Memories of Luang Prabang

                                                                     by Jim Goodman

 

      Luang Prabang, the old royal capital of Laos, first entered my consciousness during the Vietnam War, reading articles about the Pathet Lao advance on the city and a little background on its history.  Afterwards, while living in Korea, I heard tales from a few travelers of what it was like before 1975.  When I eventually moved to northern Thailand in 1988 my interest returned.  Laos opened to tourists in 1989, but unrestricted, unsupervised travel was only possible in Vientiane Prefecture.  To visit Luang Prabang one had to suffer the constant companionship of a government minder and go by plane round-trip, all expenses for the minder paid by the tourist. 

       In 1994 the Friendship Bridge, connecting Nong Khai with a point in Laos a little south of Vientiane, officially opened.  At the same time Laos changed its tourism rules and now people could go anywhere on their own.  One could also take any means of transportation, by air, road or river.  For my first trip that summer I chose the river route from Huey Sai in northern Laos, across from Chiang Khong, Thailand.   Two types of boats were possible:  the slow, bigger one, with some room to move around, stand on deck and sleep overnight, and the small, cramped speedboat, which took only six hours either way.  I took the latter.

       With the exception of the riverside town of Pakbeng, about halfway, the scenery is unremittingly similar, full of forests on both sides, with an occasional Hmông village of stilted houses along the route.  About 25 km before Luang Prabang, however, the boat passes very tall cliffs at the confluence of the Nam Ou River to the left and the Pak Ou Caves with their Buddhist images on the right.  The latter is a popular excursion out of the city, while a ride on the Nam Ou leads to the lovely rustic retreat of Muang Ngoi Neua.

       Compared to Vientiane, Luang Prabang is a small and quiet city, nestled in a mountainous landscape, a first view dominated by Phousi Hill and its chedi overlooking the city.  It has two distinct parts.  The original town lies on a narrow peninsula formed by the turns of the Nam Khan River coming down from the hills and flowing into the Mekong.  This is the Xieng Thong founded by Fa Ngun in 1367 as the capital of the new kingdom Lanexang.  The name changed when the state acquired the Phrabang Buddha image from a Khmer king and thenceforth became Luang Prabang.  The image, however, stored in the royal palace, was looted by Thai armies in 1778, returned in 1792, captured again in 1828, and given back again in 1867.

          Long before Fa Ngum, the Khamu minority established the first settlement in Luang Prabang, though how long ago has not been determined.  When many centuries later the Lao set up their first state here they recognized the Khamu as the spiritual owners of the land and their kings often employed Khamu shamans to conduct ceremonies honoring the land spirits.  The Lao themselves trace their origin to the myth of Khun Boulom, sent to earth, along with his two wives and a few others, by the King of Heaven to bring order and purpose to the world. 

       Upon his arrival he found a great gourd vine reaching to the sky and soon blotting out the sunlight.  Khun Boulom ordered people to cut it down, but knowing whoever cut it would subsequently die, no one was willing.  Finally an elderly couple who had descended with Khun Boulom, Phou Ngeu and Gna Gneu, volunteered, provided they would afterwards receive offerings from the people and their spirits would be invoked at the beginning of meals.  Phou Gneu and Gna Gneu then hacked away at the liana roots until the whole thing came tumbling down, killing them in the process.  Subsequently the Lao people revered them as the Magical Great Ancestors and keep their red masks and hairy costumes in Wat Aram to bring out during the New Year festivities in April.

       Khun Boulom’s two wives bore him seven sons and Khun Lo, the eldest, became the progenitor of the Lao people, settling in Xieng Thong.  To his other sons Khun Boulom gave the lands of Xieng Khouang, Sipsongpanna in Yunnan, Sipsong Chau Tai in northwest Vietnam,  Lanna in northern Thailand, the central plains of Siam, and Pegu in the delta areas of the Salween and Irrawaddy in Burma.  Tai peoples moved into many of these areas perhaps as early as the 6^th century, but lived under Khmer jurisdiction until the 13^th century, when Tai states formed in Lanna and Siam and in Luang Prabang the following century. 

