On our final day we headed into the centre of town and checked out he Royal Palace museum. Built in 1904 and mixing French /Laos architecture this is the former Royal Palace.
"No single treasure in Laos is more historically resonant than the Pha Bang , an 83cm-tall gold-alloy Buddha for which the whole city is named. Its arrival here in 1512 spiritually legitimised the Lan Xang royal dynasty as Buddhist rulers. Legend has it that the image was cast around the 1st century AD in Sri Lanka, though it is stylistically Khmer and more likely dates from the 14th century. The Siamese twice carried the Pha Bang off to Thailand (in 1779 and 1827) but it was finally restored to Laos by King Mongkut (Rama IV) in 1867." - Lonely Planet
[There is also nothing more difficult to photograph in the entire grounds!]
The buildings in the grounds were really ornate, lots of them adorned with dragons...
"Happiness is like those palaces in fairy tales whose gates are guarded by dragons: we must fight in order to conquer it." - Alexandre Dumas
And at the back a massive round pond, full of expensive Koi Carp.
"Koi is a symbol of the strength, courage and patience. According to Chinese legend, a carp which courageously climbed up waterfalls was turned into a dragon." - Anon
There was also a theatre in this Royal Palace complex, where (if I remember right) they were planning to host a ballet.
The roofs of these temples are amazing - I love all the layers!
Towering over Luang Prabang is Mount Phousi, a mountain/ hill with a panoramic view and a golden stupa at the top. You climb up 355 steps to get to the top, but with a sore back it wasn't possible for me to go - here is a zoomed in image of the stupa! Hoping to go back one day and see it for real!
"Develop an attitude of gratitude, and give thanks for everything that happens to you, knowing that every step forward is a step toward achieving something bigger and better than your current situation." - Brian Tracy
All around there were lovely views of mountains - so different from Siem Reap - largely built up and pretty flat.
We also found star fruit growing- I remember mum buying this in the market and it being really sour instead of sweet, I waited for dad to come home and made him try it telling him it was delicious and sweet and waiting for his face to crumple into a sour lemon grimace, I was about six and suddenly my parents realised I was growing up!
"Actors are con men and con men are actors." - Edward Burns
As the evening wore on we checked out many of them temples and saw many of the monks praying.
The monks also have a slightly different style to those in Siem Reap and there seems so many more of them, the temples are also right on the road side quite often.
We took a few final photos of the boats on the river and the mountains before our last dinner and heading back to Siem Reap.
On one of the evenings we went out to dinner I went to the toilet. As I walked in I couldn't work out if it were a bathroom with cubicles or if this was it as the initial part of the room was very long. As I got to the end it became apparent this was the cubicle and as I turned around I saw a 6 foot 7" 60 year old man mountain in the doorway. I smiled and said 'oh sorry there is only one', he said 'thats ok, I'll wait' and leaned up against the wall'. Hmmmm, what to do now? I thought. 'No, there is only one, and this is it' I said. Well, I have never seen such a bit guy looks so embarrassed, he apologised profusely and backed out quickly. When I came out his glasses had steamed up and he was still mortified and apologising. After he left the toilet I saw him telling the story to his wife, and typically, they were on our bus home and in the hotel! We had a great chat and a week later had dinner with them and a night at the annual 1920's Heritage Suites party in Siem Reap!
We got to the airport and were checking out the very limited shops airside. One of them had some beautiful unpriced coasters and whilst the assistant was searching for a price on the computer system we found a small distressed bird flying at the window trying to get out. We opened the window and after a small carry on movie managed to capture him and release him to the outside world. The assistant eventually looked up, totally oblivious and stated the coasters were an extortionate $60, we thanked him and left. Can you imagine such a scene at Heathrow? Caught on camera in a throwing a bird out of a window security alert!
All too soon we were back in Siem Reap .....
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