East Meets West

A tour of Luang Prabang typically starts with the Royal Palace, which is really a museum since Laos doesn't have a royal family anymore. The royal family was exiled in 1977, after the '75 revolution, and died in exile. The palace is filled with gifts from various nations and traditional artifacts such as theatrical costumes, swords, and religious items. The living quarters are large, but sparse, containing only a little furniture and a few personal items arranged against stark white walls. The information at the palace indicates that it was left as it was when the royal family lived here. For the NJ locals, the library contains a Victrola (from the Victor Talking Machine Company of Camden, NJ.)





On the palace grounds, they are building a temple to house the revered Pha Bang, which is a small Buddha statue for which Luang Prabang is named (Luang, meaning Royal and Prabang being a corruption of Pha Bang.)

Since the Pha Bang statue has not yet been placed in the temple, we were allowed to walk anywhere inside the temple and to take as many photos as we wished. The picture below shows the pedestal on which the Pha Bang will be placed.

Afterwards, I visited Wat Mai Suwannaphumaham, which has some beautiful, gold detailing on the facade.

Late in the day, I wandered over to Wat Xieng Thong. This temple and the one above were the only ones that survived the Chinese Black Flag invasion in 1887. This temple was spared because the Black Flag leader had studied at this wat earlier in his life, so he used this as his headquarters. Since it was after 5pm, I was too late to enter the wat, but I was able to see the monks engaging in their evening prayers. (And yes, I confirmed that photos were acceptable before I took this one.)

Luang Prabang has become very westernized, between its French history and its popularity with tourists. There are many buildings (and old cars) that would be at home on the streets of Europe or the US.

That night, I went out for drinks with Rebecca, a woman from England who I met crossing into Laos. We went to Villa Santi, which was once the home of the King Sisavang Vong's wife.

Afterwards, we wandered the famous night markets of Luang Prabang, where you can buy textiles, T-shirts, silver jewerly, purses, and the list goes on...