Phousi Hill- because it was there

Life, as they say is full of ironies. For example, the other day I was getting the poops with the Hotel where I am staying. I have been noticing the extraordinary number of FOREIGNERS who own a lot of properties- hotels, guest houses, cafes who employ Lao staff. But rarely any Laotian managers or business people.

The hotel where I am staying is adequate, but lacks those little touches- like being able to turn on the tap in the bathroom basin without thinking it is going to come away from the wall- as just one example. -I won't even talk about the chintzy materials provided....

So, on a walking adventure- I started noticing other guest houses that looked really lovely. It began in a lane way I accidentally strolled down, which was laden with trees, cool and quiet but within cooee of the main drag. One particularly stood out, and I wrote the name down. Then proceeded along writing the names of hotels and guest houses that looked good in case I ever came back here [which I would definitely like to do, and probably before it gets any more touristy than it is right now].

When I came back from my tour yesterday- to Pak Ou Caves, the manager at the hotel remarked about how I would be checking out today! [the 31st] I of course- having looked at my tickets at least 100 times in the past couple of days- finally remembered that I was actually flying out of here on the 1st. The conclusion of this set of circumstances was that I would be basically "homeless" for a night as they informed me that they were full for the next few weeks. [I know, you are by now thinking- what has this got to do with Phousi Hill?] I'm getting there.

To their credit, the hotel owner said he had a friend that ran a guest house up the road and would ring to see if there was a room. Better than that, Tan- the Laotian staff manager- who is a fire cracker- went up on his motor bike and secured a room for me- in the guest house that was first on my list from yesterday. So I am now in a gorgeous-little but workable- Laos Style building with big wooden doors and lots of windows and a big giant Queen sized bed for the night. [sometimes you don't have to be careful what you wish for]. And I am away from the incessantly smoking French people who lived next door to me at my old hotel- YAY!

Now to the point...... [I do eventually get there]
Phousi Hill is in the centre of town - a rather large mound of a hill seemingly emerging from flat ground and rising above the city. I have been nervous about climbing it because I have been sick, but after checking in I decided to tackle it-[actually, I went to the museum, but it had closed for lunch, and the hill was across the street, so why not?] - No, really, Actually, I ran into someone of the street that I met yesterday, and we were chatting and I missed the morning opening hours for the museum.

The first set of stairs were a challenge, but then the steps started switchbacking up the hill and most of the climb was really gradual and almost flat. I made it in no time. And the view was worth it- doncha think?

Switch-back steps on the way up the hill [and down too]

Luang Prabang from Phousi Hill

One section of stairs to the top of the Hill

The added feature is that there is a temple at the top of the hill. Also behind the temple is a gun turret, left by some army after a war. When I rounded the corner, there were 3 very young monks swinging on it and turning it round like a merry-go-round.

See what I mean about ironies?
[No photos of this though- couldn't bring myself to do it]

The Monks Breakfast

The morning gathering of alms

Every morning somewhere between 5:30-6:30 people in Luange Prabang [including some tourists] gather to pass out "alms" in the form of food, to the local Monks. Sellers hock rice- some of it freshly cooking on the street and baskets of bananas and other fruit to give to the Monks who at around 6-6:30 walk along with street with big metal bowls in which to gather "breakfast"- and probably lunch and dinner as well.

Early morning rice sellers

Most of the photos I took are a bit of a blur-too early in the morning [dark, not dim like my mind], so I hope you can make them out....I have a video, but it will have to wait for another time...I am not having success loading it up here for now.

Monks gather food from the locals

A View From and On the Bridge-shots from Luang Prabang

Monks in the Mid Day Sun

Stairs back down to the bridge

Temporary Bridge across the Nam Kham

Walking on the bridge-hooeee

Luang Prabang with one hand tied-

Well, I have arrived...and this is such a different scene than in Siem Reap!

Yes the place is crawling with tourists. Yes there are the usual plethora of shops selling local wares. Yes there is the night market and yes there are a squillion cafes offering western [mostly French] fare and a smattering of Lao food too.  There is beautiful scenery to look at all around.

Here is what isn't here:
People harassing you to "buy, Madame, buy"
Tons of smog to fill the sky and cover the sun and stars
Streets choked with Tuk Tuk's, motor bikes and cars.

