Luang Prabang Day 2: Ten-ple Pin Bowling

So….I overslept...of course. I am just good at waking up.

I knew that we would have a limited number of days to spend in Luang Prabang, and as our guesthouse for the previous night was in the centre of the old royal city, we decided to spend our first whole day in the city visiting as many of the wat and brick-and-mortar stick-and-mortar (I’ve seen Lao building sites, trust me) attractions within the city as possible.

There are dozens of wats within the old city alone, and whilst we popped our head around the entrance of any we walked past, we focused on the major ones, as listed in my battered Rough Guide. Our route headed roughly from the Royal Palace towards the end of the peninsula, with its crowning glory of Wat Xieng Thong (see earlier blog for photo essay on that particular blog).

Our first was Wat Xieng Mouane, which just happened to be further down the side road where we had breakfast. It was wonderfully peaceful, with only a dozing monk (there’s a lot of those here) for company, though a group of tourists stumbled out from behind a sanctuary just as we were leaving.

I am a fan of the golden chedi that appear everywhere here. They are very photogenic, though perhaps that still does not justify the sheer amount of pictures I’ve taken of them….

So many golden chedi.

Our next stop was the small, but no less beautiful, Wat Pa Phai, a couple of blocks on. I was trying to not photograph every single wat I went in, but this shot was too tempting.

Oh the symmetry.

Next we crossed the road to Wat Nong Sikhounmuan, which sat in the middle of a drab, cracked, concrete compound. However the main sim building was reached by a naga balustrade which was really quite attractive, and had a fierce, slightly lopsided naga guardian, the similar of which I have yet to see.

Wat Nong Sikhounmuan.

Along the sides of the sim , there were elegant carvings of fish on the roof supports, which I rather liked.

Something I really liked about the wat of Luang Prabang is that they were unashamably quirky and unique; each temple has features that I have never seen repeated in Laos or elsewhere.

Mosaic elephant anyone.

Next was Wat Sensoukharam, which was the first in a line of monasteries flanking the northern side of Sakkaline Rd.

Wat Sensoukharam.

The exterior wall of the sim was painted a deep, deep terracotta red, upon which artists had stencilled gold dancers and musicians. The overall impression when combined with the high, imposing roof, tiled in a deep orange and black, and the red and gold detailing of the woodwork and shutters, was rich, attractive and most definitely regal. This wat certainly did not lack for funds.

Continuing onwards, we walked next door into Wat Sop Sickharam, which had a colourful, glass-mosaic chedi similar to those of Wat Xieng Thong, but was otherwise fairly unremarkable.

So colourful, so blue, so so.

I caught Niko reflecting here.

By our next stop, Wat Sibounghuang, I was starting to suffer from temple fatigue, which resulted in me goofing around and taking this photo.

No mur tenplz plz

There’s only so many wat you can see before you start thinking ‘So wat?’.

This fatigue was of course cured by our next stop, Wat Xieng Thong, which I loved so much I’ve written a separate post for it. If you haven’t seen those photos, I will include a few here.

The tree of life at Wat Xieng Thong.

Assorted mosaics at Wat Xieng Thong.

By this point, we had spent a solid three hours in the heat looking at temples and carvings. We were hot. We were thirsty. We really did not want to see another wat for a while. So I suggested we visit a cafe, a branch of which I had basically lived in when I visited Hanoi last year, called Joma Bakery. I believe it is a Canadian chain, as the English menus have little Canadian flags rather than USA or UK flags. But who knows. All I know is that they do bagels, they do chilli, and they do cakes that taste like home. It is a guilty pleasure last year, and I was thrilled to find one in Luang Prabang.

Joma!!!!

Cue two hour work session.

The picture is bad, but it was far worse before I fixed it!

The next few hours were filled with blogging, followed by a trek across town to move hostels. Our new hostel, Central Backpackers, was far more friendly, and much more social than our previous guest house. I also loved that the AC was so powerful I was cold at night and had to wear socks. Heaven!

