Luang Prabang: Day 3 (Part 2)

19 November 2016

After breakfast we headed to the Vat May temple, built at the end of the 18^th century. It has a five tiered roof almost touching the floor which according to our guide is a traditional Lao style. An emerald Buddha statue sits inside the red-gold interior. Here we could tell our luck by shaking a tin of sticks and letting one fall on the ground. The number on the stick has a corresponding number being a piece of paper with your luck written on it. Apparently my luck is very very good, I don’t have to worry about money, work or friends. Everything will be taken care of. Oh, and I will most probably have a son. (Roll eyes).

Next, to the Royal Palace or what used to be the Royal Palace. It was built in 1904 during the French colonial era for King Sisavang Vong and his family. The site for the palace was chosen so that official visitors to Luang Prabang could disembark from their river voyages directly below the palace and be received there. After the death of King Sisavang Vong, the Crown Prince Sisavang Vatthana and his family were the last to occupy the grounds. In 1975, the monarchy was overthrown by the communists and the Royal Family were taken to re-education camps. The palace was then converted into a national museum.

The most important and revered statues in all of Luang Prabang is housed here, the “Phra Bang” or Buddha, by which Luang Prabang gets its name. It is made out of a cast of gold, silver and bronze alloy, but some say it’s made of pure gold. This Buddha stands at 83 cm tall and weighs around 50 kg. Legend has it that the statue was made around the 1^st century in Sri Lanka and was later presented to the Khmer King Phaya Sirichantha, who then gave it to King Fa Ngum in 1359 as a Lao Buddhist leader. The Siamese twice took the image to Thailand in 1779 and 1827, but it was returned to Laos by King Mongkut in 1867.

Next, to Vat Xieng Thong or the Temple of the Royal City. Built in Lao architecture in 1560, it features an elaborate tree of life mosaic, intricately carved walls, rare Buddhist deities and a 12-metre high funeral carriage. This temple acts as a gateway to Luang Prabang as it is strategically situated close to where the Mekong joins the Nam Khan River. The temple is famous as the location for the coronation of Lao kings and as an important gathering place for significant annual festivities. The temple still remains in much its original form.  Some of the Buddha statues here apparently date back to the 16^th century.

Then lunch by the river. The menu had Western dishes! We made noise of course, and then they changed the menu – river weed salad, cold salad, vegetable soup, brinjal and pork soup (thick) and chicken lap (minced chicken). I suspect they held back on the chillis again. According to Silvia, we are the odd ones out for wanting to eat local dishes, the other Western tourists are happy to eat Western food. I agree with Silvia. We are the odd ones out. But what’s the point of eating Western food in Laos??