       Lanexang ruled over most of the Lao population, though King Sethithirat I moved the capital to Vientiane in 1560.  The state broke up into three kingdoms in 1707—Luang Prabang, Xieng Khouang and Champassak.  In the late 18^th and early 19^th centuries Luang Prabang suffered from Thai invasions and to pre-empt the Thai from taking all of Laos the French moved in during the 1860s to establish a protectorate over the whole country.  The resultant construction of colonial settlers’ homes and new government offices gave Luang Prabang new architectural features, a legacy that would enhance its charm when it became a modern tourist attraction.

       The city was still the royal capital of Laos and the object of siege and capture during the anti-colonial war.  Fortunately, it did not suffer much damage then and during the Vietnam War it was far enough away from the Ho Chi Minh Trail not to experience aerial bombardment.  No bomb craters to visit here, unlike the pockmarked hills and plains of Xieng Khouang.  And when the Pathet Lao did take over they did not launch an iconoclastic campaign against the temples.  The new government discouraged religion but it was impossible to ban it altogether.  When the government relaxed its attitude the temples became as active as ever. The state now views them as valuable tourist attractions and worthy of upkeep.   

       Luang Prabang suffered a brief yet destructive occupation by Chinese Black Flag pirates in 1887, who damaged or destroyed all but one temple.  Only Wat Xiengthong, at the northeast end of the peninsula, emerged unscathed and though all the others have been restored, this classic structure is the most attractive and harmonious in the city.  It’s also one of the most tranquil locations, close to the river junction.  The compound’s atmosphere and the array of different exterior wall murals, on the subsidiary buildings as well, inspire an extended visit.

       Some murals depict scenes from the Buddha’s life, others fanciful figures of mythology and vignettes of daily life.  Most are paintings, but some employ low-relief sculptures, like one of half-naked maidens in a lotus pond.  Paintings illustrating scenes of farming, caring for animals, bearing loads on the back, using boats, chatting, weaving and cooking provide insights into the rural life just a short distance outside the city, confirmed by a hike up the Nam Khan.  A vignette might be of the morning alms rounds of the monks, which one could witness live on the road from Phousi Hill on the southwest end of the peninsula to the Ashoka Stupa of Wat Visounarath.   

       I observed this the morning after my arrival, though in drizzling rain with the devotees crouched over their offerings under umbrellas.  The rain ceased afterwards and it was still early, so I was off to the nearby produce market.  It looked much the same as Thailand markets, save for the stall selling French bread.  The weather didn’t improve and after a few days I left, but with an overall positive impression, especially of its polite and friendly people, and a desire to return.

       The next year 1995 Luang Prabang achieved recognition as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and in sunny March, 1997 I returned for a longer stay.  Not much had changed yet, nor was it crowded, and backpackers outnumbered tour groups, who were mostly Thai.  The only difference was the addition of a Hmông handicrafts market next to the pier where the tour boats landed.  The street on the peninsula along the Nam Khan River side still featured the colonial era homes, many of them serving as shop houses catering to local residents with a variety of goods for daily use.  Fancier hotels and restaurants had gone up on the other side of Phousi Hill, but I preferred the open-air ones on the Mekong side of the peninsula and again indulged in my favorite meal of spiced fish steamed in banana leaves, served with cold Beer Lao while watching the sunset.

       I visited the old royal palace this time, which stands at the end of a road flanked by towering palm trees.  I walked through Wat Xiengthong compound again and more closely examined the black and gold pillars and gilded wall murals of Wat Mai.  Inside one of the temples on the road along the Mekong an artist on a scaffold was delicately restoring old classical mural paintings on the upper part of the wall. 

       Exploring beyond the city, I hiked three km southeast along the Nam Khan River to Wat Phan Pao, a two-story, octagonal, light ochre building topped by a golden chedi, unlike any of the temples in the city.  Another day I rode downriver to Kuangsi Falls, a popular attraction.  My visit coincided with a celebration of some kind in the village next to the falls.  Folks invited me for food and drink and to watch the dances.  I enjoyed that as much as the sight of the falls.

       I made a third journey six years later in May, flying in to get an aerial view of the city and its environment.  After arrival I also crossed the river to take photos of the city from a new angle.  I had a story assignment on paper production, both the sa paper in Luang Prabang and the type made from elephant dung in Hongsa, Xayaboury Province.  So I spent little time in the city itself, but did notice the greater number of tourists and the conversion of many shop houses into lodges, tourist agencies and restaurants advertising vegetarian meals and internet service.

