set off early again – went to bank. Then fresh market (photos).
Then central market and got Daisy her chopsticks – then on to silversmiths…
…then drop Daisy and went on alone to Ban Phanom (textile village) – a bit touristic but lovely view of river and Lu minority. Bought Daisy a blue shawl & I bought coasters and water holders.
I went to the Lu on my own. Daisy wasn’t feeling too well and wanted to rest before our flight.
Then back to Villa and enjoyed a couple of hours relaxing in Villa…
…before off to airport where I narrowly avoided having to pay for the flight twice but only by surrendering my tickets from Vientiane to Pakse!
Arrived only 35 minutes late. Wah Bain took us to office to sort out tickets and Carol Cassidy shop to sort out giftie for mum. Then on to Settha Palace for European dinner & early night!
First stop – a Lao village Muang Kham – not so much on tourist trail.
Muang Kham scenes above and below
Second stop – Xang Hai Village where they brew Lau-Lao whiskey and rice wine (tried it) and [they also] sell “stuff” – Daisy bought some lovely pieces there.
Twixt Muang Kham and Xang HaiLet me buy you some rice wine, PrasauthGoods didn’t cost a bomb, but we saw UXO everywhere……and ubiquitous orange-robed monks
Then on to Pak Ou Caves and Pak Ou Village for noodle lunch and look at Village Temple.
Caves full of BuddhasGed: Why is Pak Ou Village known as Noodle Village? Prasauth & Daisy: Shut up and eat.
Then on to Ban Chan Village, where they make clay pots and bricks.
Ban Chan? Thank you, ma’m.Talking bullocks
Back to hotel quite early. Supper in garden – tried beef sausage, pork and bamboo shoot, chicken and coconut a mixed vegetable with pork and sticky rice. Early night.
Janie and I have very happy memories of the few days we spent in Luang Prabang, Laos; 12 to 15 February 2001. Everything about that stage of our journey felt right.
We stayed in the picturesque Villa Santi, depicted above and below.
The monks’ grub run takes place outside the Villa Santi at dawn
We did really interesting touring with a delightful guide, Prasauth. We are usually happy with our guides, but occasionally we are fortunate enough to get a really exceptional guide with whom we form an affinity. Prasauth was one such guide.
I wanted to get Janie some flowers for Valentines Day. Luang Prabang seemed to be awash with flowers, yet I didn’t see anyone selling them. I had a chat with Prasauth about it the day before Valentines. I tried to explain the tradition to him and said that I wanted to buy some flowers.
“That might be very difficult,” said Prasauth.
“But why?” I asked, “I see flowers everywhere. Surely I can buy some?”
“I’m not so sure”, said Prasauth, “we don’t really buy and sell flowers here. I’ll see if I can get some for tomorrow, but I don’t think it will be possible.”
Wind the clock forward to Valentines morning.
Prasauth turned up early with the Valentines flowers I thought he wasn’t able to get!
Janie and I are taking an early breakfast on the beautiful balcony shown in the top picture of this piece. Then Prasauth appears, below, waving a lovely bunch of flowers and proclaiming, “Happy Valentines Day, Janie”.
It was a bit like a muddled up version of the Romeo and Juliet balcony scene. Everyone else who was taking breakfast on the balcony, plus the passers by on the street, observed the dramatic moment along with us.
Prasauth then bounded up the stairs and presented Janie with the flowers. Janie clearly worked out what had gone on, so with poise thanked us both profusely at the time. She and I had a good laugh about the event afterwards.
As soon as I got another quiet moment with Prasauth I tried to settle up with him for the flowers. He was having none of it and refused any payment.
“But Prasauth, it isn’t my Valentine to Janie if I don’t reimburse you for the flowers.”
“No, no”, said Prasauth, “they didn’t really cost me anything so I couldn’t take any money from you.”
I never found out where they came from. Perhaps his garden. Perhaps a favour he called in from a friend.
At least let me buy you a wee dram of Lao-Lao, Prasauth?
I think I might have persuaded him to take a nip of Lao-Lao (the local rice wine/whiskey) with me, when we got to Xang Hai village later that day…but I have a vague feeling that he refused even that.
No wonder the people look sad, their Hmong village has no name.
…then at a Lao Theung/Khamu village Thapean, where they are building the bridge. Daisy successfully scared the children there.
“I’m a Khamu, how do you do?”
Then onto Khouang-sy Falls where we saw the lesser spotted NGO tribe – 30 NCH cyclists!
Sadly, I didn’t photograph the sponsored cyclists from NCH, as the charity Action For Children was then named. I had to explain the “NGO tribe” pun to Daisy at the time – I’m not going to bother in this piece.
Picniced at falls…
…then back to town via Peacefulness Stupa (aka Wat Pa Phon Phao, aka Santi Chedi).
Then went to Xieng Leck Village to see paper making and textiles.
Then central market – checked out Red Cross massage parlour – no thanks – home.
