Luong Phabang

Nestling in a slim valley shaped by lofty, green mountains and cut by the swift Mekong and Khan river, Luong Phabang exudes remote tranquility and casual grandeur. A tiny mountain kingdom for more than a thousand years and designated a World Heritage site in 1995, Luong Phabang is endowed with a legacy of ancient red-roofed temples and French – Indochinese architecture not to mention some of the country’s most refined cuisine, its richest culture and its most sacred Buddha image, the Phabang. For those familiar with Southeast Asia, the very name Luon Phabang conjures up the classic image of Lao – streets of ochre colonial house and swaying palms, lines-robed monks gliding through the  morning mist, the sonorous thump of the temple drums hours before dawn and of course long tail-boats racing down the Mekong before the river slips out of view through a seam in the mountains.

Louang Phabang is the most Lao city in Laos. While other urban centres in the country are heavily by ethnic Vietnamese and Chinese, Louang Phabang is the only city in Lao Where ethnic Lao are in the majority.

The Royal Palace Museum 

Occupying a fittingly central location in the old city between Phou Si Hill and the Mekong river, the former Royal Palace is now a museum preserving the trappings and paraphernalia of Laa’s recently extinguished monarchy. The palace sits at the end of a long drive lined with stately palms. It was constructed in 1940 by the French and replace an older, smaller palace of teak and rosewood. The new palace was supposed to be crowned by a Eu style steeple but King Sisavang Vong insisted on modifications and the graceful  sputa-like spire that you see today a substituted, resulting in a tasteful fusion ò EU and Lao design.

Chinatown

The neighborhood encompassing the section ò Xiang Thong road just north ò the former Royal Palace is known to locals as Ban Jek ỏ Chinatown, as the row of shop-houses that line the streets are owned by ethnic Chinese. Here are some fine examples ò Luon Phabang shop-house architecture, a hybrid of French and Lao features super-imposed on the south Chinese style that was once prevalent throughout urban Southeast Asia.

Wat Pa Phai and beyond 

A left turn at the end of the row of shop-house will take you to Wat Pa Phai, the Bamboo forest monastery. The principal attraction here is the facade of the sim, painted and lavishly embellished with stylized nag and peacocks. The stucco and mirror work closely resembles that commonly seen on Buddhist structures in Chiang Mai

Wat Xiang Thong and beyond

Probably the most historic and enchanting Buddhist monastery in the entire country, Wat Xiang Thong the Golden city monastery near the northern most tip of the peninsula, should not be missed. The main temple or sim was built in 1560 by King Setthathilat, who then promptly moved the capital of the Kingdom of a million Elephants downriver to Vientiane.. It is this wonderfully graceful building that dominates the monastery. Unlike nearly every other temple in Luong Phabang, this sim was not razed by Chinese marauders in the ninetieth century or over-enthusiastically restored in the twentieth.

Wat Khili 

Nearby Wat Khili is a rare example of a Xiang Khuong style temple. Luong Phabang once boasted at least three temples in this low, squat design which originated on the windy plains of the province an former kingdom after which the style is named. Legend has it that the Chinese Black Flag rebels who sacked and looted Luong Phabang in 1887 took special care to destroy Xiang Khuong style temples because their shape resembled Chinese coffins. Its also said that the Buddha at Wat Khili broke into a cold sweat in 1958 a dark omen signaling the coming war.

Phuo Si Mountain

Phou Si, Lao for holy hill is the geographical as well as spiritual centre of the city. Believed to have once harbored a powerful nag who dwelt in its bowels, the hill is also seen as a miniature Mount Meru, the Mount Olympus of Hindu-Buddhist cosmology. Though there is nothing to see on the hill itself, save for an ancient-looking sim at its foot and it’s not particularly pictures queue up close in any case, Phou Si is striking from a distance. Indeed, the golden spires of That Chomsi at its summit are the first glimpse a stunning panorama of the city it crowns and the shimmering rivers beyond jungle-clad mountains and moody skies are mesmerizing.

The banks of the Mekong and the Nam Khan 

Surrounded by rivers on three sides. Luong Phabang not surprisingly feels almost waterborne and the ship-like contour of the peninsula enhances this impression. Numerous stairways, flanked with whimsical guardian images, link palaces, monasteries and homes with nearby rivers and are a statement of the importance. The banks along the Mekong side are the more lively o, but the Nam Kha side is more evocative of old Luong Phabang and on either side the show is a never ending affair.