Luang Prabang (2) Back on the Mekong: Part 11 of Following the Mekong through Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos

A Boat Trip up the Mekong: Rice Wiski and a Cave of Buddha Images

But First, A Little Orientation

Laos

Upstream from Phnom Penh the Mekong continues across Cambodia and then forms the border between southern Laos and Thailand. At Vientiane the border leaves the line of the river which continues north to Luang Prabang and on to China. Having come up the river by boat from its delta to Phnom Penh we had diverted to Siem Reap and Angkor Wat. A flight from Siem Reap to Luang Prabang had brought us back to the banks of the world’s twelfth longest river. Luang Prabang was the most northerly point of our journey and the furthest upstream we would reach.

South East Asia. Luang Prabang was our most northerly point in this trip

Boarding an Overlarge Boat, Luang Prabang

Next morning we walked down to the river bank and embarked on yet another in our series of grossly over-sized boats. These monsters – they can seat a dozen or so - were doing good business, though four passengers were the most we saw on any of them.

Over-sized boats, Luang Prabang

They are made even longer by the living quarters of the boatman and his family which form a large part of the stern.

Lynne has plenty of space

Upstream from Luang Prabang

As we left, N pointed out the hill on the far side of the river. Just about everywhere has a hill from which unrequited lovers are reputed to leap. This, apparently, is Luang Prabang’s but the rounded green hills would not seem to offer much scope to the suicidally inclined.

Lover's Leap, Luang Prabang - well, up there somewhere

We pottered gently upstream. The Mekong here is broad, though much narrower than the mighty river it was just north of the delta, but not very deep.

Heading up the Mekong from Luang Prabang

The boatman skilfully rounded shoals and rocky islets, slid gracefully over turbulent sections - not quite rapids - and through nascent whirlpools while his wife sat silent and motionless in one of the rear seats. She did that all day.

The boatman skilfully rounds the shoals and rocky islands....

The sun shone, the breeze over the water was refreshing, the hills were shrouded in mist and the banks were lush and verdant. All seemed right with the world.

Trees cling to the bank, The Mekong River above Luang Prabang

Ban Xang Hai, Rice Wiski and Other Delights

After a couple of hours the boatman turned towards towards the east bank where a set of steps led up into the jungle.

The mooring at Ban Xang Hai

We moored against a couple of earlier arrivals, climbed the steps and found ourselves in the 'whisky village' of Ban Xang Hai. I have chosen the Scottish spelling of whisky, though with little justification. On the labels the spelling is 'wiski', though the residents of Tomintoul, Tullamore or Tennessee might experience some difficulty in recognising the product as whisk(e)y of any sort.

Ban Xang Hai Lao Rice Wiski

Rice is boiled, soaked and sweetened, yeast is added and the whole thing allowed to ferment. There is more than enough sugar to take the resulting rice wine up to 15% alcohol, at which strength the yeast dies off.

A 'white wine' is made from ordinary rice and a red from 'sticky' rice. Both are sweetish, the white retaining a little acidity and the red tasting as though some fruit had been added.

Lynne tastes the 'white wine'

Some rice wine is sold as such, the rest is distilled. The still is basic, the vapour cooled by sticking a hose into the bath at the top. The product is 55% alcohol and from sucking my finger after dipping it in the stream of warm distillate, I know it is a strong clean spirit.

Wiski still, Ban Xang Hai

Bottled and aged - or at least allowed to cool - the spirit becomes more complex with a flavour that lingers for hours (and tends to repeat on you).

After making a few purchases we tore ourselves away from the distillery and found that Ban Xang Hai is a larger village than we had thought.

There were plenty of visitors and they all filed past the usual array of textile stalls. No-one seemed to be buying but business could not have been that bad, judging by the satellite dishes sprouting from almost every house.

Satellite dish, Ban Xang Hai

I doubt many Europeans were attracted to the medicine shop, where wiski is bottled with various allegedly strength giving additives. I have no objection to snakes, scorpions and geckos finding their way into the jars, if people imagine it will do them good, but the one on the right in the photograph contains bears’ feet and I cannot approve of that.

Medicine shop, Ban Xang Hai

After the shops we descended a second set of steps and found our boat had moved to this end of the village to pick us up.

