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  • HOME
  • ABOUT
  • THE FAMILY ALBUM
  • ONCE UPON A TIME IN ROMANIA
    • ▸Bucharest, 1989: The days of Revolution
    • ▸I’ve also lived under communism
    • ▸Portraits of transition
    • ▸”Cabernet cu pepsi”
    • ▸Romania, 1990: Beyond the headlines
    • ▸“Mineriada” – My story
    • ▸Memorial of pain
  • WORK IN PROGRESS
    • ▸Barbershop
    • ▸Melancholic Identities
    • ▸Faces
    • ▸Fragmentary world
    • ▸Two
    • ▸Buddhist monks
    • ▸About windows and walls
    • ▸Mediterraneo
  • STORIES
    • ▸Alone, together
    • ▸Life and death in Varanasi
    • ▸Trans-Siberian – An experience of becoming
    • ▸Boxing in Havana
    • ▸Moving out of Escobar shadow
    • ▸One night at Htee Thein monastery
    • ▸Easter in Sicily – I misteri
    • ▸Easter in Sicily – La pasquetta
    • ▸Stalin’s Museum in Gori
    • ▸Havana: Between magic and decay
    • ▸Muay Thai for a day
    • ▸Cuban billboards
    • ▸Seeking a geisha
    • ▸Belfast’s murals: Behind and beyond
    • ▸Riding the Yangon’s ring train
    • ▸Bazar-Barakholka-Vernisazh
    • ▸An unexpected trip to Dhobi Ghat
    • ▸A different way to look at death
    • ▸Cannes under siege
    • ▸Inside the Guru’s kitchen
    • ▸Tibetan refugees
    • ▸The Golden Triangle: A Mecca of tribal diversity
    • ▸Bullfighting: Barbaric or art ?
    • ▸Crafts and traditions in Morroco
    • ▸Glastonbury with God
  • TRAVEL
    • Cuba
      • ▸The show must go on (part 1)
      • ▸The show must go on (part 2)
      • ▸The show must go on (part 3)
      • ▸The show must go on (part 4)
    • France
      • ▸Paris
      • ▸Paris. Again
    • Greece
      • ▸Mount Athos
      • ▸Postcards from Santorini
      • ▸Athens
      • ▸Mykonos – The picture-perfect Island
    • Germany
      • ▸Berlin
    • Vietnam
      • ▸Four days in Hanoi
      • ▸Cruising through the misty Halong Bay
    • India
      • ▸Portraits of Kashmir
      • ▸Rishikesh – Spiritual marketplace
      • ▸Life on the Sidewalk
    • Ireland
      • ▸The capital of pubs
      • ▸Ireland in ten days
    • Israel
      • ▸Israel in black & white
    • Colombia
      • ▸Colombia
      • ▸Paisas, coffee and much more
      • ▸Streets of Bogota – From Dystopia to Hope
      • ▸Life along the magical Magdalena River
      • ▸A non-touristy guide to Cartagena’s Caribbean paradise
    • Myanmar
      • ▸Min-ga-la-ba Myanmar
      • ▸Up and down on the hills of Shan State
    • Japan
      • ▸Tokyo
      • ▸Springtime in Kyoto
    • Portugal
      • ▸Life at the edge of Europe
    • Russian Federation
      • ▸The unexpected Moscow
      • ▸White Nights in St. Petersburg
    • Italy
      • ▸Rome
      • ▸Random Sicily
      • ▸Vedi Napoli e poi mori
      • ▸Venice
      • ▸Vanishing Venice
    • Morocco
      • ▸Sunset, camel rides and tea in Erg Chebi
      • ▸Medinas: Morocco’s hidden cities
      • ▸Morocco outskirts
      • ▸Djemaa El Fna encounters
      • ▸Surf and hippies
      • ▸The road of the One thousand kasbahs
      • ▸Amazigh – Berber – Free men
    • Georgia
      • ▸Postcards from Georgia
      • ▸The Many Faces of Tbilisi
    • Nepal
      • ▸Kathmandu Valley
    • Romania
      • ▸Romania to go
      • ▸Maramures
      • ▸Tara Motilor
    • Jordan
      • ▸Bedouin Trails
    • Turkey
      • ▸From Turkey with love
      • ▸Ballooning Cappadocia
      • ▸Where East meets West
      • ▸Street life, Istanbul-style
    • Mexico
      • ▸Finding Mexico City
    • Malaysia
      • ▸Transit KL
    • UK
      • ▸London
      • ▸Grab your kilt and bring your pipes
    • Sweden
      • ▸Stockholm
    • Spain
      • ▸Off-season Andalusia
    • Thailand
      • ▸Bangkok, year 2555
      • ▸Life in Pai
      • ▸Thailand
    • Laos
      • ▸Luang Prabang – The City of ultimate Zen
    • Poland
      • ▸Why I love Poland
    • Estonia, Latvia & Lithuania
      • ▸Neighbors, but not relatives
      • ▸Patarei – A little slice of Hell
    • Findland
      • ▸A sunny day in Helsinki
    • Denmark
      • ▸Copenhagen
  • SINGLES
  • CONTACT
  • MY BOOKS
  • MY VIDEOS
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Cookie Policy (EU)
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Luang Prabang – The City of ultimate Zen

