The staff at the Tamarind in Chiang Mai have worked wonders and I feel so much better. If you have to feel rough on your travels then this is the sort of hotel to feel rough at ! Thank you Tamarind.
Chiang Mai airport is small, quiet and ... I never thought I would say this about any airport but ... relaxing !
No problems with check-in or security, free wi-fi available and only just over an hour to wait so I can catch up on a bit of "blogging".
Outside Chiang Mai Airport Temporary travelling companion No 747 but it will get us there ! Peter from Ottawa I hope !!
I thought these kind of stewardesses only appeared in Airline adverts !.
As we travel east towards the Thai border the landscape below becomes quite hilly. I am quietly excited, this is the sort of country I had hoped for, steep hills, deep wooded valleys threaded by rivers and lush green vegetation.
( Just so you know I'm not just looking at the stewardesses ! )
Arrival at Luang Prabang airport.
This place looks terrific !
And here is Villa Senesouk which I researched and booked all those months ago on the internet at Cheltenham !
The Senesouk is not a hotel - just a guest house, but very clean with aircon, free wi-fi, tv ( I don't want/need !), wash room with shower, and balcony at the front with table and chairs.
In the photo. my room and balcony are on the upper floor at this end of the building directly behind the tall palm tree in the centre.
An unexpected bonus !
When I get to my room, pull back the curtains and step out on to the balcony, this is what I see directly across the road from me.
A working Buddhist Temple ( Wat Sene ).
If I wanted to I could sit here as long as I want and just watch the Monks go about their daily business.
Later I find they have large booming gongs and very deep bass drums (housed in the smaller building on the right of the picture ) which they sound ritually every day (and night!) at 4pm and 4am. !!
Actually I don't mind at all - it's a beautiful sound, quite spiritually uplifting and somehow makes me feel very welcome here.
If you google a map of Luang Prabang you'll see that the town is built on a peninsular formed by the Mekong river, (which is huge even this far inland) and the Khan river which is not so big, but prettier !).
Where I am living is almost on the end of the peninsular where the Khan river turns to join the Mekong.
The Khan river is right behind my guest house and the Mekong just two minutes walk in the other direction.
After a shower I decide to explore the town so I walk along the Khan riverside to the bamboo bridge.
Even at 5pm the temperature is about 38c
but the humidity is not too bad.
It only takes 10 minutes to walk to the bridge and then I turn away from the river up into the town.
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| Luang Prabang Main Street |
In about 1 hours' time there will be table and chairs out on the pavements and the place will be gently buzzing with people eating and drinking.
But ... there's no loud music, no aggravation or intimidation, no yobs or loutish behaviour.
People here just seem to have so much respect for each other and everything around them.
To understand or appreciate this friendly, relaxed, unintimidating atmosphere you really have to be here and one of the main reasons why this place is like paradise (to me at least!), is because the Laotian authorities seem to be very strict on commerce, social behaviour and crime.
Authoritarian, one party communist state it may be but there don't seem to be too many complaints here !
Global outlets such as KFC, MacDonald, Starbucks and the like are banned. They just do not tolerate bad behaviour and because they have always enforced their rules rigidly, standards of social behaviour and respect just seem to come naturally.
So much so that, there no longer seems to be a need for a police presence. Alcohol is freely available but I didn't see anyone even close to being drunk, there are one or two small clubs/discos but never any unruly behaviour and I didn't see a single police officer or a police car for all the time I was here.
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| Take off your shoes before entering someones house or hotel |
I may have painted a picture of a slightly oppressive society but believe me it is not. You are never conscious of the rules, everything just happens naturally, and everyone I met was having a great time.
The town of Luang Prabang is a listed UNESCO World Heritage Centre so I should not be too surprised at what I found here.
However, this is one small town in a very large country and I have no idea what the rest of Laos is like.
At the far end of the Main Street the huge night market starts up at 6pm every evening.
Unusually for this sort of market there is very little "tack" and an awful lot of interesting and beautiful craft items.
Thank goodness I don't do shopping !
Back to the Villa Senesouk for a good nights rest.
Let's see what tomorrow brings .....
..... See you then.
