Another Hot Day in LP...

Luang Prabang, Laos

July 15, 2007
N 19°53.486
E 102°08.302

Today, our third and last full day in Luang Prabang, was spent seeing the sites we kept walking by our first few days, but consciously said we would visit on another day. Specifically, we didn’t visit any of the temples because the first day was too hot, I wanted to wear shorts and a tank top, not a skirt and t-shirt as required when visiting a temple. Of course, today wasn’t any cooler, but we didn’t want to miss the sites over something as silly as my clothing or sweltering heat.

After a cup of hot coffee and a light breakfast, our first in at least five days, we headed out to see the Royal Palace Museum, climb the mountain to see Phu Si and then, if I have my way, we can cool off with a traditional Lao massage at the end of the day.

The museum, located in the King’s palace, featured incredible gifts from all over the world separated into groups depending on if the country is socialist or capitalist. The gifts from the US include a small moon rock and a miniture Lao flag that went to the moon with Apollo 11, as well as a few small trinkets from John F. Kennedy—nothing as spectacular as the Buddhist sculptures from India or the painting from Nepal’s Royal Family.

After the museum we headed across the street to climb the 190 stairs to the top of Phu Si. The number of stairs reminded us of the Filbert Street stairs we tackle during some of our training runs at home; however, these stairs weren’t as physically demanding. I do have to say with the heat and humidity though; the stairs were as mentally challenging. After we climbed to the top of the mountain, we were afforded 360 degree views of the Mekong Delta, the Nam Khan River and the Laos countryside.

Not only did we have spectacular views, but we were able to visit the temple and pay respect to the numerous Buddhas—one for every day of the week. We really took our time strolling around the temple and working our way back down the steps. We really couldn’t move fast since the temperature was tipping near 100 F and the humidity from the rain clouds on the horizon made it feel like we were walking in a sauna.

It was about this time I convinced Marc the best way to spend the rest of the afternoon was to get a massage. I had a traditional Laos massage a few days ago and told him how relaxing it was; especially for only $3 per hour. Since we were together, we decided to bust-loose and splurge for the full two-hour massage; for a whopping $5.

Shortly after changing into the loose cotton pants and massage shirt, I realized why Marc agreed to the massage. Normally, he’s not real hip to getting a massage from complete strangers. However, there was no way he could resist laying directly under a fan for two hours in a moderately cool room.

I should mention, our Guest House, the only one available when we arrived, doesn’t have AC, only a ceiling fan. The fan, even at its highest speed, doesn’t provide a lot of relief from the heat and humidity. After checking the temperature in our room over the past few days we determined the average temperature was between 85-90 F; which doesn’t include the wind-chill factor from our shitty ceiling fan. Our only remedy is to take a cold shower at least three times a day.

Thus, the massage was the best way to cool off after another extremely oppressively hot day.

Tomorrow we leave Luang Prabang and start visiting some very remote villages in the northern part of Laos. Our internet access will be very limited until close to the end of July when we arrive at our first stop in Thailand, Chiang Rai.