Pak On, Buddha Caves and Lunch

Forty-five minutes further upstream the On River joins the Mekong. Opposite the confluence are the Pak On (mouth of the On) Caves.

Pak On Cave, Mekong River

Climbing up the concrete steps from the landing stage we entered the lower cave (Tam Ting) which is packed with Buddha images. The cave is not big, and the images are not in the best of conditions. Buddha images cannot be thrown away but when they are damaged, riddled with woodworm, or merely superseded they are sent here to live out a peaceful retirement. Compared to the spectacular Buddha cave at Pindaya in Myanmar it was nothing special and we could not be bothered to walk up the next flight of steps to the upper cave which, N assured us, was bigger but less interesting.

Part of the collection of retired Buddha images, Pak On Caves, Mekong River

Opposite, on the neck of land at the confluence, was a restaurant on stilts. We landed on the sandy shore and climbed the steps to the huge open-sided barn which had attracted less than a dozen other lunchers. The beef stew and chicken curry with rice were both excellent but they were served with a plate of Chinese-style mixed vegetables which were pleasant enough in themselves, but belonged in an entirely different meal.

Lunch opposite the Pak On Caves

Still, the inevitable Beer Lao was good and the view was fabulous.

A warm day, a fine view, a Lao Beer...

As we were about to leave a group of elephants appeared bearing tourists towards the confluence. The riders dismounted and we passed them as they were making their way up to the restaurant.

Here come the elephants.Near the confluence of the River On with the Mekong

Downstream back to Luang Prabang

The journey downstream was pleasant if inevitably quicker than the journey up.

Returning to Luang Prabang, Sometimes the stress of it all just wears me down

Chitdara Villa, Luang Prabang

We arrived back in time to sit on our balcony as the sun went down, drink another Beer Lao and write up the notes on which this blog is based. We also popped out to photograph the back of our hotel from the garden...

The rear of the Chitdara Villa, Luang Prabang

...and also this butterfly, which stubbornly refused to open it wings for the camera, but is still beautiful. I am fairly confident it is a Eurema, but which of the 70 Eurema species is another matter. Eurema Andersonii (One-spot Grass Yellow), I think, but it could be Simulatrix, or possibly....

Eurema Andersonii(?) Villa Chitdara garden, Luang Prabang

Later we went out to visit a restaurant I had earmarked earlier, but due to my incompetence we sat down at a different, though superficially similar, establishment a few doors away. I was disappointed when I read the menu, but did not immediately realize why. Lynne ordered a full meal for the first time for days; spaghetti bolognese may be comfort food, but it is real food and it was good to see the doctor's pills and potions were working. I had a red curry which is as Lao as it is Thai; the two peoples are closely related and speak similar languages which they write in not quite the same alphabet. I enjoyed it, but was beginning to feel just a little riced-out.

Following the Mekong through Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos

Part 1: Return to Saigon, Cookery and Music

Part 2: Through the Mekong Delta by Sampan
Part 3: Chau Doc
Part 4: Phnom Penh (1) Royal Palaces and Museums
Part 5: Phnom Penh (2) Killing Fields and Torture Chambers
Part 6: Across Cambodia to Siem Reap
 Part 7: Siem Reap (1) Angkor Wat
Part 8: Siem Reap (2) Angkor Thom and Other Temples
 Part 9: Siem Reap (3) Tonle Sap Lake
Part 10: Luang Prabang (1) The Old Town
Part 11: Luang Prabang (2) Back on the Mekong
Part 12: Luang Prabang (3) Elephants
 Part 13: Luang Prabang to Phonsavan
Part 14: Phonsavan, the Plain of Jars and UXO
Part 15: Vientiane (1) Wats, Stupas and a Heavy Buddha
Part 16: Vientiane (2) A Buddha Park and a Fond Farewell

Luang Prabang (1) The Old Town: Part 10 of Following the Mekong through Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos

Luang Prabang, A Former Royal Capital

Saturday Evening 22-Feb-2014

Arriving in Luang Prabang

Laos

Obtaining a visa at Luang Prabang airport was something of a circus and involved joining three separate queues. After the first we were required to hand over a photo (from our visit to the photographer’s in Saigon), while after the third they took their own snaps of us.

