Sidetrack Bar

Posted by Stuart at 11:36 PM on October 20, 2002

We arrived in Luang Prabang today and spent most of our evening trying to find a place to stay. There are many charming and historic little guesthouses here, but they all seemed to be full. Finally we found a nice one on a quiet street, checked in, and headed out to walk around town.

My friend Steiner from the US suggested that we meet up with his friend Sone, who owns a bar in Luang Prabang called Sidetrack. We eventually found the bar and went inside to meet Sone and have a drink. Among the small crowd was the Mayor of Luang Prabang and his family. Much later, after the mayor had left, the bar filled up with Lao kids having a great time. Rupert and I had fun as well, drinking a Beer Lao and watching the scene and of course not understanding anything that was being said around us.

Luang Prabang

Posted by Stuart at 09:02 AM on October 21, 2002

The bass drums started pounding all over Luang Prabang at 4 AM this morning, waking up the town and telling it to prepare for the monk procession. By the time Rupert and I stumbled out of the guest house at 6 AM the townspeople had already set themselves up on the sidewalks, sitting on mats with bowls of sticky rice and chicken wrapped in leaves in front of them. Soon, the monks (mostly teenaged novices) appeared walking single-file down the street accepting the food that was given to them. It was quite impressive to see the long line of boys with shaved heads and long flowing orange robes solemnly collecting their food for the day.

We have spent the last couple of days in charming Luang Prabang, Laos. The small town is situated on the banks of the Mekong River 450 KM north of the Thai border. The entire town is a UNESCO World Heritage Site partly because of the many buddhist temples and partly because of the French colonial architecture that remains from the early 20th century. We have spent our time here visiting the temples, visiting with the locals, and enjoying the scenery. Unfortunately, though, we can't stay here forever; we fly back to Vientiane this afternoon.

At the same time we are excited to get back to Vientiane. The annual boat races on the Mekong take place tomorrow and the locals have promised a good time at the festival.

Boat Racing Festivals

Posted by Stuart at 12:55 PM on October 23, 2002

I am back in Bangkok now after one of the best vacations I ever had. (I can call it a vacation now that I have a job, right?) Laos was a wonderful treat in every way. The lifestyle is even more relaxed and the food is even cheaper than Thailand (which is saying alot!). The countryside was beautiful and the people were all very friendly.

Looking back now, the last three days we were there was basically one big party. We were lucky enough to be in Laos for the end of the Buddhist Lent, which happens every year on the full moon of the 11th lunar cycle. The whole country was celebrating with boat races and festivals. Each of the last three days I went to a boat racing festival; each day in a different town: Luang Prabang, Xan Nguam, and Vientiane; each day filled with smiling laughing people, a little bit of lao lao (homemade Lao whisky) and plenty of great Lao food and Beer Lao.

The best example of this was in Luang Prabang. Rupert and I crossed the Mekong in a tiny boat along with two friends of ours (friends of friends from Bangkok). The minute we reached the other shore we heard calls from one of the nearby grass huts. A friend of one of our friends signalled for us to come over to join them, so we did. There were about 10 Lao guys and girls all sitting in a circle on the floor of the balcony of the grass hut. In the middle of the circle was about 10 bowls of food and soup and a few bottles of homemade lao lao. We were given shots of the lao lao and spoons for the soup. Of course it would have been rude to refuse, but luckily it all tasted very good. There was much chatting and smiling and laughing, especially when the white guys downed the shots and gave the rest of the crowd the thumbs up sign.

Now I am home in Bangkok and a new chapter in my life is starting. Tomorrow I start teaching at the university and I will soon see what real life in Bangkok is all about.