       A final excursion in June, 2004 confirmed this trend.  All the shop houses were now tourist-oriented facilities.  At night the entire street turned into a handicrafts market, with mostly Lao vendors rather than Hmông.  At the morning alms round camera-flashing tourists outnumbered both the monks and the devotees together.  The best temples had ticket booths at the gates.    The highest priced entry was Wat Xiengthong, but I didn’t mind paying as I was keen to view the murals again.     

       I had clear skies for the most part and took advantage of this to photograph many of the temples, chedis and houses.  I spent most of one day at the enchanting Tat Sae waterfalls in a forest above the city.  Unlike the Kwangsi falls that tumble over a cliff, at Tat Sae branches of a stream slide over a series of stone terraces.  Children play in the pools beside the falls and Lao families picnic on the banks.  It seemed to be more popular with locals than with tourists, as none were around.

          My other adventure in the area was the boat ride from Luang Prabang to Muang Ngoi Neua.  The boat goes upriver past the Pak Ou Caves, then turns up the Nam Ou River at the steep high cliff next to its confluence with the Mekong.  Muang Ngoi Neua lies an hour’s ride further upriver, passing steep hills and karst landscapes.  A small village of stilted wooden houses with thatch roofs, and a few artillery shells from the war used as garden ornaments, this was an ideal rural retreat.  The main activity was watching passing boats and the fishing on the river.  Proposed dams threatened this environment, but at the time they hadn’t been constructed yet.

       But they had in China already, in several locations on their portion of the Mekong, and were beginning to go up in Laos.  The first was underway near Pakbeng, which would terminate those boat journeys from Huey Sai to Luang Prabang.  Another was scheduled just downstream from the World Heritage Site.  I had the feeling that this fourth trip would be the last chance to see Luang Prabang and vicinity in its original environment.  Afterwards my travels and research resumed focus on Yunnan and Vietnam, but I kept up with news of Luang Prabang developments.

          In response to ecologists’ opposition to the dams, the Lao government contended that as a resource-poor country its main possible export was the electricity generated by the dam projects.  Recent photographs of the city show that it now lies next to a large reservoir that floods the original landing pier and gives it a very different appearance from the view I had across the river back in 2004.  I can’t envision returning anymore.  But I still have my memories.

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Exploring the Rivers of Luang Phabang

                                       by Jim Goodman

Luang Phabang

       To the people of Laos, Luang Phabang is the capital of the first Lao kingdom in the mid-14^th century and the home of its royal family down to 1975.  To practically everybody else, it’s a World Heritage Site, full of classic Lao temples, colonial-era buildings, traditional lifestyles, a place reeking with culture with one of the most beautiful locations in Southeast Asia.  As a consequence, it has become a favorite tourist destination in the region.  At high season in the winter, it seems more foreigners are walking the streets than local residents.

air view of the peninsula between the rivers

       There’s no denying its scenic setting, though.  Luang Phabang lies on the left bank of the Mekong River at its junction with the Nam Khan River, which flows down from the hills behind the town.  On its way to the Mekong it is blocked by Phousi Hill and has to make a right turn around a long peninsula to reach the Mekong.  Thus, the city has two parts.  On the other side of Phousi Hill lies most of the city:  the markets, boat landings, administrative buildings, residential neighborhoods, chedis and temples.  The peninsula between the rivers, which by the way run in opposite directions, contains the former royal palace, old shop-houses, colonial-era homes and several wonderful temples.  At the end of this peninsula the Nam Kham passes between two boulders, believed to be the resting places of mythical serpents called nagas, before it empties into the Mekong.

the Nam Khan River behind Phousi Hill

       Certainly there is much to appreciate within the confines of the city.  But excursions beyond Luang Phabang can be equally rewarding, exploring the rural beauty of the rivers and streams of the vicinity.  The easiest is to follow the Nam Khan from the peninsula northeast of the city as it winds in the general direction of the airport towards the hills bounding the valley.  It can be done on foot or bicycle, over a path along the modestly sized river, with views of the hills always ahead.

