Up a hill and across the Mekong

Luang Prabang is so hot. Mum and I took off by ourselves today to see the town at a leisurely pace, but had to return to the hotel for naps and showers more than once.

At six o'clock we watched the town's monks proceed silently up the street in front of our hotel in their daily alms procession. Three women kneeled on mats by the side of the road delivering little balls of sticky rice into the bowls of the monks, their only meal of the day. The whole experience, a solemn religious ceremony, was totally marred by the gang of amateur paparazzi chatting at the roadside and conspicuously photographing the monks, sometimes leaning right into their faces. My mum in particular is becoming increasingly irritated at insensitive or incessant photography on the part of others that we have encountered.

After breakfast we walked along the road labelled on our map as 'Tourist Street' to reach Phousi hill, on top of which is a golden stupa and views across the town, out to the Mekong river and the Nam Khan river on either side of the peninsula, everything hazy in the morning heat. We descended and wandered further, arriving at L'Etranger Books and Tea for refreshing ginger tea (the first of several today) and a big shared bowl of fruit, yoghurt and muesli. Next we went to the Traditional Arts and Ethnology Centre, a nice little museum that provides an introduction to the country's diverse ethnic make up, with over one hundred ethnic minority groups. The most interesting exhibits were the traditional clothing of different ethnic groups, each with significant distinctions in terms of decoration and embellishment. We also watched a short video about courting rituals and games amongst one particular group. The lasting impression I took away was the disproportionate responsibility that seemed to be placed on women, who are expected to do most of the housework as well as to weave, dye, sew and decorate their own intricate costumes to demonstrate their creativity, patience and diligence to promote themselves as potential wives.

This was enough activity for the morning and we returned to the hotel for a nap, possibly the highlight of the day for me. Then we had lunch at the banks of the Mekong before crossing the river on a passenger ferry, a cheap alternative to a chartered boat as spotted by my thrifty mother, to have a look at the island on the other side. The village here is called Chompet and along a red dirt path through it a series of wats (temples) can be reached. We walked to the first one before making our way back through the delightful little village and hopping back onto the ferry.

Back in the town we had just enough time for a refreshing iced coffee with milk before making our way to Tamnak Lao restaurant for an evening cooking class we had booked in advance. Mr Leng Lee demonstrated four Lao dishes for us- a spicy fish soup, a chicken and pork curry, a pork salad and blanched vegetables with a spicy tomato chilli jam. Jessica was sure to question every action he took and to stick her face into all the bowls of ingredients in her typical style. Besides Jessica, Mum, Crystal and myself were two young American women and we were all asked to work in pairs, choosing two of the four dishes to prepare between ourselves. I was paired with Crystal as Mum and Jessica are both vegetarian and we agreed to make the fish and vegetable dishes. This pairing arrangement was perhaps not the most efficient as Mum and Jessica are both experienced cooks whereas Crystal and I are less so. I could sense an element of competition between Mum and Jessica, who disagreed on the salt level of their fish soup but nonetheless finished well before me and Crystal. I took the lead in my pair and I'm convinced our fish soup was better!

Our food was served outside with sticky rice prepared by the teacher. After waiting for the obligatory photos of everything to be taken by Crystal we got stuck in. I enjoyed it a lot, and enjoyed the class because we were given lots of freedom to make our own mistakes, in contrast to the class I took in Phnom Penh in which almost everything was done for us. I'm ashamed to say I haven't cooked in a very long time but I was pleased to find I still enjoy it and am not too bad either.

Mum and I had a look around the night market and have settled in a cafe for another cup of ginger tea, where I am writing this post in the absence of reliable wifi at the hotel. Tomorrow we will be picked up early to begin a two-day trek to the Kuang Si waterfall outside of the city. As our group's appointed organiser I am a bit apprehensive about how this will go but I hope it will be a good experience for everyone. I will report back on our return on Sunday evening.