Dateline Luang: Prabang (Day 235 with 3770 to go)
The sun’s lingering reflection rippled across the wine in my glass. Surely this potent, home-brewed Lao concoction was enhancing my view over the Mekong River. My steamed fish, banana-leaf-wrapped selection for dinner soon arrived. The accompanying “sticky rice” was served in a hand-woven basket. It’s lid was tied with a little red string to keep the rice from going astray . . . or maybe just to encapsulate the heat. It’s possible to make a full dinner of just your ever-so-slightly-sweetened sticky rice when it’s dipped into tangy fish sauce laced with a bit of freshly chopped chile. Add your main course from the extensive list of Northern Laos specialties available . . . well, I can only hint at my delight. Lao wine isn’t necessarily a prerequisite for the euphoria. The five-dollar price tag for both meal and drinks made the night quite thrilling.
One could easily while away the evening with a glass or three of Lao wine in hand and so I did.
However, since my life is powered by the reality of taking photos for a living, I still made it up early the next morning and was off for my much-anticipated visit to the most celebrated temple in Luang Prabang, Wat Xieng Thong. But “zing” can’t possibly describe the experience. This could be the quintessential temple visit of a lifetime–depending, of course, on one’s chosen Buddhist proclivity. But Xieng Thong is most definitely the highlight of any visit to this UNESCO World Heritage town.
I, too, must celebrate historic beauty. Wat Xieng Thong was built in the year 1560. The rear wall of the main temple is encrusted with bits of colorful glass depicting the “Tree of Life.” Inside is a serene-faced golden Buddha.
Interior walls are covered in gold-stenciled designs. On one side is a display of ancient gongs.
The funerary carriage house in the temple complex is home to this group of old Buddhist statues and the interior walls are inlaid with colored glass mosaic designs depicting scenes of local daily life.
The exterior walls of the nearby Red Chapel depict more glass mosaic scenes. Inside rests a reclining Buddha.
As if to augment my perception of Xieng’s importance on the Luang Prabang scene, the heavens suddenly decided to add exclamation.
Within a minute after I exited the temple the sky rapidly blackened in a threat to unleash fury. I was taken aback. Four f/stops of light had vanished in seconds. Distant thunder intensified and I had the distinct impression I would get very wet very soon so I quickly stashed my camera into my waterproof bag. But little could I have imagined the extent of the inundation that was upon me. Then all hell unleashed . . . on second thought, this deluge was from the opposite direction, of course. It was like a ferocious hurricane had suddenly engulfed me, a terrorizing typhoon or tornado. Trees swayed under the pressure, then trees began to snap and power lines fell. My heart was pounding as I ran for cover under the portico of a nearby guest house entrance. But that didn’t stop the ensuing onslaught. The wind went wild and there was no way to keep dry. I watched helplessly as a house on the other side of the Mekong burst into flames.
And then, just as swiftly . . . it was all over in ten minutes. I was stunned. I was amazed. I wished I’d had an underwater camera to capture the scene as it unfolded. I found myself extremely wet.
Such was my welcome to Luang Prabang.
Most locals I talked to afterwards were equally aghast though many acknowledged this must have been an awesome sign from the heavens that the upcoming “Bun Pi Mai Lao” celebration (the Lao New Year) would be more thrilling than ever.
This normally sleepy, though heavily touristed town, is beguiling with its resplendent temples, crumbling French provincial architecture and its multiethnic inhabitants from nearby hill tribes who smile all the time. The streets are usually calm save for an occasional bicycle or tuk-tuk and some tourists milling about. The old town is cradled on a peninsula between the mighty Mekong on one side and a tributary, the Nam Khan river, on the other, which blocks off any possibility of through traffic. Luang Prabang’s UNESCO designation brought signage control in the old town that has virtually eliminated the visual clutter found in most other Laotian towns. And it’s a godsend that no trucks or buses are now allowed. This is the second largest city in Laos but there are only 26,000 local residents. Perhaps this gives you some perspective about the layback rhythm of this country. Late every afternoon the main drag through the old town section of Luang Prabang converts to a walk street and into a night market where endless displays of hill tribe artifacts and other goodies can be found such as these rice paper umbrellas.