       After a few kilometers the river passes by Wat Pa Phon Phao, standing on a large mound near the river.  Unique to the Luang Phabang area, this golden temple stands on an octagonal base, with a chedi on top, instead of the usual angled roofs.  The temple is also noted for its interior murals, with some graphic depictions of the fates of sinners in Hell.

fishing on the Mekong

       Just beyond this temple is the famous weaving village of Ban Phanom.  The inhabitants here are Tai Lu, originally from Muong Singh in the far north.  In pre-colonial times the Court in Luang Phabang relocated them to this location to produce textiles for the royal family.  Eventually the village expanded its production to the commoner class and today, while not the only weaving village in the vicinity, it is the most famous and most productive.  Virtually all of the wonderful silk sarongs with the brocaded borders worn by Luang Phabang women come from Ban Phanom.

       The road continues along the river, but out of view of it for the most part.  A few km later, about 10 km from the city, a sign marks a trail to the grave of Henri Mouhot, the 19^th century French explorer, the first to record in detail the ruins of Angkor Wat, who unfortunately died from malaria in Luang Phabang in 1861.  He was just 35, but had stayed in Luang Phabang long enough to write the earliest description of the royal capital before it became a French colony. 

Wat Pa Phon Phao

       When the French Mekong Expedition passed by here in 1756, its leader Doudart de Legrée had a simple tomb built over the grave and left a dedication inscribed in stone. The jungle consumed the tomb area, which was just above the flood line of the Nam Khan, and only in 1990 was it accidentally rediscovered.

       A little further upriver a tributary stream passes over a series of rock terraces to form the Tad Sae Waterfalls.  The stream tumbles through a heavily forested slope, so even on the hottest, most humid summer days this is still a refreshingly cool spot.  The water rushes down from a few different branches, sometimes cascading into round pools.  Trails ascend a little ways upstream, but are soon blocked by the jungle.  But there are plenty of big, smooth boulders to sit upon and listen to the sounds of rushing, splashing water.

Ban Phanom weaver

       None of the cataracts here are more than a few meters high, though.  For a more ‘proper’ waterfall, one that gushes over a perpendicular precipice of one kind of another, the destination is Kuang Si, about 25 km southeast of Luang Phabang.  Visitors can take a boat downriver most of the way, then switch to a jumbo for the last few kilometers.  But a road also leads there from Luang Phabang, so most people hire a motorbike or vehicle for the journey. 

       The water tumbles over a precipice about 200 meters above a pool, splitting into several separate streams, spilling over huge boulders interspersed with dark caverns.  This arrangement gives the falls an unusual, surreal, even anthropomorphic look near the bottom.  Just above the pool the water, boulder and cavern combination resembles a person standing in a downpour and wearing a raincoat with a peaked hood.

       Easy to reach from Luang Phabang, endowed with several restaurants and ample picnic grounds, Kuang Si is more popular than Tad Sae and not only with foreign tourists.  Lao families come here to spend the day and children from the nearby villages go swimming and bathing in the creek that leads out from the waterfall to eventually reach the Mekong.  In the rushing waters of the creek and its forks in the vicinity stand several small hydraulic mills--water-wheels that operate grain pounders.  The village houses are the traditional stilted, wooden structures, the fields and gardens well maintained, and the whole area is a representative example of rural life in Laos.

Tad Sae waterfalls

       North of Luang Phabang, the most popular excursion is up the Mekong River 25 km to the Pak Ou caves.  It is possible to go by road up to the village across the river from the caves and then take a ferry across.  But on the boat, one has a view of some of the finest scenery on the Mekong, especially opposite the caves, where limestone cliffs rise beside the confluence of the Nam Ou River with the Mekong.  The boat also passes by a small, wooded island with an abandoned temple near its southern shore, all but obscured by the jungle.

anthropomorphic portion of Kuang Si Falls

       The Pak Ou caves have been a Buddhist place of worship for a thousand years.  They are in a sheer limestone cliff right next to the river, the lower one fifteen meters above the waterline.  In pre-modern days the journey here was both arduous and hazardous, a true merit-making exercise.  Pilgrims brought with them a Buddha image to leave at one of the caves.  Thus, over the centuries, the Pak Ou caves have amassed a huge collection of images.

