Monks Gone Wild

Wow ... so much going on here. Sorry I haven't been in touch for a while (I've gotten a few emails from you worrying about me ... all is great, I assure you!) but I have been pretty busy here in Laos.

Not sure where to start. Luang Prabang (known as "LP") is a beautiful city. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, so there is a lot of money here working toward preserving the city and the customs. The center of town is relatively small, surrounded by the Mekong and another local river so it has natural boundaries that keep it quaint. The city is devoted almost entirely to tourists and monks ... so the shopping and eating are great. LP is known for its textiles; there are some incredible textile shops where you can watch locals weaving very intricate cottons and silks. There are courses here to learn how to weave in the local tradition, something I would love to do if I ever make it back this way.

The monk watching is also outstanding. There are 32 wats in this tiny city, so there are monks everywhere, dressed in safron robes and hopping from wat to wat. While I have been here, a group of Thai monks has been visiting, so it has been hilarious to see monks riding on tuk tuks, smoking cigarettes (which I am sure they aren't supposed to do) and taking pictures in front of the Lao wats.

In Laos, many young boys become novice monks, sent here from their tiny villages to be educated, to be looked after because they are orphaned and many other practical reasons. They can start at a monastery when they are 8, and don't have to decide if they want to go "pro" until age 20, so many young boys spend their youth in monasteries, following the 10 precepts (there are 27 if you go pro) and doing the things that I am sure many other young/teenage boys do as they decide to figure out their life.

I had a guide my first day here which was great - he is from LP and his entire family is in the guiding business, so he really knew a lot about the history of the area. We did the typical wat tours, museums, etc., but he also took me to a small village outside of town where I met a local woman making paper and another woman who made her own silk, dyed it and then weaved it into gorgeous textiles. She showed me her moths, how they make the silk, dye it from local vegetation, etc. Pretty incredible. I am only mad that I only bought one small scarf - it was early in my trip and I didn't want to buy too much, but I now realize she had the nicest things I would see while here, and certainly the most authentic.

Notwithstanding the UNESCO oversight, there is development on every corner, and while LP is already overrun with tourists (particularly backpackers), it is easy to imagine that in 5 years it will be an entirely different place. I am glad to be here now and really hope that the locals can do something to stop the pace of development (not likely).

The locals here have been very friendly, not pushy and seem to enjoy their leisurely pace of life.

I am happy to report that after a long battle with lizards in my room and other general discomfort, I checked yesterday into La Residence Phuo Vao (www.residencephuovao.com), by far the nicest place to stay in LP ... I couldn't be happier! The resort is gorgeous, incredibly comfortable and I got my first good night's sleep last night since before my river cruise. An added bonus is that my new friends Terry and Jackie from the river cruise are also here, so we had drinks together last night after dinner and will spend some time together today before they move on to Hanoi in the afternoon.

After some time at the pool, I went into town yesterday to wander around the river and enjoy the city. I was biding my time to have dinner at Tamarind, which every guide book said is a great place to eat. It is sort of like the LP version of Chez Panisse ... a local/hippie restaurant with fresh food devoted to teaching tourists what Lao food should be like. I was in the neighborhood so went to check out the menu to see what I would have at dinner, and when reading saw that the place closes at 6. So I sat down for an early dinner/snack, feeling very fortunate that I didn't miss it yet again (had tried the day before but it was closed) ... even more fortunate when I learned that the wat directly across the street would have its monks chanting between 5 - 6. The only other person at the restaurant was an Australian anthropologist who said she was told to go there specifically at 5 to eat to hear the chanting. So I ordered a local Thai snack ... sticky rice with 4 sauces made from local vegetables (tomato, eggplant, greens), had a pot of mint tea and listened to the monks for the hour. An absolutely magical experience.

Today I am planning to hang out at the pool again (it is hard to resist) and will probably go into town mid-afternoon to rent a bike and putter around. It is a great place to recharge ... I have done most of the tourist activities, so am free to just wander without feeling guilty that I am missing something.

Laos has been fantastic ... I definitely learned more about the country from my trip down the Mekong and to the local villages than LP, but it has all been enlightening. For the most part, Laos is frozen in time, and other than the cities, I am sure it will stay that way for quite some time. Life here is very simple (I don't think many locals wake up worrying about whether the market went up or down), steeped in Buddhism and centered around living with/off the land. My guide said that the Laos are considered the lazy ones in Southeast Asia, but their "laziness" has made for a great place to stay and relax for a while.

Tomorrow morning I leave for Siem Reap, Cambodia. Until then...