City tour & Kuang Si Waterfall - Luang Prabang, Laos

 April 2 - continued

The tour resumed and we drove along the and visited Wat Xieng Thong temple complex. This 15th century Wat is the most important in Luang Prabang and one of the most important in the entire country. The name literally means Temple of the Golden City. Wat means Buddhist Temple; in case you are wondering. The temple was completely remodeled and redecorated, becoming the splendid temple we saw today. 

walking to the temple 

taxi

plant used in cooking, but some people have a severe allergic reaction - in fact our guide had just gotten out of the hospital from ingesting some and his wife told him to stay home but he said he made a commitment and needed to keep it

keep quiet - be respectful - dress properly

Wat Xieng Thong temple complex

We visited the Funeral Chapel that houses an enormous (39 feet high) funeral carriage that was paraded through Luang Prabang, carrying the ashes of royalty as part of the funeral rites. The urns display the ashes themselves. The walls are adorned with stunning mosaics.

Funeral chapel

gilded carved wood

3 nagas on the carriage

cremation urns

intricate mosaics

tree of life

As we walked between buildings, we saw young monks enjoying the day and working around the complex.

We visited the inside of the main building.

Wat Xieng Thong Temple

stupa

stupas

mosaic lotus flower

me on the left

tree of life mosaic

Next, we visited the National Museum (former King’s Palace, displaying a collection of personal artifacts of the Royal Family. The most striking feature of the temple is the gilded relief panels covering the front facade. The panels tell the story of the highest incarnation of the Buddha Vessentara. The gilded door frames merge into the relief panel, forming what looks like a monolithic wall of gold. Unfortunately, no photos in the museum and cameras and cell phones needed to be left in a locker.

Naga River viewpoint

across the street from the National Museum

we were allowed to go up and look in after cameras were stowed

there was another large building that we toured to see the artifacts

Then we visited Pha That Makmo (literally Watermelon Stupa, though it was meant to portray a lotus flower) is stylistically more Srilankalese than Lao.

Vat Visounnarath - Wat Visoun

the Sim in Wat Visoun

flowers made of money

Pha That Makmo - Watermelon Stupa

From there we walked to Wat Aham that signifies "The Monastery of the Blossoming Heart". It is one of the city’s major tutelary shrines. 

When we first arrived, a monk came up to us to ask for a selfie. We of course obliged and Khan took a photo of all of us. Women can’t stand right next to a monk, so the guys had to stand next to him. Another surreal experience: never dreamed we’d be asked to take a selfie with a Buddhist monk.

Wat Aham temple complex

this one was being remodeled

After a full morning of tours (starting before sunrise with morning alms), it was time for lunch. We had an included set menu at 3 Naga Restaurant.

3 Nagas Restaurant

appetizers

Pok Pok Se

dessert 

Pok Pok Set - Deep fried Mekong river weed sesame seed, homemade spicy jam & Checken breast Phanaeng curry, onion, shallot,garlic, lemongrass, coconut milk &Stir fried mixed vegetables mushroom sauce, soya sause & Grilled marinated Mekong river fish dessert was Tapioca in coconut milk with seasonal fruit

After lunch we drove for an hour to Kuang Si waterfall through beautiful landscapes of rice fields, hills, and small villages. Instead of being just one waterfall, it was a beautiful series of them as we hiked a path to the top to see the largest one. We opted not to swim in the pools, though many were out enjoying the day.

There was a Bear Rescue Center there where they take in injured or orphaned bears that wouldn’t survive on their own. The type we saw here were Asiatic Black Bears aka Moon Bears.

Asiatic Black Bear aka Moon Bear

the lowest area

we continued farther up the hill

the next one

continuing up the hill

the last one at the top

we opted to walk back on a different route and there were some interesting flowers

we also stopped at another area of the Moon Bear Rescue

waiting for the tram to take us to the Butterfly Park

After that we visited the Butterfly Park to see many Laotian butterflies in a beautifully landscaped garden. At the gardens was a natural fish spa that Cathy and I just had to try. Lots of tiny fish nibbled at our feet and one larger sneaked up from behind and it bit me, didn’t really hurt, but it sure startled me.

at the natural fish spa

my feet

there were more fish there, but they were camera shy

small waterfall at the park

while waiting for our tram, a tram full of monks went by 

We got the tram back to the van and returned to town. Back to town, Khan suggested a place for traditional Lao food, but we were looking for a place with both western and Lao food to satisfy both couples. On the menu was buffalo with tripe and bile. We love to try local foods, but…..

 So, we started walking towards the night market and found Maolin Tavern that worked for all and popped in. Service was terrible but the food was quite good. Since we have had lots of different curries so far, we opted for something different here. We tried fried lemongrass stuffed with chicken, herbs & vegetables, and pork fried spring rolls - onion, noodles, egg, mushrooms, fish sauce. Both were good, but the spring rolls were a bit heavy and greasy. 

After dinner, we had walked a few more steps and Greg was poised like a pointer dog and standing on a flashing sign on the sidewalk that said gelato. It was good, but not Gelato Lab good. Snickers and chocolate were both tasty.

We wandered up and back the large Night Market and I finally found a magnet that was of the monks receiving their morning alms and I bought a wrap skirt which may come in handy for temples later in the trip. (never wore it, so some of the material may get mounted on a painter's canvas and displayed on a wall.)

Maolin Tavern

fried lemongrass stuffed with chicken, herbs & vegetables

pork fried spring rolls - onion, noodles, egg, mushrooms, fish sauce

gelato stop

with Krap in the name, maybe they have Krud beer?

night market

magnet 

We rejoined with Tom & Cathy and wandered back to the hotel. 

We didn’t have to be up early so went to bed later and tried to reorganize our luggage for the next trip in Borneo, where we plan to leave most things at the hotel in Kuala Lumpur and just take a carry on since it’ll be in 3 different eco lodges that are only accessible by boat.

The hotel was old and dated. It had a retrofitted shower and sink right next to the bed. The toilet room did have a door. No lighting to speak of and linens than had seen better days years ago. The bed was extremely wide and comfortable, but the pillows were like bags of cement. The staff couldn’t have been nicer, and the food was good, but we really didn’t like the hotel. It’s kind of a backpacker town, but yikes. 

For larger photos: https://photos.app.goo.gl/GUhHAjiVnn2uffzc9