Luang Prabang is a very pleasant place with:
Wide streets with beautiful French inspired buildings.
A Wat [temple/pagoda] on most every corner
Two rivers that meet at the apex of the town.
A laundress who gives me a hug when she hands me my bag of laundry and holds her gorgeous little boy up to me for another type of hug
Lots of chickens roaming the streets
Extremely friendly laid back people.

I can't provide pictures in this post because for some reason I am unable to connect on the supposed Free WiFi in my hotel [which is on one of the Rivers- the Nam Kham] and so far have only used my computer in a cafe [forgot my card reader for the snaps] and now I am in an Internet room on the main street in town- Sisavangvong. [again without the card reader]

Here's what I've been up to so far....[snaps to follow]:

1. A visit to the Night Market- which seems about 10 kilometres long full of the most amazing array of goods
2. A walk around the perimeter of the town-which borders on two rivers- Mekong and the Nam Kham
3. Up at 6 AM this morning and gave out food to the Monks- this happened by accident- I was walking up the street and a woman sold me a basket of bananas and told me to sit down on a mat on the footpath and wait for the monks. A French Laotian man coached me on what to do- though I spoke little French and he spoke not much English, we  managed it. And of course as soon as the first lot of Monks came walking through I got it and bought more food. It was a wonderful thing to do and it happens every morning. I wish I had a kitchen to make fresh rice to hand out.
4. A visit to Big Brother Mouse - thanks again to Kev and Glen for telling me about this place- where young people come to practice their English with us English speaking volunteers. They have a great literacy program  going. I spoke to a nice, smart young man who was studying English at University and is about to take a final examination, so we looked at his homework and spoke for 3 hours! It was fun. I am definitely going back there.
5. A walk across this amazing bamboo bridge which is built only for the dry season- it was surprisingly strong but looked so perilous. It was amusing to watch the other people have as much fear -or more- than I did walking across when I came back.

I am planning more- like a walk up Phousi Hill at sunset, a trip to the Pak Ou Caves [Google it!] and a waterfall or two, but I seem to have the flu [again- 3rd time in as many months] and though it is not [knock wood] as serious as it has been, my energy is not high and I tired easily-not to mention the coughing and continual nose blowing. I have been visiting the local Pharmacie and the pharmacist has been advising me, so hopefully between the two of us all will be well.

[Can't wait to connect to WiFi at the hotel- the guys next to me are trawling the Internet for Lao boys to meet- and they are really seedy- reading the entries outloud to each other]

Til then......
Sa Bai Dee

Guess Who Came To DInner??

It's not my experience when traveling to be invited home to dinner by a native- unless I went to High School with one of them, or am related to one or two of them. But two days ago, the guide who has been taking me around Angkor Wat temples for the last week- Mr Sath [pronounced Sat] invited me to dinner at his house and to meet his wife and children. Needless to say, I was honoured.

Many times-from the back of the Tuk Tuk, I could see many local Cambodian households which range from semi-large [2 story] houses made of brick and wood to one room [I am guessing] "shack-like" buildings on wooden supports with thatch or tin roofs. Mr Sath's house fell in the latter range.

Some typical Cambodian houses-not Mr Sath's though

When the dinner night arrived, I got picked up by our Tuk Tuk driver- Bros [pronounced Bruze] who is an old friend of Mr Sath's and has been driving us around for days. The two of us were very dressed for dinner- you know, proper shirts/blouses with buttons and proper pants-both of us congratulating each other on our appearance. When we arrived at the house we were greeted by Mr Sath, who was adorned in a bath towel, and only a bath towel-and stayed that way for the whole dinner! Mr Sath lives in a neighbourhood kind of like the picture here.

Inside the house, were two rooms- the main one, where we ate, had a large bed- which I suspect sleeps the whole family, a TV set glued to the cartoon channel - playing cartoons I saw when I was a child, a table- which was borrowed from a neighbour so I/we did not have to eat on the floor, and many decorations, which mainly consisted of magazine pictures.

Above the door to the second room-I think it was the kitchen- was an altar to the ancestors- Sath's mother, who passed away a couple of years ago, and Mrs Sath's [who never got introduced] mother and father who were both killed by stepping on a land mine while picking rice. I couldn't take my eyes off either the walls, the television or anything else in the room. And though I brought the camera, I couldn't bring myself to take it out because it seemed too crass.