And why, I wondered, are Europeans charged US$35 when Australians and Bolivians only pay $30? And what have Canadians and Indians done wrong to pay $42? And why charge an extra dollar just because we arrived at the weekend?

The process was tortuous, but carried out by good humoured, smiling officials, so we left feeling surprisingly well disposed to the People's Democratic Republic of Laos.

South East Asia. We had arrived in Laos on an early evening flight from Siem Reap in Cambodia

We were met by N and taken to our hotel. The road from the airport was almost a country lane and the town had the feel of an overgrown village. 50,000 people live in Luang Prabang, though that number is swollen by tourists. The old town, a UNESCO world heritage site, sits on a peninsula between the Mekong River and its tributary, the Nam Khan. It has narrow, flower bedecked streets and French colonial houses - none of them above two storeys high.

The flower bedecked streets of Luang Prabang (we arrived in the dark, so this photograph was taken next morning)

Or hotel, the Villa Chitdara, was a beautiful old teak building and reception was welcoming and efficient.

The Villa Chitdara, Luang Prabang

Venturing out to find an ATM made us instant millionaires (£1 buys 13,000 kip) but at least they use their own currency, unlike the Cambodians, and a kip is almost three times as valuable as a Vietnamese dong (£1=34,000 dong).

Beerlao

We used our new found wealth to buy dinner, though Lynne still felt disinclined to eat. I had chicken and fried rice which was, I am sorry to say, a plate of stodge and not a promising introduction to Lao cuisine. With it I drank Beerlao which, at 15,000 kip for a 66cl bottle, was good value for what is generally regarded as Southeast Asia’s best beer - though that does not set the bar particularly high. The quality may be due to the brewery’s French founders or, more likely, to the Czech advisers who arrived when Laos was a client state of the Soviet Union. The company is now owned by Carlsberg.

Later we walked through the night market, which provided several souvenirs and gifts, but not, despite trying many different stalls, a tee shirt which even came close to wrapping itself around my bulk.

Sunday 23-Feb-2014

The Monks Dawn Begging Run

At six o'clock every morning, after the banging of a gong, the monks of the town's many monasteries walk in single file through the streets in their saffron robes begging for their day's food. The people, more accurately the older women, kneel beside the road and give something, usually a handful of sticky rice, to each passing monk.

Here come the monks, Luang Prabang

Foreign tourists also line the streets photographing the proceedings. This has caused problems in the past but as far as we could see, all were well behaved and attempting to be unobtrusive.

We were in an especially fortunate position as all we had to do was roll out of bed, step out onto our balcony and watch the monks pass in front of us; the hotel owner's wife being one of the kneeling women handing out largesse and gaining merit for her generosity.

A Visit to a Doctor for Some Treatment

Lynne was had become increasing frustrated at feeling sick, having stomach problems and not wanting to eat, so when N arrived to conduct a walking tour of Luang Prabang she suggested a trip to the doctor first.

Luang Prabang

He called up a car and we drove into the new town – less picturesque but not very different from the old town – and to a doctor's surgery. When I was little, in the 1950s, Dr Harding made no appointments, had no receptionist and could not have imagined installing a touch screen computer so that you could 'arrive yourself'; patients just sat in the waiting room until it was their turn. This remains the way in Luang Prabang, except you remove your shoes before entering and the consulting room is merely one end of the waiting room. We heard every word of the consultation of the people before us - though we understood nothing - and those after heard every word of Lynne's, though with equal incomprehension. If privacy was required the patient lay on a bed screened by a bookcase.

The young woman doctor (I think she was young, but with a surgical mask covering her face it is difficult to be certain) examined each patient in turn, prescribed and dispensed medication and accepted a small sum of money. Lynne's turn came and she quickly discovered the doctor spoke excellent English – far better than N's, who was theoretically there as a translator. She had a reassuring air of competence, asked all the right questions, prodded all the right places and finally dispensed an encouraging pile of pills and potions. Lynne is a great believer in such things (I prefer to grit my teeth and cure myself by will power) and was well pleased. We paid $41 (requested and paid in US currency) which was vastly more than the locals looked to be paying but if it put Lynne back on her feet, and, hopefully, subsidised medical care for the poorer members of this far from affluent society, it was money well spent.

Luang Prabang

Back at the hotel, Lynne took her first potion and we set off on foot for the National Museum inside the former Royal Palace.