After this boring interlude, Niko suggested we tackle one of the last attractions in the city centre; Phousi Hill (pronounced Pu-sy)

Now, whilst I am all for climbing a hill that sounds like a euphemistic vagina, this was at around 3pm, the hottest part of the day. I was not amused, but decided that I may as well get the climb out of the way.

Perched at the base of the hill was Wat Pahouak, with a most enigmatic sign.

Wat Pahouak with it's picture???? Where!?!?

We never did ascertain exactly what or where this picture was. Very Professor Leyton.

Then we started the climb to the top.

108 to go.

I have never, ever, ever, sweated so much. It was in my eyes. It soaked my top. It ran down the back of my legs. It was disgusting, so disgusting.

The views from the top were however spectacular. I’m not sure whether they were worth the hike or the sweating (have I mentioned how disgusting I felt?), but they were good.

Looking over the Mekong to the mountains of Laos.

The city of Luang Prabang - this is the 4th biggest settlement in Laos...

We descended the hill using a different route, which rambled past cave shrines, golden Buddha statues, and signposts for Buddha’s footprint, before eventually depositing us behind Wat Siphoutthabath.

Stopppp.....HAMMERTIME!

Secret valley in Wat Phousi.

…

As we had spent the day being cultural ambassadors and all-round good tourists, Niko and I felt that we were entitled that evening to be, in his words, ‘an all-out ratchet hot mess’. We started innocently enough; we, and our newly found Austrian friend Alex, headed to our favourite buffet lady, who seemed pleased we returned with more people, and enjoyed our food over a few beers. Then, we headed to the bar to go to in Luang Prabang; Utopia. Hidden down a network of alleyways, it was actually very fancy, and it felt like a load of smelly backpackers had invaded a upmarket beach bar. We spent several hours there just chatting, and enjoying the 15000K (£1.20) Rum & Cokes’.

Just after 11pm however, the lights all turned on, and the staff started asking people to leave, as Luang Prabang has a strict curfew of 11.30pm.

So where do you go after 11.30pm if you want to continue the night.

The answer is...the bowling alley.

So many drunks, all better than me at bowling.

Late-night bowling has become something of an institution in Luang Prabang, aided no doubt by that pesky curfew. As the bowling alley is situated well out of town, it doesn’t disturb the locals; in fact there were more locals than travellers using the lanes.

I was sceptical at first of the concept, but it turns out that drunken bowling was a really good night out. It probably helps that I was at a perfect level of drunk where my abysmal bowling was actually improved by alcohol, and yet when I bowled badly I was too drunk to care.

My partners in crime: Alex & Niko.

Partying at the bowling alley.

It was just an awesome night, even though I lost every game I played. Eventually I just gave up and danced with Alex to the too-quiet music.

All round a brilliant day and night!

DSP

Useful information:

Temple costs:

• Wat Xiengmouane: free
• Wat Pa Phai: free
• Wat Nong Sikhounmuan: free
• Wat Sensoukharam: free
• Wat Sop Sickharam: free
• Wat Sibounghuang: free
• Wat Xieng Thong: 20000K (so so so worth it)
• Phousi Hill: 20000K - enter through Wat Siphoutthabath, as route is less steep and shaded.
• Royal Palace (decided against seeing this in the end): 30000K

Eating, Drinking and Entertainment:

• Joma Bakery: Chao Fa Ngum Rd. Canadian bakery chain in Laos and Vietnam. Fairly expensive, but has AC, decent Wifi, and does really good bagels, chilli and wraps. Bagels are 9000 (£0.75), Chilli is 19000 (£1.50) and cakes are around the same.
• Utopia: Hidden down an alley off the road running south from Phousi Hill. Drinks are reasonable (15000K for Whisky & Coke) as long as you stay simple. Bring flip flops in with you rather than leaving them at the door; they’re needed to get to the toilets, and it ensures drunk people won’t borrow them.
• Bowling alley: 4km outside of town. We paid 10000K each way, and the tuk-tuk waits for you outside. I’ve heard 5000K e.w. is possible with a large group. Beer is 20000K for a large Beer Lao, and a game costs 20000K p.p.