Chiang Mai, Thailand

Hello everyone

It's a beautiful sunny morning here. We are enjoying having a four day weekend thanks to the Chinese New Year festivities. And, boy, do they celebrate! Yesterday afternoon, we went to the river to a Chinese festival market. I took a few photos of that so I will post them after I have finished the 4 episodes of our holiday.

I hope you enjoyed the photos of Luang Prabang.

We left Luang Prabang, and found ourselves in the bustling, modern city of Chiang Mai, home to over a million people. As you can see from the second photo some of the inhabitants are very modern and a bit a bit intimidating!

Some of the temples here are truly ancient, dating back to 1200, and the city is surrounded still by a moat, with the remains of a few ancient city gates, built in red brick.

But we realised on the first morning as we stepped out of the hotel that we had to be really strict with ourselves and just choose a few temples. After Vientiane and Luang Prabang we were feeling very 'full' of all the beautiful things we had seen and there wasn't much 'room' left for more. So we chose the oldest and most famous.

All around the city there are villages of excellent handicrafts, from wood carving to silk painting to silversmithing and we spent an afternoon walking among endless displays of wonderful objects.

For Daniela’s birthday on 5th January we attended a cultural dance event with Khantoke Dinner (which is the Thai equivalent of a Spanish tapas meal) and much whirling around of exotic looking ladies and male dancers carrying long knifes or flaming torches. It was a lovely way to celebrate her birthday and to end our holiday.

Tired but very happy with our trip we returned to Singapore.

Next time I will post some photos of people we saw in Laos so you can get a feel for the human side as well as the temple and countryside.

Until then keep well and safe

Love

Alan

Luang Prabang

Welcome back. This is the second posting of our holiday in Laos and is episode 2 of 4. Next will be Chiang Mai and then the final episode will be some photos of people.

Luang Prabang has red-brick lined streets and narrow lanes with wide steps, the traffic is mostly scooters and bicycles and hotel vans and little taxi cars. Many beautiful temples are scattered everywhere, and every morning at 6 one can hear the temple drums calling the monks to their first prayer.

We arrived in Luang Prabang on a misty morning, the smell of wood smoke was hanging in the air, as most houses have wood burning stoves.


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Lunch time and the usually quiet streets
become even quieter.


















Daniela in fromt of one of the many temples



















The UNESCO headquarters and the Museum



















Monks gathering at a beautiful temple



















We were quite moved by the daily tradition
of the “alms giving ceremony” and got up
before sunrise one day to witness it.


















The monks, from age 14 to 99, barefoot,
dressed in their saffron robes and each
carrying their alms bowl, quietly queue up
past people kneeling along the pavements of
the main street, all eager to offer fruit and
handfuls of cooked rice, one to each monk.
The procession moves quite fast and is
punctuated by the flashes of the tourists’
cameras.



















You can see a golden temple above the trees
in the middle of the photo



















It's this one. A high rocky outcrop in the
middle of the city overlooks the magical
landscape, and an ancient temple with
a golden spire crowns the top of this hill,
the Phu Si.



















Near the temple the rusty remains of an
anti-aircraft gun remind the visitor that this
country was being “quietly” bombarded for
years by the Americans, during the Vietnam
war. The gun is, ironically, a very popular toy
for the children who ride it and jump off it
with much mirth!



















Every morning the street along the Mekong
becomes a fruit and vegetable market, bustling
with life and the most unusual goods. People
seem to indulge in delicacies such as bullfrogs
and moles and snakes and bats, needless to
say we did not (knowingly…) partake
of such local specialities! However we really
enjoyed some of their more “normal” ones,
such as the salads with thin slices of beef of
chicken and vegetables, full of fresh herbs
and very fragrant, or the fresh spring rolls
filled with delicious vegetables and prawns.
























We made a trip along a bumpy dirt
road to go visit some beautiful
waterfalls and on the way back
we had the unplanned added
excitement of the minivan
breaking down in the middle
of nowhere, at dusk…. Luckily
someone sent for help and another
minivan came from Luang Prabang
to pick us up, so no harm done!


















Luang Prabang is located at the confluence of
the Nahm Khan and the Mekong rivers and
luxurious orchards cover the banks that are
not inhabited.


















We also did a river crossing on one of their
boats to see some temples on the opposite
bank, at sunset. The scenery was gorgeous
and we boarded the boat again among people
who were washing their clothes and a monk
doing his ablutions!


















We fell in love with Luang Prabang.

Next time Chiang Mai in Thailand.

Love

Alan

Vientiane, Laos

A warm welcome to you to the first posting of my blog in 2006.

We have returned from our holiday with over 450 photos….but, before you click away in horror,.................. I promise I am only selecting a few for you to see! It has been difficult because we saw so many lovely things and places.

Too much to cover with one posting, so I am going to do it in three instalments. One for each city.

We begin with Vientiane, the capital of Laos.

A developing city but small and easy to walk around. Eight years ago we would have found no traffic I was told but now Laos is opening up and for this reason it was one of the first destinations on our list. We wanted to see it as soon as possible before it changes even more.
Temples and monks are in abundance. We got to know quite a few monks. In Laos they are very keen to chat with you so they can practise their English. Many are young and studying. But at the same time as energetic and mischievous as all youngsters.

The City is on the Mekong river in the far south of Laos and across the river is Thailand. In the dry season, which is now, the river has very little water. In several parts it is not possible to navigate the river.


















These next two photos show the street that
runs along the river. Cafes, guest houses and
local eating places are plentiful.
The French influence means that you can find
delicious baguettes and croissants as easy in
Vientiane as you can in London

The local food is fabulous. They cook using
fresh herbs and with some dishes the taste
literally explodes in your mouth. However
we discovered in Luang Prabang and aslo
Chiang Mai that some ingredients of some
meals would be somewhat challenging for us!
So, to our knowledge, we did not partake of
those delicacies. Those of you who know us
well will not be surprised when we tell you
that we also managed to find excellent pizza
cooked in woodfire ovens.



















I have chosen the next set of photos to show
some of the temples, their grounds and
their Buddhas


















Laos had quite a difficult relationship with
Siam (Thailand). Most of the temples in
Vietiane, being so close to the border,
were destroyed or badly damaged and so
much rebuilding has been done























The latest destruction took place
in 1828 during the Siamese
invasion. Over the years Laos
has been close to Vietnam but
now relationships with Thailand
are warming and there is a new
Friendship bridge between
Thailand and Laos to facilitate
easy movement of the two peoples























The last three photos were taken
at That Luang - the symbol of
Laos and its most important
monument. This temple stands
a little way out of the city. It was
the last temple we visited before
leaving Vientiane and it blew
us away. The sun was setting in
an almost cloudless sky and the
temple was on fire as it reflected
the rays of the setting sun.



















The setting was so peaceful at the end of the
day and such a stunning visual feast that we
found it impossible to tear ourselves away
until the sun had slipped away



















We returned to town, quietly, for our last meal
in the capital, very grateful for the magical
moment, and eagerly anticipating the next
stage in our trip, Luang Prabang.

Luang Prabang will be the next instalment.

We fell in love with it and definitely wish to
return before leaving Asia.
Come back to find out why........

Alan