Mrs Sath who never sat down with us to eat, brought dish after dish to accompany the large plate of plant stems and tree leaves that were on a big platter in the middle of the table. The whole process took about 1/2 hour- and was fascinating. The food was delicious- curries and interesting fish dishes with the required buckets of rice [Bros can eat about 2 litres of rice in one sitting]. The last bit was a dish of fruit that Bros and I brought for the family.

In the middle of the meal, two friends came in, sat down, took a bowl and proceeded to eat. They sell ice-cream from a tuk tuk in the day and are rather poor [as Mr Sath told me later]. We were never introduced, but they seemed to know a little English, because they laughed at my jokes----which were plentiful, because I was a bit nervous and so turned into Party Clown [an act I have perfected over the years, starting  somewhere deep inside my childhood].

Just as we were finishing, the rest of the neighbourhood came trouping in to check out the white chick who came to dinner. They too laughed at my jokes- even though they did not speak or understand a word of English....and I certainly wasn't performing in Cambodian. It was kind of sweet. At the end hugs and handshakes happened all around. It took about 10 minutes to give good-byes. Then Bros drove me back to the hotel.

I was invited again for tonight, but I declined for two reasons: 1. the next day I had the runs and a queasy stomach, and 2.  the other more important reason is that Mr Sath- who seems to feed more than his family doesn't need to spend his hard earned money on food for me to eat. And he like most other Cambodians work hard for very little money. It is a chronic issue here- magnified by recent and older history of war and genocide.

I came away not only feeling very honoured for being invited but incredibly moved by the generosity of people who have so little and are so willing to share what little they do have with others. Reminds me of a number of my friends.

Mr Sath at Beng Mealea temple

Bros - Tuk Tuk driver extraordinaire

    

More Shots of Angkor Surrounds

Banteay Srei- at the Moat

Pre Rup-at the top of the stairs

climbing not resting

resting on the climb up Pre Rup steps

Banteay Srei-the Women's temple

Banteay Srei Doorway

On the Dancing Road

Ok- I've done 2 days of the obligatory temples- Angkor Wat, Angkor Thom, Ta Prohm-that was the one with the trees growing around the temple- and now my guide- Sath and his friend our Tuk Tuk driver- Bros and I are visiting a lot of places that are not on the main menu-or Itineraries as they call it.

Bullocks along the dancing road

So in our quest to see the unusual, yesterday we went to a temple that was 85 K's away from Siem Reap. Along the highway- we turned off on a narrow dirt road and wound our way through Villages and lots of bumps to drive over- which Sath calls the Dancing Road.

The trip up to Beng Mealea Temple took all together 2 hours- and though some people don't like riding in a tuk tuk, I actually like the breeze blowing all over me while we are riding along. I think I see more that way as well.

The Beng Mealea temple is a curious one- it was bombed to smithereens in the 70's by USA and is full of piles and piles of large stones and other bits of rubble, but is one of the most serene places I have ever been. It's hard to explain-maybe its because nature has taken over and symbiotically merges with the temple ruins. It would be hard to imagine the place restored.

Remains of a stone gate-Beng Mealea

It took a couple of hours to walk through and there were hardly any tourists there- unlike at the other more well known temples. where there are thousands.

Today [this is the next day] we continued our journey to the lesser populated temples and went to 3 that are nearby to each other-the first was Preah Ko- temple of the sacred bull-where we climbed a lot of steps to get there- not the first time that has happened-and when you get to the top, the view is pretty fabulous. The second temple is Ba Kong- City central and the third is Loi Le-which is a sweet little temple in the middle of a Buddhist monastery. It's at the last temple, that Sath makes me walk around with Bros- who is not good at English- so he made him practice with me. Especially as tomorrow Bros and I are by ourselves for a couple of days, so he will be guiding me and trying to practice.

Tonight I have been invited to Sath's house for dinner. He has taken the afternoon off so he can go home and cook with his wife. It is an honour for me to be invited...let you know later how it turns out. In the meantime....enjoy:

Me in my elephant pants and in front of Beng Mealea

nature's way at Beng Mealea

Gardens outside Beng Lealea