This Buddha statue stood out from others at Wat Xieng Thong in Luang Prabang because the gilt on his face and neck was not the usual smooth gold paint that I had seen on other Buddhas in Laos. Instead it appeared as if small postage-stamp-sized pieces of gold leaf had been haphazardly applied over the [...]
Happily for those who spend a full week there, Luang Prabang has more to offer than just wats, wats, wats. In February, I spent two full days taking a weaving course through OckPopTok, which operates two shops in the town and a weaving center just outside of it. I had never done any weaving before [...]
Earlier this week, a friend and I took the bus from Luang Prabang in Laos across the border to Kunming, China. Information about the trip is scarce in guidebooks and online, and even in Luang Prabang there is plenty of misinformation. So this post is in the nature of a public service announcement:
There is a [...]
One of Luang Prabang’s most distinctive traits is its superabundance of wats — Buddhist monastery-temples. The wats themselves create the ritual of morning alms, one of the most popular “sights” in the city.
At promptly 6:30 a.m. each day, orange-clad monks leave the wats and process around town to collect alms of sticky rice. The alms-givers [...]
As I researched this trip, one of the most worrying segments was the border crossing from Cambodia to Laos. With Travelfish labeling it a “pain in the posterior,” I was a wee bit apprehensive. But as it turned out, it was a mostly painless experience.
Having heard that visas would not be issued at the border. [...]