I have no memory of being shown a massage parlour and rejecting it, but it must have looked a bit too rudimentary for Janie’s and my taste. I do remember taking Prasauth to one side that afternoon and asking him if he could help me source some flowers for Valentines day the next day. He demurred – the giving of flowers is not a very Laotian thing to do. But he offered to try and the next article in this travelogue (written separately a few years ago) describes how he got on.
Dinner at Souvanna Phoum – Daisy ate western (tomato soup and orange roast duck and mash) and Ged more or less did too (chicken lemon soup and bamboo shoots stuffed with pork and sticky rice and fruit salad drenched in rice wine (Lao Lao).
Each morning, locals would feed the monks in front of the Villa Santi
First stop, museum (former Royal Palace)…
…then off in direction of falls.
I’ll write up the rest of that day – mostly a wonderful trip to the falls – separately – not least because the photos for that one are in a different album.
If you want to see all the photos from Vientiane and Luang Prabang (up to but not including the trip to the falls), click this link or the photo link below.
Went back to Anousaveri monument to take pictures from inside…
– then onto Kala Sao morning market – bought a CD and some silver tipped cutlery.
25 years later, I still use those “silver” tipped chopsticks at the flat. It wasn’t exactly the album linked here to YouTube music, but, believe me, neither you, dear reader, nor we, could tell the difference.
Snackers in the Kala Sao morning market
Then off to the airport to fly to Luang Prabang – bumpy ride made Daisy feel ill! Met by Prasauth, who took us to the lovely Villa Santi and then out touring. First stop, Wat May – beautiful five teared roof and bas reliefs.
“Wat May I ask is going on here?”
Then on to Wat Vixoun with paintings around pillars and a Buddha museum inside – – also Melon Stupa (aka That Makmo) in grounds
That Makmo – Melon StupaWat Vixoun’s Buddah collectionKids & monks also hang out at Wat Vixoun
Then to Wat Xieng Thong – stunning buildings with paintings & mosaics.
Wat Xieng Thong“To be honest, Prasauth, I’m struggling to remember Wat’s Wat”
Then walked 328 steps up Phousi to Wat Tham Phousi and then home.
Dinner at Villa Santi – Luang Prabang sausage, fish soup, chicken coconut soup, chicken in coconut, stuffed banana leaf.
Villa Santi – hold this image in your head as foreshadowing for the 14 February balcony scene.
All the pictures from this Vientiane & Luang Prabang stage of the holiday can be found
Lie in for once! Then set off at 12 for airport – fly Vietnam Air to Vientiane – ok flight. Arrive Vientiane at 3 pm – go touring straight away with Wah Bain. First stop -Wat Sisaket…
Wat Sisaket
…then across the road to Hor Phra Kaeo.
Janie and Wah Bain stop for a quick jar at Hor Phra Kaeo
Then on to see That Luang after closing time!
That Luang after hours – see also headline photo. Amazing what a few Kip can achieve.
Attempt to see monument Anousaveri ( vertical runway) also, but they won’t play after hours – so go on to Tong Khan Kham – evening market – very attractive.
…and so colourful too.
Go out to dinner to eccentric Le Vendôme Restaurant in our hotel’s green London taxi.
Had gratinated crab, duck with cashews and braised Barbary duck and apple tart with a good bottle of wine under $30 before tip!
Janie was reading A Fortune Teller Told Me while we were in Cambodia (one of the first books I ever bought on Amazon as it happens), so when we returned to Phnom Penh on 10 February and encountered a fortune teller, Janie insisted that we both have a go.
The fortune teller lady seemed quite confused about us as a couple who didn’t live together. We learnt that…
…Daisy has three blokes and is going to have two kids and that I have two birds!?
Two kids…two birds…
Once she got into her stride, though, the fortune teller was most insistent that I was about to come in to a lot of money. Like, straight away. That day, or the next day, she insisted.
All of a sudden I became more popular
This seemed odd to me at the time, as her services were lightening my wallet, not filling it as far as I could tell. And I was in no position to make money while I was on holiday.
But it turned out, when I returned to London, that in my absence a tricky commercial position of ours had unwound; a substantial sum of money had, as a result, been deposited in our corporate account, around the time of the fortune telling.
…followed by the somewhat surreal dinner that evening, with the Phnom Penh agency dude who was sure we needed some TLC after our off piste touring, which we didn’t…
Left early for Sihanoukville – four hour drive. Stop off on way to refresh/make offerings to Pich Nil who blesses the journeys along that road.
Blessed be the travellers at Pich Nil, between Phnom Penh & Sihanoukville
Lunch of chicken soup at Seaside Hotel. Then lovely afternoon the beach. I get chatted up by lots of pretty girls as usual. Daisy fends them off.
Seaside Hotel above, Ged & les girls below
While there was something a bit sleepy-seedy about Sihanoukville back then, it hadn’t even faintly started its boom as a casino and high rise seaside city, nor its even more recent bust as a scam and crime town.
Early evening at La Feulle restaurant where we tried chicken curry, Khmer sweet-and-sour pork and mixed veg and rice. I’m shattered so we have an early night had a good sleep.
