and watch the colors change from dim pink to dim mauve to dim violet while the river eddies round its broad sandbanks and reflects back hints of the dusty glow above the distant hills. But one such evening walk is very much like another, and the thought is unavoidable that if the essential boringness of existence lies at the root of Buddhist philosophy, then this explains why there are so many temples in Luang Prabang, some 32 in all.
But what was once prized as a backwater to beat all backwaters has, since UNESCO named the town a World Heritage site in 1995, been transformed into an up-market "boutique" destination. The result is that there are now two worlds in Luang Prabang. There is the world of the backpackers, struggling into town with their muddy boots and heavy packs, searching out the US$6 guesthouses, and eating at a US$0.50 vegetarian stalls partly hidden behind a screen -- you fill your plate with the veggies of your choice and the concoction is heated up in an oily wok. Next day, perhaps, they head off into the wooded hills on three- or four-day trekking packages guaranteed to include an elephant ride, time on a raft and overnight stays at minority villages.
And then there is the proliferation of top-class hotels like the central Villa Santi (www.villasantihotel.com; tel: (+856 71) 253 470) or La Residence (tel: (+856 71) 212 104 or 212 530) where rooms go for around US$150 a night minimum.
Luxurious restaurants cluster along the middle stretch of Thanon Phothisalat, the main drag, offering fine wines, French food and candle-lit intimacy, the tables spread with Lao textiles and the manageress in an haute couture version of traditional costume briefly visiting each table with an apparently genuine smile.
Some of both groups probably appreciate the Buddhist languor of the place, equally represented by the slow-moving Mekong and the monkish temples (few of whose monks appear more than 20 years old). And some up-market restaurants display their former origins on the back pages of their menus -- banana pancakes for US$1 and cups of tea with sweet condensed milk for US$0.30.
Nor are the eateries entirely segregated. The excellent Nisha Restaurant can't be faulted -- one Japanese visitor told me it served the best Indian food he'd ever tasted and I had to agree with him. Prices are low, the quality high (try the nam if you don't believe me), and the clientele are people who appreciate good value whatever their incomes.
Nearby is the extensive street market, operating in the dry, balmy evening and displaying goods that one night seem to be gaudy trinkets and the next genuine collectors' items. Most items are on sale during the day in the covered market alongside the road.
The weather in late February is certainly most congenial. Nights are temperate, with no need for air-con and even a fan sometimes feeling too cool. Mornings are idyllic, like England in fine May weather. Afternoons are rather hot and siestas are a good idea. The crux is that humidity is very low and the dusty, tree-covered hills bask in fresh sunlight with no hint of rain from November to April.
Monks in brilliant Thai-orange robes walk past, Bangkok-style tuk-tuks putter noisily by, elegant young Americans with shades propped in their hair and gilded grannies from Europe walk down the main street surveying breakfast options (many end up at the Starbucks-like Jo Ma Bakery). Life at such times can purr along.
Luang Prabang is an enclave, a privileged hillside in the armpit between two rivers which is surrounded by one of the poorest economies in the region. Kids scrabble in the dust or ride inflated inner-tubes down the turbulent Nam Khan river to its confluence with the majestic Mekong, at which point someone has set up beach umbrellas on the mud, and a stall selling Pepsi. There seemed to be few takers.
But there are undoubtedly nice places. L'Etranger (www.booksinlaos@yahoo.com), on Banaphay beside the Nam Khan, is a congenial coffee-house and library with polished wood floors and ambient music. The Muen Sua nightclub, too, shouldn't be missed. Entrance is free if you buy one Beer Lao (17,000 kip, under US$2), and as you take your place on a comfortably upholstered sofa Lao girls will approach you and ask if you would like a dancing partner.
It's a charmingly antique world where locals of all ages pace out formation dances to Shanghai numbers from the 1950s, elegantly played by a six-piece band. In the toilet, unasked, someone massages male necks with a hot towel even as you urinate and is grateful for a tip of 20 Thai baht (US$0.50).
Also attractive for me was a Vietnamese-owned cafe called simply Lao Coffee Shop on Fangum Road (tel: (+856 71) 242 212), charging "local prices" and patronized by Asians looking for a generous bowl of Hanoi phu (noodles) for breakfast.
The Lao kip is routinely exchanged at 10,000 to the US dollar, though you can get 10,400 at the Lao Development Bank on the main street (open 8.30am to 3.30pm). They will even break down a US$100 bill for you at no extra charge.
There are two regular day or half-day trips out of town. One is to the reasonably spectacular Kuang Waterfall. It's clearly more sensational during the rainy season, but you get there by pick-up truck (one hour) and I wouldn't fancy traveling the road except in the dry season. There are many stalls selling souvenirs and cheap lunches, and you can climb up to the cascade's top via a slippery mud track. Someone later told me you can also ascend among the rocks behind the waterfall itself -- I was sorry not to know about this intriguing option and photo-opportunity when I was there.
You can see a couple of female elephants, aged 40 and 60, and ride them through nearby forests if you like the look of the wooden seats fixed to their ancient backs. And you can also visit some Lao bears, kept, I was happy to see, in a decently spacious outdoor enclosure.
A more attractive trip is up the Mekong to the Tam Ting caves. This is not to be missed. They are situated in limestone cliffs overhanging the river two hours upstream of Luang Prabang (one hour coming back), and were visited annually by the Lao royalty over the New Year period until the Communists took power in 1975.
They were used for animist worship in ancient times, but are nowadays filled to bursting point with Buddha images, illuminated where necessary by solitary candles. There's an upper cave and a lower, neither extending very far into the rock. A carved wooden frieze guards the entrance to the upper cave, with a golden Buddha sitting on a pedestal beside it, meditating on the spectacle presented by the Mekong below and the craggy mountains that form the skyline to the north.
You travel there in narrow boats seating around 10 people, stopping off at a tourist village on the way where locals sell fabrics clearly manufactured elsewhere. Prices are negotiable, approxiamtely US$10 for the round trip. You can also take a leisurely hour-long cruise on the river in the same vessels to observe the sunset. This was US$5 a head, even though there were only two of us on the boat.
The real charm of Luang Prabang is indeed the mighty Mekong. Many people opt to return to Thailand by river -- two days upstream to Huay Xai or four days and more downstream to Vientiane. Accommodation on the shorter trip is in a village without electricity, but otherwise apparently problem-free. Very different are the six-hour trips by high-speed, long-tailed boats, with all the passengers wearing crash-helmets. A British man who lived in Cornwall and had a good knowledge of boats described these to me as "scary and possibly dangerous."
I traveled to Luang Prabang direct from Bangkok in two hours by Bangkok Airways. The fare is US$162 each way. I stayed at the Viradesa Guesthouse on Ban Watthat (tel: (+856 71) 252 026), offering remarkable value with spacious, fan-cooled rooms, plus attached bathroom with hot water, for US$8 a night. February is the height of the tourist season but there was plenty of accommodation available.
Bradley Winterton is the author of The Insider's Guide to Thailand, The Insider's Guide to Bali, and co-author of The Traveler's Japan Companion.
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