Well no surprises on our first twelve hour night bus in Laos from the border. Squashed into the seats even ended up quite comical with the joke being between the backpackers that it wasn’t really VIP standard as advertised. With no room to move we had alarm bells ringing early into the journey when the staff started handing out sick bags. The westerners kindly declined where as the locals tried to take as many as possible. Oh dear we were in for a journey of being surrounded by travel sickness.
As the sun set our first opinion of Laos was what a beautiful country. With an array of lush green mountain sides and once again travelling at astronomical speeds the not-VIP bus climbed and descended amongst winding mountain passages for the whole time. Freezing with the air-conditioning at least we were provided with fluffy bright orange blankets but that was not the most amusing scenario.
If you can remember the parting words of the previous blog we soon worked out what the large cardboard boxes were used for. That would have been as seats for the locals that were collected at random times by the road side. Now we did have allocated seats but were told anywhere would do. So out of the whole bus we chose or should I say Kate chose the worst possible seat number. For the night, sleeping was very difficult because in the first instance she had two old ladies pretty much sprawled across her while they hung onto the boxes. They then switched places with a youngish local guy who quickly put fear into everybody. It was quite surreal because just as the lights were about to be switched off he calmly put over his head a black balaclava like burglars wear, before getting comfortable. My mind was telling me we were close to being hijacked. Luckily that didn’t pan out and Kate just had to deal with him snoring into her ear for ten hours.
Our welcome to Laos’s transportation will be remembered and we arrived safely at the Luang Prabang bus stop at around 5am. Pitch black and raining nobody had a clue what was going on but we all managed to climb into the back of little sawngthaew (converted pick-up trucks) before being whisked in convoy into the centre of town.
Before we spent our first few hours wandering the streets trying to find some accommodation the Buddhist Monk’s were taking alms which happen every morning at 6am and it was a sight to behold. Lining the streets were people giving out offering as the long line of bright orange robes lined the streets.
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| Finally in Luang Prabang. Now where are we? |
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| Our Welcoming Committee! |
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With some beautiful guest houses in Luang Prabang way too expensive for us we did eventually find Pathoumphone Guest House. It was the cheapest we could find in the whole town and was only 60,000 Kip about £3 per night. It was set in a lovely colonial building with high ceilings and a balcony overlooking the Nam Khan River. We are pretty good at this now because we had seen some fellow travellers off our bus that ended up paying $25 per night saying that it was the cheapest they could find. You have just got to persevere.
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| On a mission down the beautiful French streets in search of accommodation |
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| Slightly out of our price range if the guest houses taxi is anything to go by |
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| This is more like it, now time for breakfast |
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Luang Prabang Province is one of those places that linger in your imagination long after you leave especially with Luang Prabang bordering the Mekong River. It is a UNESCO protected peninsular of gleaming wat (temples) and crumbling French villas. The place is timeless and a once inaccessible Shangri La is an absolute must for Buddhist architecture plus an array of market areas for shopping and cuisine. The little town is said to be one of the most beguiling ancient cities in South East Asia.
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| What a Great Ancient City |
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| The Atmospheric Night Market |
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| The hard decision is which colour not how much! |
We spent three days in Luang Prabang exploring the quirky little French streets enjoying the culinary delights of French baguettes, delicious cakes and the amazing night food alley where you could pile as much food as possible onto one plate before the lady wok-ed away and handed it back to you for 10,000 Kip (less than a £). Enough for two the food was lush especially if you added a cheeky piece of Barbequed chicken or some fresh rice paper spring rolls.
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| The place we named Wok Alley |
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| Finger Licking Good Chicken |
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| The Cake Choice was Virtually Impossible |
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With so much history and heritage the small town had a number of temples and we climbed 100m up the That Phu Si & Wat Than Phu Si which had amazing views over Luang Prabang as well as the Gold Buddha Statues and Buddha’s Footprint. Walking back from the temple to town through the monastery was also intriguing being able to see the daily lives of the young local Monk’s studying in class.<><>
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| These steps just kept on climbing |
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| Aerial View of Luang Prabang |
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| Couldn't resist & we had everybody having a go! |
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| The Build-Up |
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| There we have Buddha's Footprint. He must have been 20ft tall. The foot is huge... |
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| One of the Monk's catching up on some study |
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With more interesting sights on offer we also visited a number of other beautiful temples as well as the Royal Palace which was constructed in 1904 for King Sisavangvong and his family with a mixture of European and traditional Lao styles.
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| Local Laos Wat |
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| Temple Interior Hundreds of Years Old |
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| The Royal Palace |
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On one of the days we decided to cross the famous Mekong River on a long tail boat, where once on the other side we were able to walk through the local villages and see some old ruined temples like Ban Xieng Maen and Wat Tham Xieng Maen which is in a 100m deep cave where decayed Buddha statues come to rest. Only me in the cave due to Kate’s claustrophobia but she waited for me outside in case I got lost with my eight year old guides.
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| The Mekong River |
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| A local reversing out to take us across the water |
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| Mini guide opening up the cave |
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| Me inside the cave while Kate plays it safe with the flash light |
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One thing about Luang Prabang so far is that a lot of it is connected with rickety old bamboo bridged which you get charged for every time you step foot on one. This did wind me up no end but on the positive side it did allow us to visit another village called Talat Phosy where we were able to admire some weaving workshops and paper being recycled and handcrafted. This also allowed us to stop at a bar shack with undisturbed views out over the Mekong River which was just stunning and so tranquil.
