Luang Prabang, English version

For my English speaking readers :-)

In the 14th century, a Lao prince, who had grown up in Angkor, which was at that time the most powerful kingdom in the region, started a military campaign to free his home country from foreign oppression. The king of Angkor gave him an army and presented to him a buddha statue called the "Phra Bang". The prince took it with him. After he had succeeded in winning back his home country he established a new capital city in northern Laos and named it "Luang Prabang" - "the honourable Phra Bang", to honour the buddha figure.
Two hundred years later Luang Prabang lost its status as capital of Laos to Vientiane, but has remained until today the religious and spiritual centre of the country.

And here's another mutuality between the two places mentioned above: if somebody would ask me what one should necessarily visit in southeast asia, if he had the possibility, I would answer - as a really experienced traveller ( ;-) ) and expert concerning this region and despite that it is always questionable to give such personal and subjective ratings: Angkor Wat and Luang Prabang, the rest is optional :-)

On your way to this place you get a quite good impression how isolated it today still is. There are only a few flights per day and the bus trip from Vientiane, which is about 400 km away, takes about 10 hours (it is possible to make a stop over night in Vang Vieng, but luckily it's not obligatory). The road has only one lane in each direction and leads through the mountains. Minibusses and so called VIP-busses, which are often old and have to struggle to climb the mountains, operate the connection. During the trip you can get sight of the small villages along the road. And you can see that in this case the road obviously is not a lifeline for the region it crosses. The standard of living is very, very poor, as far as one can see, people live mainly in bamboo huts. Often they are built on very steep hills which makes them look even more fragile. There are lots of signs of relief organizations, often attached to the central fountain of the villages. I didn't expect that. It revealed to me big differences in standard of living compared to Thailand. So the traffic between the two or three tourist centres passes through this regions without any noticeable positive effects.

The look of the old town of Luang Prabang displays two influences. First, there is the well preserved colonial architecture of the French. Second, the status as the religious centre of Laos is manifested in lots of temples and monasteries, the oldest one is dated back to the 16th century. In my opinion, these two influences form a appealing symbiosis. It is really a special experience to sit on the terrace of a French style cafe, in a very nice and calm atmosphere, to enjoy a really good cup of coffee and to watch the slowly flowing Mekong. This atmosphere is probably unique and this alone already makes Luang Prabang worth visiting in my opinion. An irritating sight at first are Lao people playing Boule. It's a heritage of the French and the rules seem to be the same as in Europe. Only the commentaries of the people watching the players seem more sarcastic than in Europe, as far as I was able to conclude from the sound of their frequent laughter that followed the more or less successful attempts.