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Luang Prabang, Laos - February 7, 2018
We had a welcomed short day with the tour guide - we've just about had our fill with tour guides but hey, I must admit, their service is the quickest and fastest way to get a download of local information and history. We were able to relish an afternoon on our own.
Today we spent the sunny and much warmer day in the city center, with very little driving. We leisurely walked around the bustling, quite attractive ancient town. There are many restaurants and small hotels. We paid a visit to the Royal Palace which was the last palace of the last King of Laos. We strolled through simple but elegant receiving rooms, dining rooms, bed chambers. During the last reign of royalty, the king was over thrown and the country taken over by the Pathet Lao (Communist Revolutionary group) in 1975. The King was imprisoned and ultimately died there. All but one of his children fled to Thailand. The monarchy ended. The palace now is a National Museum.
We saw more wats than I can even distinguish between, i.e., Wat Visoun, Wat Xiengthong and Wat That Luang, monastery of the big stupas. (I'm only putting the names of the temples here in case I want to look them up later. I will in no remember this stuff. I am templed-OUT! By the way stupas are the much smaller temple buildings that cannot be entered that either were built to honor Buddha or to house important person's ashes and most often they do both.
Today's highpoint though was the 328 rough-step climb to the top of Mount Phousi. It's located in the middle of the town and at its top displays a spectacular view of the townscape with its bordering and winding Mekong and Khan rivers. Nearby mountains provided a hazy backdrop. All along the path up and down the mountain, were important shrines to Buddha. People today climb these steps to pray, ask for good lives and to make their offerings. They just want to be good people like Buddha.
We returned to the hotel about 1 pm, changed into cooler clothing and began a nice walk into the city. Now, this is what it's all about. The sun was shining, the air felt invigorating and we were free! Free!! We walked about a mile and stopped at the very attractive Cocoanut Café and had a nice lunch in their outdoor garden. We shared fried eggrolls and stew of pork , lemongrass, greens and exotic mushroooms with steamed white rice. Delish! Fresh! And cheap! Food here is relatively inexpensive but exceptionally fresh and perfectly cooked. I think our lunch with a shared Coke Zero was a bit over $8. The Coke Zero was the extravagant item.
By the time we returned to the lovely hotel it was nearly 4 pm. Oh where does the time go?? Oh, how I wish we could stay here just a couple of more nights to simply relax and enjoy the lush, luxourious setting! But . . .
Tomorrow is travel day once again. Before flying to Bangkok, we are going to meet our guide before dawn to participate in the early morning ritual to offer alms to hundreds of monks. We are Christians and in no way Buddhist, but this is a once in a lifetime cultural experience. I promise to tell you about it!
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