Luang Prabang

I had been looking forward to Luang Prabang for awhile. It's considered the culture capital of Laos, and the last major city in Northern Laos. After that, the travel gets a little more remote. By the time, I reached Luang Prabang, I was pretty tired of being on the move so I planned to stay for about 5 nights. After a few weeks or picking up every few days, the thought of packing again make you want to cry. I still do not understand how my bag can completely explode all over the room after 30 minutes of my arrival.

I climbed into yet another bus for the 7 hour + drive to Luang Prabang. I have never snow skied, but I can only equate the journey to a downhill slalom. Well that's not quite right, there were some uphill parts too. There was no reading on this bus, you just sat as you experience turn after turn through the mountains. Oh, and there wasn't any air-conditioning. If there had been it would have been usually because the driver decided that keeping the front door open the entire trip was a good idea. I eventually made it to Laung Prabang, to a lovely guesthouse recommended by a friend.

The city of small cottages and wats sits around the steep Phou Si hill at the intersection of the Mekong and the Nam Khan. I ended up in Luang Prabang with a group of travelers I had met in Laos.

One of major attractions is the city's night market. After four in the afternoon, the main road in town shuts down and locals set up tents selling textiles, paper goods, and jewelry. Laos has some of the most impressive weaving I've ever seen. Many of the women selling scarves, bed linens, and hangings bring their work into town from the outlying villages. Friends and I went straight to the source and were able to see many of the weaving workshops including their silk worm farms ad natural dyes.






























































We took a long boat up the Mekong river to the Pak Ou caves. The cave was the worship site for the river spirit, Phi. The caves contain roughly 4,000 buddha figures. The spot has become a pilgrimage sight for the king and local population. Each visitor brought a figure to leave in the caves.

Vang Vieng, Laos

Vientiane, Laos

After Siem Reap, I flew to Vientiane, Laos. The capital sits on the Mekong on the border between Laos and Thailand. Laos may be my favorite country of travels. There was something so relaxing about it after the pace of Cambodia.

As soon as I arrived in Laos, I felt as my internal clock slowed down. The country is made for taking it slow and taking it all in.

On the plane, I recognized a friend of a friend who was also traveling in Southeast Asia. So with a few new friends I explored Laos for ten days. In Vientiane, we put down our bags and found a rickety wooden bar over looking the Mekong and into Thailand. Best spring rolls, I had eaten in sometime.

There's not much in Vientiane, we ventured on a local bus out to the Buddha Park, pictures below will explain the name. IN Cambodia, I found people friendly, once you greeted them. The difference is, in Laos, everyone smiles at you first.

More From Angkor

Temples at Angkor

There are two ways to get to Siem Reap from the capital, bus or a boat up the Tonlé Sap. Siem Reap is a home base for those exploring the Angkor Temples. Angkor Wat is the largest and most recognizable of the temples. The Bayon is a temple with faces on towers and Ta Prohm was kept as it was 'discovered' by the French. I got to explore Ta Prohm mostly on my own as other left to go watch the sunset over Angkor Wat. At Angkor you can see architectural wonders and play Indiana Jones at the other ruin sites.

There are a lot of photos from Angkor. I apologize in advance.



Former baths/swimming pools in Angkor Wat




Monkeys!



Look as I masterfully cover up the green tarp on the front of the wat with a palm tree!



Taking photos from the back of a moto is an important skill in Southeast Asia.

Phnom Penh in Pictures

The remnants of French colonialism still sit on the banks of the Mekong in Phnom Penh. While still fairly safe for tourists; corruption is commonplace as is child prostitution. However, this is a side of the city I never saw. I assume you have to go looking for it. The French were never as interested in Cambodia as they were in Vietnam. When they left, they left little infrastructure and access to education.

Most tourists go to Phnom Penh to learn about the Khmer Rouge and their reign on the country. Many people I talked to had been unaware of the atrocities that happened during the regime. The Khmer Rouge were the community party in Cambodia. They began working in the rural areas in the 1960s and eventually civil war broke out in the early 1970s. In 1975, Pol Pot declared "Year Zero" and began implemented his policies on a much larger-scale. Most Cambodians had no idea who was in charge of the 'revolution' until 1977.

The Khmer Rouge desired a purely agrarian society. All peasants were praised as the 'Old People.' Conversely, monks, government officials, doctors, and intellectuals were labeled as the 'New People' and forced to work in labor camps outside of the city. City dwellers were seen as enemies to communism. Even those who wore glasses were killed as suspected intellectuals.

In the pictures below, there are images from the national palaces in the capital. The others are from S-21, a high-school turned prison on the outskirts of the city. Those convicted at Tuol Sleng, S-21, were sent to the killing fields at Choeung Ek. You won't see any pictures from the killing fields because sometimes it's important not to stay behind your camera lens.