Legendary Louang Prabang (Part 2): The Essentials of the City

It has been months since my last post, and I realised I haven't even finished telling my story of Louang Prabang. So here it is.

Breakfast at Joma Café

When you arrive at Louang Prabang (LP) by night bus, most probably you couldn't check-in at your hotel immediately unless you have made prior arrangements. Plus, you'll be awfully hungry. For me, the best way to begin your day in LP is indulging your barely awake senses al fresco in one of the French-style cafés around town. Personally, I chose Joma Café, a Canadian chain operating in what is formerly French Indochina.

Once you come to your senses with their delicious coffee, head out to your hotel and enquire if you may check-in early or at least leave your luggage behind. Lucky for me, my hotel allowed guests to leave their luggage.

Freed from the crushing weight of my backpack, my LP tour began. There are literally hundreds of temples in this town, but I'll be sharing only the ones I was able to go to.

The Nam Khan and Suburbs of Louang Prabang viwed from Phousi Hill

Phousi Hill and Wat Pa Phouthabbat

The most prominent topological feature of the town is the Phousi Hill, and for a tourist who wants to first get a bird's eye view of the entire plain he wishes to devour that day, this is the place to go. From the Phousi one can see the two rivers, the Mekong and Nam Khan, the picturesque world heritage site / old city as well as the outlying suburbs.

Half-way to the peak of Phousi, there is a temple called Wat Chomsi, and it is worth a visit also. At the foot of the hill, there is another temple, Wat Pa Phoutthabat which, according to a guide I read for the trip, houses a unique wood carved panel depicting Persian and Europeans explorers. This is a departure from traditional temple wood carvings in Laos whose subjects usually are scenes from the lives of the Buddha, some local legend or some historical events with Lao characters. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to observe this peculiarity because I read the guide only after my visit in Phousi Hill.

A small wat in Phousi Hill.

 

Wat Pa Phoutthabat, the wat at the foot of Phousi Hill.

A closer look on the wodcarvings of the main entrance to the sim.

Supposedly, there is an entrance fee to the hill, but, lady luck struck me again I went up and down with practically no one asking me a fee. Most probably it is because of one or a combination of these factors, (a) I went there very early in the morning (7:45am) when tourists are not yet in sight, (b) I climbed using the back entrance along Kingkitsarath Road, on hindsight I noticed only I was using that entrance that time, and (c) I have typical southeast asian features, which could pass as a local.

Portion of the back entrance of Phousi Hill.

 
Royal Palace and Wat Pha Bang

Descending from Phousi Hill through the main entrance, just across the street is the former Royal Palace, and now museum. It is an impressive mansion housed in a compound which also includes the Wat Pha Bang.

Facade of the Royal Palace at Louang Prabang.

 

East Section of the Royal Palace.

Palace back door.

Western Section of the Royal Palace.

Courtyard view of the Palace.

Interestingly, Wat Pha Bang, houses an image of the Buddha called the "Pha Bang". The image according to legends, is the guardian of Laos, much like the Palladium of Troy. The image had been transferred to Vientiane when the capital was moved there. Twice Vientiane was sacked by invading Siamese forces and at every instance the Pha Bang was brought to Siam only to be returned later because people thought that the image brings good fortune only to Laos and it was a curse to other kingdoms, like Siam.

Wat Pha Bang

Ornate door to the main hall of Wat Pha Bang.

King Sisavang Vong Monument and the Royal Conference Hall in the background.

At the back of the Royal Palace is the Garage of vehicles (both automobiles and carriages) used by the last ruler-Kings of Laos, King Sisavang Vong and King Sisavang Vatthana. This is quite a treat for vintage car lovers, and the attraction is free.

Wat Xieng Thong

This is the most celebrated Wat in Louang Prabang, the main hall was built in 1560 by King Setthathilat. It has a large courtyard with smaller halls or sims dotting the complex.

Main hall of Wat Xieng Thong.

Facade of Wat Xieng Thong.

Detail of panel wood carvings of the sim.

Minor halls in the Wat.

One of the many pavilions dotting the wat.

A stupa also within the wat's compound.

One of the interesting halls in the compound is the Haw Latsalot, or the Funeral Carriage Hall. This contains the carriage which bore the body of King Sisavang Vong to cremation. This was to be the last known royal funeral because his successor King Sisavang Vatthana abdicated the throne during the Pathet Lao revolution, and he died an ignominious death caused by malaria.

The Haw Latsalot or funeral carriage hall.

Front view of the funeral carriage of King Sisavang Vong in Haw Latsalot.

Rear view of the same carriage.

Here ends a treatment of the essential sites of the town, apparently all of these can be found along Sisavang Vong Road. For the tourist pressed for time, walking along Sisavang Vong Road will suffice for what is an introductory promenade of this World Heritage Site.

All photographs found in this post are by the blogger.

Legendary Louang Prabang (Part 1): Bus-ride and Waking-up in a Different Time

Of course, a visit in Laos would not be complete without seeing Louang Prabang, a World Heritage Site. LP has been the seat of power for several centuries of the Northern Lao Kingdom and home to many noble families. Being farther from the Kingdom across the Mekong, LP was able to enjoy less incursions from Siam, compared to Vientiane. Likewise, it has retained a more quaint Lao ethos, thus enjoying the privilege of being a repository to distinctly Lao architecture, weaving, cuisine and many others.

Part of Louang Prabang across the Nam Khan River viewed from Phousi (Sacred Hill)

The Mekong in this part of Laos

Going to LP via Vientiane

Going to LP is as easy as requesting your hotel's front desk for an arrangement, almost every single hotel and guesthouse in Vientiane will have this amenity. I booked a sleeper bus for 200,000 Kip. The fare included the van from the hotel to the Northern Bus Station. If I am not mistaken the real cost of the bus-ride alone is 150,000 to 160,000 Kip. The extra 40,000 to 50,000 Kip goes to the van that picks you up, and as commission to both hotel/guesthouse and the "agent" that handles the arrangements. I didn't mind the difference because the van that picked me up was really good and it was on time, plus, all I really had to do was wait for them to give me my ticket.

The first of the many wats I explored in LP - Wat Pa Phoutthabat

I am a bit on the corpulent side though, and the idea of sharing a bunk in the sleeper bus with another person was beyond my expectation, had I known, I would have insisted on just getting a VIP bus than a sleeper one. From Vientiane to Vang Vieng there were a lot of empty bunks so I just took one. But, at Vang Vieng, the bus took in more passengers, so I ended up having to share the bunk with a Thai tourist. It was a bit uncomfortable, although I only lost a few minutes of sleep because of this discomfort.

A quaint French Colonial-era Mansion along Sisavangvong Road

The bus ride from Vientiane to Louang Prabang is approximately 12-hrs. We left at around 8:40-pm  in Vientiane, and arrived at around 7:50-am in Louang Prabang the next day.

Going to the Town Centre

The bus station is some 5 - 10 minutes away from the town centre of Louang Prabang. In order to get into town, one has to get a songthaew, they will charge you 60,000 Kip, but you can wait for some other passengers and haggle-down the price to 15,000 to 20,000 sharing the cab of course.

Sisavanvong Road, Louang Prabang

Louang Prabang Accommodation

I stayed in the Louang Prabang Legend Hotel. I booked the hotel through Expedia with a whopping 70% discount! Needless to say I had my best bang-for-the-buck experience here. The hotel also is in a very quite neighbourhood but within walking distance to the town centre, which was most suited to my travelling style.

My bed at the Louang Prabang Legend Hotel