I have been in Luang Prabang, Laos for few days now. I have visited all neighboring countries of Laos before ( Cambodia, Vietnam, China, Myanmar, Thailand), but never been really interested in Laos. Why? I think Laos is like Finland in Northern Europe; Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Russia are all attracted by more visitors than Finland. Finland is a safe, clean and modern country, but maybe a bit boring. You need to get there and stay for a while to find out the uniqueness of the culture and nature (and people of course.. :-)).
There's nothing "wrong" with Laos, but there's no major sights like Angkor Wat or no seaside beach. Lao people are laid back and friendly and at least Luang Prabang, where I currently hang out, is a sympathetic, easy going smallish town. It is also quite touristy, mainly because it has Unesco World Heritage status. But that suits me well now because it also means good accommodation facilities and various restaurant options.
Last night I went to the oldest wat where the monks were chanting. I felt both joy and peace. This morning 5.30 am I went to see the monks walking barefoot through the streets collecting boiled rice in their begging bowls.
Here's a small glimpse of the atmosphere for you to get an idea, I hope you'll get that video working. I am very poor in computers and IPad doesn't make it any easier, because Blogger doesn't support IPad as well as it does it for other computers. Also the Internet connections do not always favour IPad. IPad is good for emails, but when it comes to uploading pictures I'm lost. That's why there's not so many pictures here, because I can't find them now, one is on Picasa, one on Blogsy, one on this Pad...:-). See, I'm well organized at work, but when I'm on vacation, all my organizing and logical reasoning abilities are gone. But the good thing is that I am not even taking so many pictures, I have this old small camera that holds in one piece when taped tightly. I admit that sometimes I envy those who travel with professional cameras with long zooms. But I like to travel light.
Here's a small glimpse of the atmosphere for you to get an idea, I hope you'll get that video working. I am very poor in computers and IPad doesn't make it any easier, because Blogger doesn't support IPad as well as it does it for other computers. Also the Internet connections do not always favour IPad. IPad is good for emails, but when it comes to uploading pictures I'm lost. That's why there's not so many pictures here, because I can't find them now, one is on Picasa, one on Blogsy, one on this Pad...:-). See, I'm well organized at work, but when I'm on vacation, all my organizing and logical reasoning abilities are gone. But the good thing is that I am not even taking so many pictures, I have this old small camera that holds in one piece when taped tightly. I admit that sometimes I envy those who travel with professional cameras with long zooms. But I like to travel light.
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| These young fellows studied at the Wat garden and they wanted to practice their English language with me. Now they can speak some Finnish and Swedish as well. |
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| Mekong River |
1 comment:
video worked fine, thanks for sharing!!
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