A Little Lao History

The country we know as Laos has existed since the eighteenth century when three smaller kingdoms came together under French protection. The people are Lao, the country is Laos, the French added the ‘s’ to distinguish between them, but, like (almost) every other French terminal ‘s’, it is silent. The colonisers had great hopes for Laos but as it became clear that the Mekong was not navigable this far upstream and anyway Eldorado was not going to be found round here, they lost interest and the few French officials conducted a light touch administration. Despite this, as we would discover, the Lao picked up more Gallic habits than the Vietnamese or Cambodians.

Of the three earlier kingdoms, that of Luang Prabang became dominant and their royal family provided the Kings of Laos, though the capital soon moved to Vientiane.

The civil war following French withdrawal was a complicated affair involving several factions and some heavy handed interference from the Americans - the after effects of which are still a serious blight on the lives of the people in several parts of the country. (see Phonsavan, the Plain of Jars and Unexploded Ordinance) It dragged on for many years with some half-hearted fighting and much jockeying for position until a bloodless coup finally brought the communist Pathet Lao to power in December 1975, just months after the fall of South Vietnam. The king abdicated and the Kingdom of a Million Elephants became the Democratic People's Republic of Laos.

Following the Soviet model, they nationalised what little industry there was and collectivised the farms. By 1979 the leaders realised that their changes had done little except make a poor country poorer and they abandoned the agricultural cooperatives. By 1985 it was clear that more was needed and the old guard, who had spent 30 years fighting for communism, introduced a full market economy. Laos is now communist only in name, though the Hammer and Sickle is flown as much as the national flag. Economic liberalisation has not been matched in the political sphere and the 'Communist' Party remains very much in charge and brooks no dissent.

The Hammer & Sickle and the Lao flag fly side by side in Vientiane

The Former Royal Palace

The former Royal Palace is a modest building for a hereditary ruler. To the right of the entrance is a hall containing the Pha Bang Buddha, the most sacred image in Laos, which was brought from Angkor in 1353. Provided we approached without our hats, shoes and cameras we were allowed to look. Almost a metre tall, he stands with his arms raised to shoulder level, palms forward in a gesture of protection.

The hall of the Pha Bang Buddha, Luang Prabang

The palace itself is approached down a short avenue lined with palms. It was built in 1904 to a French design modified to Lao tastes. Over the portico is a gilded Airavata, the three headed elephant god that symbolises the Lao monarchy.

The former Royal Palace, Luang Prabang

Beside the entrance hall is the king's reception room where diplomats and other visitors lounged in comfort before their royal audience. Beyond is the throne room with a display of regalia and behind that the royal quarters including the relatively modest bedchambers of the king and queen with an interconnecting door (they managed to conceive five children). We passed through the library and the royal dance exhibition before reaching the collection of diplomatic gifts, which include a Lao flag that visited the moon on the Apollo 11 mission. Six months ago in North Korea we saw the gifts received by Kim Il Sung; they have their own palace, far bigger than the whole of the Lao royal palace. The Lao approach, with its gentleness and modesty is far preferable.

Gilt relief, Wat Mei

Wat Mai, next door, dates from the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries and the Pha Bang Buddha is brought here annually to be ceremonially washed. Wat Mai is most famous for the gilt relief work on the facade. No photography is allowed inside but it is possible to photograph the main Buddha statue from outside.

Buddha statue, Wat Mai

Wat Xieng Thong

Walking towards Wat Xieng Thong at the end of the peninsula,we passed a group of people busily forming mashed sweet potato into balls then flattened them into discs.

Making discs from mashed sweet potato, Luang Prabang...

Earlier production was drying on frames in the street before being sent to market.

...and drying them in the sun

Wat Xieng Thong is the most holy monastery in Laos. The complex is not large though it has several stupas and pavilions. The main building, the Sim, dates from 1560 and is a masterpiece of Lao architecture. Unlike the town’s other temples it has never been razed by Chinese marauders nor over-enthusiastically restored. The eves sweeping elegantly almost to the ground are said to resemble a mother hen protecting her chickens.

The Sim, Wat Xieng Thong, Luang Prabang

On the rear wall is a mosaic of a flame tree....

