I got up early to explore Luang Prabang I had no real set plan for my path of exploration but instead just meandered through the streets losing my way and finding it again. I ended up seeing the early morning market that takes place in the centre of Luang Prabang and also a community market on the far end of the city where the roads were no longer paved and people stared at me as the only falang around (in Laos they write falang instead of farang like Thais). I don't mind being the only foreigner though, I smiled at everyone and they smiled back and were very nice. I ran into four boys who knew a bit of English and they joked and laughed with me, we learned each other's names, and walked around together.
The markets were interesting enough. They sell a lot of mushrooms at the markets in Laos, more than I have ever seen in Thailand. I don't like to eat mushrooms though so it doesn't really matter one way or the other, but it was something I noticed none the less. They did sell some things that I'd never seen sold at the market before, like dead squirrels. Now that was new, an animal that I could see jumping through the trees in any forest area near Luang Prabang was lying dead on a mat for sale at the market, rats too. The rats I was expecting though because I was told that where there are a lot of rice fields there are many rats and people often eat them. I got a couple of pictures of a boy carrying some rats though the one that would have been excellent angle-wise turned out blurry and the other is ok-ish though he changed the way he was carrying the rats and it's harder to see what they are. Alas. I'll make the picture available on the photo page.
Around 9:30am I found my way back to the centre of town after visiting markets and many small temples. Luang Prabang has a lot of temples for such a small place. I decided to go to the top of Phu Si which is a large hill in the centre of town. Phu Si has a temple on top and monasteries on either side. While at the top I wrote a letter, took some pictures of the amazing view, and ended up running into the four boys I had met earlier in the day. They were playing on top of the hill and got me to take their picture. They were a lot of fun.
I walked across to the other side of the hill where the "Buddha's Footprint" and another look out was located. I met two more boys playing with their dog their and though their English was very limited we talked together for a while and sat on the banister looking out over the Nam Khan River.
When I was preparing to leave and explore a new place a few monks arrived and I ended up talking to them, in particular one named Link. I decided to stay and talk for a bit but a bit turned into an hour and an hour turned into four or five hours. We had a great conversation and when I left it was time for dinner, especially since I'd missed lunch.
I ate dinner at an out door restaurant along the Mekong and then went to walk around the night market so I could buy some presents for my family and friends. I had got a little too much sun sitting on top of the hill all day long though and felt a little ill and out of sorts. I ended up running into Don and we grabbed a snack and sat in front of our guest house talking about what we did all day before I decided to pack it in for the night.
Today's picture is of the Nam Khan River. From the hill you can see the whole city and consequently both the Nam Khan and the Mekong. The look out where I spent much of my time over looked the Nam Khan. This picture wasn't taken from the look out though, I took it on a boat ride down the Nam Khan.
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home