Mekong and Luang Prabang

Mekong Hills

There is no better way to approach Luang Prabang than by boat, sailing down the Mekong on the slow boat from Huay Kai.    You are lulled into a sense of complete relaxation as you wind your way along the Mekong through a magic landscape of green hills and valleys.   They seem to open up before your eyes like the leaves of a picture book.    It is best in the wet season , to sail with the swift flowing currents that swirl around rocky outcrops that rise through the dark brown water from the river bed.    You pass through whirlpools, eddies and contrary currents for the Mekong has no markers and therefore you must sail in daylight.
Sitting in the bow of the ferry you drift into a state of peace with yourself and the world in general, surrounded by hills of various greens.   Hills covered in tropical forest , others with plantings of rice, corn, and hops, the life blood of the hidden villages along the river.   Time seems to stand still, so its best to relax and run with the flow.

                                                                                                                               
                                                Typical French Colonial Building, Luang Prahang


Luang Prabang the old town runs the length of the peninsular and has the capacity to carry you back to a distant past, a time of few cars and time to think.  Of course this is not for everyone, but as a place to relax it would be hard to beat.    Few buildings are more than two stories, built in the French Colonial style of shuttered windows and balconies,streets lined with trees, cafes and bistros.   You could walk down the middle of most streets with relative safety.   You could count the minutes between cars along streets without the need for traffic lights.   This is a lost pre-industrial world..   There is no hurry and everything seems to be done in due course.
I spent a few hours drawing the buildings in these picturesque streets, and walking down such a street it is possible to suddenly find a road that has been blocked at each end with a plastic chairs.   Table and chairs on enough settings for 100 people have been set up on the road under canvas, musicians and singers have been hired after all this is the wet season.    What is the occasion you might ask, well it could be an anniversary of the celebration of a child's birth or simply people having a mass B/B/Q/   With time people start to dance and enjoy themselves without all the undue regulations so common in the west.  It's a bit like stumbling upon Alice's tea party.
It's difficult to convey the sense of freedom, peace and well being without experiencing it.  If you haven't been to Laos, put it on the top of your list before it is discovered by mass tourism.

Vat Xieng Thong, Luang Prahang.

Hmong Village on the banks of the Mekong.

Mekong banks

Port of call a Buddha resting cave.