Flame Tree, the Sim, Wat Xieng Thong, Luang Prabang

while inside is the usual collection of Buddhas....

Inside the Sim, Wat Xieng Thong, Luang Prabang

...and a relief depicting life in hell.

In Hell, Inside the Sim, Wat Xieng Thong, Luang Prabang

There is also a naga, a long hollow wooden snake, used as a ceremonial water channel during the washing of the Sitting Buddha, Luang Prabang’s second most important Buddha which is kept in a pavilion behind the Sim. The Sitting Buddha is locked in darkness, except when being washed, as taking it out would cause extreme bad luck. There is, however, a small hole through which the Buddha can be viewed, and even photographed.

The Sitting Buddha through the keyhole, Wat Xieng Thong, Luang Prabang

At the back of the complex is the funeral carriage which carried King Sisavong to his cremation in 1961. The urns at the front and rear contained the ashes of his father and mother while the late king rode in the middle. Built of teak and decorated with scenes from the Pha Lah Pha Lam, the Buddhist Lao version of the Hindu Ramayana, it is based, as a quick glance underneath confirmed, on a very ordinary car chassis.

Funeral Car, Wat Xieng Thong, Luang Prabang

Lunch in Luang Prabang

It was lunchtime so N conducted us to one of the town's posher restaurants. The set meal consisted of vegetable soup of unknown ingredients, minced pork salad (meat salads are a Lao specialty, though this one had too much coriander for Lynne's taste), Luang Prabang pork sausages (remarkably like Tesco’s sausages) and stir fried vegetables.

Climbing 'Mount' Phousi

Saying goodbye to N, we took a nap during the hottest part of the day and afterwards set off to climb ‘Mount’ Phousi, the hill that overlooks the old town.

Starting up Mount Phousi, Luang Prabang

From the entrance by the former Royal Palace we climbed 138 steps, paid our 5000 kip and set off up the remaining 190. We were soon accosted by a girl selling caged birds who thought we might like to gain merit by releasing them. Although the cages were too small for their starling sized occupants, we declined, not because we liked them in cages, but because buying would encourage the capture of more. A few steps higher up the girl's school bag lay beside the path. It had an Angry Birds logo.

Buddhist monk on Mount Phousi, Luang Prabang

At the top was a small temple and an excellent view over the old town and the Mekong one way.....

Luang Prabang old town and the Mekong river from Mount Phousi

....and along the Nam Khan river and over the New town the other. After the flatness of Cambodia to be surrounded by mountains, however distant and shrouded in mist was a relief.

Luang Prabang new town and the Nam Khan River from Mount Phousi

On our return to earth I treated myself to a refreshing BeerLao (Lynne ordered a lemon juice) and we then just had time to shower and write an email before heading out for dinner. I had ‘lap beef’, another meat salad, while Lynne, still far from her best, struggled with a banana pancake.

Another wander through the night market yielded more gifts, though I remained tee-shirtless.

Following the Mekong through Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos

Part 1: Return to Saigon, Cookery and Music

Part 2: Through the Mekong Delta by Sampan
Part 3: Chau Doc
Part 4: Phnom Penh (1) Royal Palaces and Museums
Part 5: Phnom Penh (2) Killing Fields and Torture Chambers
Part 6: Across Cambodia to Siem Reap
 Part 7: Siem Reap (1) Angkor Wat
Part 8: Siem Reap (2) Angkor Thom and Other Temples
 Part 9: Siem Reap (3) Tonle Sap Lake
Part 10: Luang Prabang (1) The Old Town
Part 11: Luang Prabang (2) Back on the Mekong
Part 12: Luang Prabang (3) Elephants
 Part 13: Luang Prabang to Phonsavan
Part 14: Phonsavan, the Plain of Jars and UXO
Part 15: Vientiane (1) Wats, Stupas and a Heavy Buddha
Part 16: Vientiane (2) A Buddha Park and a Fond Farewell

Siem Reap (3) Tonle Sap Lake: Part 9 of Following the Mekong through Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos

A Huge Lake of Variable Size and a Trio of 'Minor Temples'

Cambodia

21-Feb-2014

Tonle Sap Lake

To the Lake

It is 15km from Siem Reap to Tonle Sap Lake, the huge body of water that occupies much of central Cambodia. The road has tarmac most of the way and we reached the dock in about twenty minutes.