One could purchase vibrantly colored bamboo cages with a little chirping bird inside to be released at a nearby temple during the Lao New Year for good luck.
There were displays of hand-wrought knives and Lao silk.
Or you could throw darts and try to pop a balloon.
There were all kinds of goodies to eat. Little fish seemed to be frozen in time. Those straight from the barbecue were strapped between bamboo sticks while other uncooked versions were snuggly ensconced in circular bamboo containers ready for the flame.
Or you could choose a succulent-looking barbecued pig face instead.
I timed my Luang Prabang visit to photograph the colorful parades in which participants wear traditional dress for the festive Lao New Year celebration that occurs in mid-April each year.
A few other colorful characters joined the parade too.
And I was surprised to see there was a gay pride contingent of Laotian drag queens.
A few days earlier Luang Prabang was already teeming with tourists, who had no doubt arrived in great anticipation of getting thoroughly wet. Though this was the driest part of the hot season, the town was soon to be awash in far more water than my welcoming torrential downpour a few days earlier.
In fact, all hell really did break loose the next day when the Songkran Water Festival began.
Locals and tourists alike went crazy throwing water. The streets were lined with huge drums from which people were scooping out water with bowls and pans and tossing the contents in wild abandon at each other and at passersby. If you dared be on the street, you were going to get sopping wet.
Tourists were prime targets but most were well armed for the ensuing water battle.
Open-bed trucks prowled the streets with mischievous youths on board who were scouring the terrain for like-minded compatriots to engage in the most outrageous water fights you could imagine.
Other vehicles had been specially painted for the occasion and many served as party platforms on which youths could get even more inebriated while dancing and thumping to ear-piercing sounds pumped from mega boom box speakers lining the streets. See one of those sound systems near the top left corner of this photo below. Throughout the day the entire town was like a throbbing, gyrating, water-bourne disco gone berserk. It was contagious. I, too, was pulsing with the beat. Maybe that’s why some of my photos have a bit of camera shake.
Somehow I kept relatively dry. Perhaps it was because I held my camera prominently displayed . . . or maybe it was the menacing grimace I threw toward water revelers every time my camera and I were about to get doused. 
The formal Lao New Year celebration lasts for a week in Luang Prabang but the middle three days are the wettest and the wildest. Evenings were much quieter. Perhaps the locals and tourists alike were either fully inebriated already or totally exhausted by nightfall . . . or maybe they just needed to dry out.
So each evening I found my way back to a favorite restaurant on the banks of the Mekong for a quiet and leisurely dinner and to see my new Laotian friends who worked there.
“I’ll start with a glass of that tasty Lao wine, thank you.”
For most people the New Year’s celebration might have ended early that day but mine was just beginning.
Glen Allison
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7 Comments
Hi Peggy. Glad you enjoyed it. I really have a lot of fun on these trips. Cheers, Glen
Hello Glen, I HAVE BEEN ADMIRING YOUR WORK FOR A LONG TIME, THIS ONE IS SUPERB AND WONDERFULLY AMAZINGLY INTERESTING !!!!
What an incredible pleasure for the eyes
tkank you so much for sharing
Peggy
glenallisontraveler.wordpress.com’s done it again! Amazing writing!
Hey Douglas, thanks so much.
On On Dude! Love your work!
I love this.
Fantastic photos that capture the fun and beauty wonderfully. 
I feel like I’ve been on a little vacation. 
Hey Krista, thanks so much. Glad you enjoyed.
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[...] Laos Wet and Wild | Glen Allison | Visual Artist The funerary carriage house in the temple complex is home to this group of old Buddhist statues and the interior walls are inlaid with colored glass mosaic designs depicting scenes of local daily life. [...]