 

Crossing the border into Laos from Hanoi, one feels the pulse begins to drop as your body relaxes into a new level of chill.

With its mix of traditional tribal houses, colonial mansions, and Buddhist temples, Luang Prabang is a palimpsest of seven centuries of history, much of it miraculously intact. No cough-inducing fumes, traffic jams or fast food franchises to ruin the landscape, just a lot of French style architecture and tons of monks. While most Southeast Asian cities sweep you up with a frantic pace, Luang Prabang urges you to slow down. Lao people are very peaceful, they have a special existential silence and living close to nature seems to have borrowed some of her composure. No hassles, no rush.

In the center of it all is the Buddhism as an integral part of everyday life and the famed morning alms ceremony encapsulates this. Every morning at the crack of dawn, groups of monks and novices roam the town carrying little containers. In a straight line, they receive offerings of rice and fruits from the local Buddhist faithful.

A ride on the Mekong River revealed some poor villages, completely torn from the world. Many of them are usually specialized villages in manufacturing a single product. The first stop was at what they call “Whiskey Village”. The “Whisky Village” is famous for its “Lao Lao”, the local brewed whisky. The next was at Ban Chan – a pottery-making village where I watched pots being hand-thrown and fired in clay ovens. A little further, along the river, I reached paper-villagers where the locals are adept at making traditional “Saa” paper: a special kind of paper made from mulberry bark.

Times change, but hopefully not too quickly in Luang Prabang.

 

 

 

 

Luang Prabang – The City of ultimate Zen

 

Crossing the border into Laos from Hanoi, one feels the pulse begins to drop as your body relaxes into a new level of chill.

With its mix of traditional tribal houses, colonial mansions, and Buddhist temples, Luang Prabang is a palimpsest of seven centuries of history, much of it miraculously intact. No cough-inducing fumes, traffic jams or fast food franchises to ruin the landscape, just a lot of French style architecture and tons of monks. While most Southeast Asian cities sweep you up with a frantic pace, Luang Prabang urges you to slow down. Lao people are very peaceful, they have a special existential silence and living close to nature seems to have borrowed some of her composure. No hassles, no rush.

In the center of it all is the Buddhism as an integral part of everyday life and the famed morning alms ceremony encapsulates this. Every morning at the crack of dawn, groups of monks and novices roam the town carrying little containers. In a straight line, they receive offerings of rice and fruits from the local Buddhist faithful.

A ride on the Mekong River revealed some poor villages, completely torn from the world. Many of them are usually specialized villages in manufacturing a single product. The first stop was at what they call “Whiskey Village”. The “Whisky Village” is famous for its “Lao Lao”, the local brewed whisky. The next was at Ban Chan – a pottery-making village where I watched pots being hand-thrown and fired in clay ovens. A little further, along the river, I reached paper-villagers where the locals are adept at making traditional “Saa” paper: a special kind of paper made from mulberry bark.

Times change, but hopefully not too quickly in Luang Prabang.

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