Village near the dock, Tonle Sap Lake

It is a busy place where dozens of boats pick up hundreds of tourists.

S quickly acquired a boat which, as usual on this trip was too big, though this time with a meagre half dozen surplus seats, and we joined the procession of tourist boats heading down the canal towards the lake proper. We passed the occasional fisherman and several fish traps.....

Fish traps awaiting deployment, Tonle Sap Lake

Chong Khneas Floating Village

....but there was little to see until we emerged into the lake by the village of Chong Khneas.

Chong Khneas, Tonle Sap Lake

Although it is called a village, the dwellings of 6000 people, many of them stateless ethnic Vietnamese, either float on the water or stand on stilts along the shore. Supported on bamboo rafts or oil drums, the floating houses are basic, lacking electricity, clean water and sanitation.

Chong Khneas, Tonle Sap Lake

French missionaries made little impression on Cambodia, but there are many Vietnamese catholics and their spiritual needs are catered for by a floating church.

Catholic Church, Chong Khneas (or Khnies)

We stopped at a larger house, further out than the village, bobbing above a crocodile farm. Lynne disapproves of keeping crocodile just for their skins - though she would have no problem if they were kept for meat – but in another sense she disapproves of the very existence of crocodiles. She found this a very morally ambivalent place to be.

Resident at a Crocodile Farm, Chong Khneas

South Down Tonle Sap Lake

Leaving the farm we pottered southward keeping a couple of hundred metres out from the shore. At its lowest, in May, the lake covers 2500 square kilometres, draining via the Tonle Sap River into the Mekong at Phnom Penh (we had disembarked at the confluence when we reached Phnom Penh from Vietnam). The arrival of the rains, in late May, coincides with the peak flow of Himalayan melt water down the Mekong, which then becomes higher than the lake and the Tonle Sap River changes direction. By October, when the flow re-reverses, Tonle Sap Lake has increased its area fourfold and its depth by five or six metres – hence the need for houses on stilts.

Once beyond village we left the tourist hordes behind and our captain put the boat in cruise control - i.e. he tied the piece of string he was pulling on to open the throttle to a stanchion. Meanwhile, at the stern, the crew was hard at work.

The crew hard at work, Tonle Sap Lake

We continued for an hour with jungle and mangrove swamps to our left and water as far as the horizon to our right. Crossing the smooth milky coffee coloured surface was relaxing and the breeze caused by our movement provided natural air conditioning.

Nothing much happened until we passed a substantial scaffolding by the water's edge, destined, according to S, to become a restaurant. The captain untied the cruise control and headed for the mouth of a creek. We passed a floating restaurant, full of lunchers though it was not yet eleven, and disemabrked at a boat house a little further along.

Into the Mangroves

Into the creek, Tonle Sap Lake

Taking a 'canoe through the mangrove swamp’ had sounded exotic when we had read about it at home, but we arrived to find thirty or so canoes waiting like taxies on a rank and tourists embarking and disembarking only a little slower than on a Disneyland ride.

A taxi rank of boats among the mangroves, Tonle Sap Lake

All the paddlers seemed to be women, and some had brought their daughters to work.

Among the mangroves, Tonle Sap Lake

We set off, paddled by a young woman sitting at the front of the canoe. She made just the right speed through the mangroves and, to be fair, most of the time we did not feel part of a convoy. We passed several fish traps and a couple of fishermen tending them, wading through the knee deep water.

Fishing among the mangroves, Tonle Sap Lake

Sitting at home the thought of wading in mangroves swamps is horrifying. What about the water snakes and the spiders, and are there leeches? Being there, seeing it done takes away the fear, the water is merely shallow and muddy, it is no longer mysterious or dangerous.

Into the mangroves, Tonle Sap Lake

It was sad, or perhaps worrying, to see how many plastic bags were nesting among the mangroves. The curse of the plastic bag - too cheap, largely indestructible and rarely disposed of properly - is evident all over the developing world, this was just a particularly stark example.

Among the mangroves, Tonle Sap Lake
(I seem to have missed the plastic bags - which makes a better picture, even if it fails to make my point)

Further up the Creek

Our trip over, we returned to our boat and continued up the creek passing through Kampong Phluk, a village of houses on stilts overlooking the river. We did not need to be told the houses have no proper sanitation to know it was a poor, scruffy and dirty place.