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| You actually have to pay to cross these things. Fingers crossed |
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| Weaving Workshop in the Village |
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| Paper production is huge industry |
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| Time for a drink in the Beach Shack. Very Hippy |
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| Life by the river really was beautiful |
Luang Prabang also as you would expect introduced us to a couple of Laos’s brews. Beer Lao was enjoyed while we visited the Lao-Lao Garden, which had large camp fires burning a great setting for our first beer in Laos.
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| This should be enough BeerLao |
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BEERLAO, PALE LAGER, LAOS, 5% ABV
BeerLao is the country’s original lager style beer. It has been produced by Lao Brewery Company Ltd since 1973. The beer is based on locally grown jasmine rice and the hops and yeast used are imported from Germany. In 2005 LBC launched a locally produced Carlsberg beer and two new BeerLao products, BeerLao Light, 2.9% ABV and BeerLao Dark with an increased 6.5% ABV. In 2008 LBC then launched another beer brand called LaneXang 5.5% ABV. This beer has gained popularity amongst Laos’s local drinking contingent even though it is quite hard to find.
LBC is said to hold a market share of 99% of the national beer market in Laos, though this might have decreased since the arrival of Singapore’s Tiger Beer which is widely marketed. BeerLao is now distributed in thirteen countries around the world including the U.K and U.S.A and is widely available more closely to home in countries like Cambodia and Thailand.
BeerLao has a slightly hazy pale gold colour with a nice foamy head retention and lacing. The aroma is both spicy and fruity with maybe a hint of coconut. It is light bodied and very easy drinking. Not an over amount of malty sweetness or hoppy bitterness but saying that a lovely balance. Very consistent and enjoyable every time you consume one a nice lager that I will definitely be drinking more of over the next three weeks in the country. Holding a BeerLao really brings home the country that you are in. It makes you feel part of what is happening around you.
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| First Beer in Laos |
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| BeerLao-The Nations Beer |
Intrigued to find out what other beers would be on offer I purchased a large bottle of NamKhong Beer from the local shop for us to sample on the balcony. Now this beer was interesting because on the inside of the bottle top I noticed that it had the 500 symbol which we had seen advertised on promotional posters dotted around town. The picture for the 500 was of a large stack of cash, which was pictured alongside 100-Samsung Phone and 200-Scooter. We could be in the money and how perfect would that be a travelling beer specialist paying for his trip by winning money from a bottle of beer. The brain cogs were moving now at a great rate of knots. We need to get this thing translated ASAP.
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| Balcony Beer |
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| We could be in the money. Translator Please! |
NAMKHONG BEER, BLONDE LAGER, LAOS, 5% ABV
NamKhong Beer is brewed by APB through Asia Pacific Breweries Ltd (LAPB), with the company’s first brewery opening in Laos on 12th March 2008. APB is a joint venture company of Asia Pacific Breweries (68%) the Laos Government (25%) and SBK Consultant Ltd (7%). It is the second brewer to be granted a beer investment license by the Government of Laos.
With a state-of-the-art brewery occupying a 13-hectare site in Xaythany District within Vientiane, it currently brews Tiger Beer and ABC Extra Stout as well as NamKhong which is aimed towards Lao consumers. It also imports and distributes Heineken in Laos.
NamKhong Lager Beer was launched in 2009 and is another 5% ABV Blonde Lager with a similar taste to Beer Lao and it is usually sold at the same places and price as direct competition. The name means Mekong River in Lao and the label depicts the annual Racing Boat Festivals held on it.
Being a blonde lager it is quite easy to say that it is like BeerLao but for me not quite as good. A great name and provenance but the taste just lacks what Beer Lao offers in my opinion. The beer is a light yellow colour with a light mouth feel but with quite a punch in taste. Not quite what you expect from the visual there is quite a strong hoppy beer taste but for me the balance is not quite there in terms of the malty sweet flavours. Quite earthy but lacks a fruity citrus note which I think would be a huge overall improvement. Not bad but if you are in Laos it has to be Beer Lao all the way or so far anyway.
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| NamKhong Beer-The Beer of the Mekong |
Our time in Luang Prabang has been amazing and so beautiful. Definitely a great place to start our time in Laos we absolutely love it.
All packed up and ready to move on we had one last stop and that was to see the orange robed Buddhist Monk’s taking alms which was pretty special as they walked through the streets in long processions. This time we could absorb what was happening unlike the minute we first arrived off the 21 hour journey from Thailand.
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| Young Buddhist Monk's Taking Alms |
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| A Breathtaking Sight |
With a 7.30am pick up from the Guest House to the main bus station we were ready for our first local Laos bus journey to Phonsavan only eight hours away to the east of the country.
To finish I also have a confession. I am obsessed with Buddhist Monks and their Orange Robes. I don’t know what’s happening to me but I just can’t stop taking photographs. Monk on a mobile...Monk having a cigarette...Monk on a motorbike etc...It really does not matter what they are up to I just have to take a photograph. Fascinated!
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