       They are of all different sizes and quality, in stone, bronze, clay and wood, doubtless reflecting the wealth of the donors.  The majority are small, but even some of these can be gilded, exquisitely sculpted, obviously the work of a master.  Many of the larger statues, in their fine molds and intricate detail, are equal to the best temple sculptures back in the city.

       Most of the images, especially the larger ones, are in the lower cave, which is adjacent to the cave mouth and so much better lit.  Devotees in the past carved tables and altars from the rock and filled them with images.  Other small statues they placed in various niches and on the tops of boulders.  Larger ones stand beside the stone staircase that makes a steep ascent to the upper cave, darker, with no opening to the outside.   A gilt chedi stands atop a multi-tiered altar at the back of the cave, each level loaded with small Buddha images.

view from Pak Ou

the lower cave

       The Nam Ou River, which makes such a spectacular merger with the Mekong across from the Pak Ou caves, begins in northern Phong Saly province near the China border and runs for 450 kilometers.  It is one of the major rivers of Laos and the only one besides the Mekong navigable by large cargo boats.  With the building of good roads in recent decades, commerce on the river has been much reduced.  While it is still possible to hire a boat to go upriver, most travelers take a bus to Nong Khiaw, on the river northeast of Luang Phabang, and the starting point for the best scenery on the Nam Ou.

Buddha images left by pilgrims at Pak Ou caves

       From here upriver the pleasant rolling hills that characterized the river valley give way to dramatic karst landscapes, with oddly shaped limestone mountains with steep vertical cliffs jutting up from the land all around.  Ferries from Nong Khiaw transport passengers on an hour’s ride upriver through the jungle to Muong Ngoi.  A row of bamboo and thatch houses lines the bank next to the boat landing.  An administrative office, exchange bureau and a small Buddhist temple, home to several monks who make their regular morning begging bowl rounds in the village, stand near the boat landing. A road running behind the riverside houses is full of shops, restaurants and villagers’ homes.

       With its admirable scenery, laid-back atmosphere and pervasive peace and quiet, it is hard to imagine this ever being a war zone.  But it was.  The evidence is the empty artillery shells that decorate gardens and the signs warning children not to pick up or play with any strange object wedged into the soil.  However, it’s been over forty years since any bombs shattered the silence around Muong Ngoi and today it is a spot where the most popular activity of its guests is sitting by the river, watching passing boats and enjoying the tranquility.

morning near Muong Ngoi

       About 75 families live in the village and just about all of them are involved in the tourist business to one degree or another.  Many of them run guest houses, restaurants and drink shops, while nearly all the village homes have signs posted beside them offering services as guides to Hmong and Khamu villages, boat rides further upriver and kayaking to nearby riverside caves.

       The easiest adventure, which requires no assistance, is a hike out the trail past the village’s sole road junction into the fields and jungles beyond.  After about a 45-minute walk the trail reaches a small cave full of stalactites on the left and a shallow stream on the right.  Near the shore men wade in the water and use electric stunners and spear guns to catch fish.  Others use nets cast from pirogues gliding in the stream.

monks on their morning rounds in Muong Ngoi

       Even as its popularity as a tourist attraction grew, Muong Ngoi still seemed like a village suspended in time.  Electricity only came here a couple of years ago.  But its recent prosperity faces an uncertain and probably negative future.  The government, with the assistance of a Chinese company, plans to construct seven dams on the upper reaches of the Nam Ou River.  This will disturb some of the most unspoiled, pristine natural environments in the country and severely deplete the fish population in the river. 

       Reports on the environmental impact of these dams (assuming they’ve been made at all) have not been released.  Altogether 89 villages will have to relocate.  Muong Ngoi is not one of them, but it is likely to be affected ecologically, threatening its reputation as a place to get away from development sprawl and revel in nature.  But that’s the trouble with modern times.  In any contest between the preservation of nature and its conquest/transformation in the name of development, the latter always wins.

       In the meantime, Muong Ngoi is still thriving, still beautiful, and still on the list of worthwhile excursions out of Luang Phabang.  The city is a World Heritage Site for its historic and cultural monuments.  But it is also blessed with superb natural and rural attractions in the vicinity.  Even if Luang Phabang had no temples, palaces or colonial architecture, these sights themselves make the time and effort spent quite satisfying.

the Nam Ou River at Muong Ngoi

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