Kampong Phluk, near Tonle Sap Lake

The village went on long enough to start looking like a town and the canal became narrower and narrower. Eventually we emerged the other side and docked beside a dirt road where, almost miraculously it seemed, Gung was waiting with the car.

Kampong Phluk, Tonle Sap Lake

North to Rolous for Lunch

We drove for 15kms along a red dirt road. Despite its lack of tarmac it was well-made and we made good speed, throwing up a cloud of dust behind us.

The road to Roulos

We passed through paddy fields, flat and green as far as the eye could see. In places, desperately thin cattle grazed on the stunted grass at the field margins. ‘It’s the dry season,’ S explained, ‘they will fatten up when the rains come.’ [It was the dry season in Laos, too, but their cattle were in fine condition]. An outbreak of houses and shops suggested we were entering the small town of Roulos, known by the wonderful name of Hariharalya (pronounced Harry-harra-lier) when it was briefly the capital of the Khmer empire in the early Angkorian period.

Paddy fields beside the road to Roulos

We reached a tarmacked road, actually Highway 6 that had brought us all the way from Phnom Penh and by it a restaurant set in a garden among trees and further shaded by awnings.

It was a beautiful spot and had, inevitably, collected all the tourists in the region (except for those preferring to eat at 11 o’clock by the lakeside). We ordered spring rolls, steamed vegetables and a 'local fish' curry in a rich coconut sauce.

Lynne was less impressed by the fish curry than I was

I thought the fish was wonderful. Lynne, whose idea it had been to order it disagreed; it was 'fish messed about' in her view, which, I think, means 'too little fish and too much sauce'. She had read the menu, so she only had herself to blame.

The Rolous Group of Temples

The Roulos group of temples is 'one for the specialist' according to the Rough Guide, but as we were there we might as well take a look.

Lolei Temple

Lolei Temple, Roulos

We started at Lolei, originally on an artificial island in an equally artificial lake. It now sits on a mound among paddy fields, flanked by a pagoda on one side and the monks living quarters on the other. Dedicated to the parents and maternal grandparents of Yasovarman I (ruled 889 - 900) and consecrated to Shiva, there is not much of the temple left, though it boasts some well-preserved Sanskrit inscriptions detailing the work rotas of the temple servants.

Monk's dwellings beside the Lolei Temple, Roulos

Bakong Temple

Five minutes driving brought us to Bakong, the state temple of Indravarman I and consecrated to Shiva in 881, though the central sanctuary - which is in good repair - was added 250 years later and restored in 1940.

Bakong Temple, Roulos

It is a temple of trunkless elephants....

Lynne and a trunkless elephant, Bakong Temple, Roulos

..and cheeky-bottomed lions, some so cheeky they have split.....

Cheeky-bottomed lion split almost in half, Bakong Temple, Roulos

...but the view from the top is pleasing.

On the top level of Bakong Temple, Roulos

Preah Ko Temple

Nearby Preah Ko was built in 1179. Constructed on a platform, patches of the stucco that once covered the whole of the temple still remain.

Stucco (not original), Preah Ko Temple, Roulos

In front of the platform Nandi, the vehicle of Shiva, looked up hopefully. Somebody (not in this picture) did try to mount him. As they were not Shiva, and Nandi is frail now that he is in his ninth century, they were, quite rightly, shouted at.

Lynne and Nandi in front of the platform, Preah Ko Temple, Roulos

Back in Siem Reap: Pub Street at Beer O'Clock

We returned to Siem Reap and miraculously found ourselves in Pub Street at exactly beer o'clock, though Lynne decided that a restorative gin and tonic would do her more good. I paid the exorbitant US$2 price tag, which meant I could only afford a 50¢ draught beer for me.

You do not have to wait long for entertainment in Pub Street. A young man soon came along with some magic tricks, juggling and fire eating before diving through a hoop of knives and fire, sadly to the general apathy of the crowd. I thought he was worth a small donation. Lynne thought he was worth more and called me 'mean', ignoring the fact I was the first person to stand up and offer anything.

Entertainment, Pub Street, Siem Reap

Behind the acrobat, as the photograph shows, is a Tex-Mex restaurant and a sushi bar. Siem Reap is not your average Cambodian small town.

We walked back to the hotel arriving just in time to go out again to find some dinner. We chose one of the many restaurants near the old market. Earlier Lynne had been so convinced of her return to health that she had rather overdone it. Unable to face rice, she wanted something simple and went for some noodles with vegetables while I chose the ever palatable pork and ginger. Lynne complained, with some justice, that her noodles were far too sweet – a problem, we have found, with much Khmer food.

22-Feb-2014

A Walk Round Siem Reap

We spent the morning pottering about Siem Reap before our late afternoon flight to Luang Prabang.

The Royal Independence Gardens were a short walk along the shady riverside past the modest Royal residence.

Shady walk beside the Siem Reap River

A shrine to Ya Tep - a local spirit who gives protection and brings luck - sits on a traffic island. Ya Tep has a steady flow of visitors and collects an array of offerings.

Ya Tep shrine, Siem Reap

The shrine to two sister deities sits on the other side of the road where caged birds are sold so that people can gain merit by releasing them. One woman had a large cage packed with sparrow sized birds. With an intense look in her eyes she was thrusting her hands in and grabbing the birds three or four at a time and throwing them into the air. Clearly there was a matter of great importance that she was trying desperately to influence.

Gaining merit by releasing birds, Siem Reap

There is an obvious problem. Gaining merit by releasing caged creatures is fine but, as they have only been caged so they could be released, she was effectively causing the caging and thus, I would have thought, losing as much merit as she gained. Taking into account the birds that did not make it - several collapsed onto the pavement and expired at her feet – she was in negative merit for her morning’s efforts. I don't think this has been thought through.

He's got some birds, too

A flower stall on the corner does good business with those coming to the garden for their wedding photos - there were four or five such groups while we were there. S later confirmed that, as in China, wedding photographs are not actually taken on the wedding day. The clothes, like the photographer, are hired by the hour and an appropriate location chosen to commemorate an event that was weeks, or even months ago.

Three wedding groups, Royal Independence Gardens, Siem Reap

Wandering back towards the hotel we stopped at the Bon Café, ‘your one stop coffee solution’ (they can import our language if they wish, but do they have to import our gibberish as well?) Khmer coffee is respectable enough but a touch ordinary, lacking the power and chocolaty flavour of its Vietnamese cousin.

After a stop to send some emails we made our way to one of the restaurants near the old market. Lynne had perked up while we were at Lake Tonle Sap but had now relapsed and picked at a piece of fish, looking sorry for herself. I had pork and lotus roots. I like lotus roots they have a very similar taste and texture to water chestnuts, and we had seen many in the market but not, before this, on a menu. In China the roots are sliced across so you get something that looks like a showerhead. These however had been sliced lengthways way into 2cm strips, thus losing the crispness. In November 2012 by Lake Inle in Myanmar we were shown how it was possible to twist the filaments in lotus into a usable fibre. Cutting the root this way left those filaments a little longer than was comfortable for eating.

Later our Vietnam airlines flight to Luang Prabang left Siem Reap's small airport - small but still the busiest airport in Cambodia - ten minutes early and arrived at Luang Prabang's even smaller airport over an hour early.

Following the Mekong through Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos
 

Part 1: Return to Saigon, Cookery and Music

Part 2: Through the Mekong Delta by Sampan
Part 3: Chau Doc
Part 4: Phnom Penh (1) Royal Palaces and Museums
Part 5: Phnom Penh (2) Killing Fields and Torture Chambers
Part 6: Across Cambodia to Siem Reap
 Part 7: Siem Reap (1) Angkor Wat
Part 8: Siem Reap (2) Angkor Thom and Other Temples
 Part 9: Siem Reap (3) Tonle Sap Lake
Part 10: Luang Prabang (1) The Old Town
 Part 11: Luang Prabang (2) Back on the Mekong
Part 12: Luang Prabang (3) Elephants
 Part 13: Luang Prabang to Phonsavan
Part 14: Phonsavan, the Plain of Jars and UXO
Part 15: Vientiane (1) Wats, Stupas and a Heavy Buddha
Part 16: Vientiane (2) A Buddha Park and a Fond Farewell