The secret is out

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This was published 15 years ago

The secret is out

Laos is charming but, urges Hilary Doling, jump on a plane now before the rest of the world beats you to it.

By Hilary Doling

Coloured paper lanterns glow like fireflies at the night market in the little town of Luang Prabang in Laos. The stalls are piled high with delicate embroidery, jewel-bright silk scarves, silver tribal jewellery and inlaid boxes. All the usual stuff of Asia is here, the beauty of the bazaar, the smell of spices and outdoor cooking.

But something is missing. I stroll peacefully between the stalls trying to work out what it is. My companion and I chat amiably as we meander undisturbed. That's it! The key word here is "undisturbed".

I've never been in a market anywhere in Asia as restful and, believe me, as a confessed souvenir-oholic I've trawled a few. India, China, Thailand, Cambodia, you name it I've bargained there. Only the relentless pursuit of that elusive but perfect sari/scarf/ceramic has kept me plugging on through the haggling and the hassling and the heat and the general plucking of clothes and mind-numbing sales spiels.

In Laos that doesn't happen; at least not yet.

Tourism is new in this slither of landlocked country between Thailand and Vietnam. After 20 years of virtual isolation, the ruling government, the Lao People's Revolutionary Party, opened the doors to the outside world only as the 21st century dawned. There is still resistance to large-scale resort development and the country's lack of ocean frontage has saved it from marauding hoards of sun worshippers.

The Lao people do not yet see only dollar signs when they look at tourists and we have not yet driven them to distraction by pointing one camera lens too many up their noses and breaking too many cultural taboos. But I'd still say drop everything and get on a plane now. Because this quiet country is so charming it is unlikely to remain Asia's best-kept secret for much longer.

If you need more reason, how about this? Early morning in Luang Prabang and the half light shrouds everything in a chiffon of grey. Somewhere a drum beats and a line of monks in saffron and orange appear, bending their heads like marigolds in the breeze to receive alms of sticky rice in banana leaves from waiting worshippers. The ribbon of orange seems to unfurl forever because this tiny town has 32 temples and more than 200 monks.

Later we take a boat down the muddy Mekong, as ginger as a monk's habit, to the Pak Ou Caves. The lower cave is a gaping mouth in the cliff face, within are hundreds of Buddha images and a shrine with swirls of smoky incense. We explore the higher cave by torchlight; out of the blackness a giant image of Lord Buddha appears. In the gloom I trip straight over the raised stone wall that is supposed to stop us venturing close to the sacred statues and virtually into the arms of a Buddha; only the bats flapping overhead are more irreligious.

It isn't just Buddhism that thrives in Luang Prabang; restaurants do pretty well, too. Along the main street, cafes with wooden shutters and pots full of flowering plants serve Lao coffee and banana pancakes to tourists, as well as the spicy and delicious local food. It is easy to spend a morning people-watching here as girls with rattan baskets of flowers and food slung over their shoulders make their way to the markets and tuk-tuks buzz about. We play count-the-number-of-people-on-a-motorbike as we wait for the thick syrupy coffee. I win with seven; a mother and father and three children on the bike itself, plus one on the handle bars. A baby in a sling on mum's back gets me the record.

I hire a bike for $1 an hour and tour the back streets. Here I find the Asian equivalent of white picket fences behind which children play in backyards and washing in hibiscus colours blows in the breeze. Pinned to the side of a traditional Lao house on stilts is a sign advertising long-stay lettings, I'm very tempted to jump off the bike and book in for a month. This is the kind of place you could mellow out in for a long time.

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But we have to fly to Vientiane, the capital of Laos, in the morning.

Shimmering in the late afternoon sun, the great golden stupa of Pha That Luang dominates the skyline of the capital. It's an impressive structure made more so by the fact that Vientiane doesn't have any high-rises to dwarf it. We wander its walkways basking in its bronze glow.

Less glittery, but somehow more captivating, is Wat Si Saket. Its cloistered walls are honeycombed with niches housing more than 2000 buddhas; seated around the cloisters are 300 more. It is no wonder that Lao art students like to spend time sketching here.

The following day a friend who had been a monk for eight years takes us to the monastery where he studied. All Lao males have to enter a monastery; for some it's a lifetime commitment, for others it's the minimum 15-day stay. For our friend it was an important stage in his life and he returns frequently.

At Wat Sok Pa Luang, known as the jungle monastery, we wander through shady tunnels of green while nuns in pure white robes chant into the evening, their voices resonating through the trees so powerfully I'm surprised to see only 20 of them.

In the grounds of the monastery the nuns run a traditional massage and steam bathhouse. It sits on stilts like a tree house and aromatic steam rises from fire-heated pipes below.

On weekends you can take part in a vipassana meditation class run by one of the nuns and the monastery's gentle abbot, Ajahn Sali, a man with a quiet authority and a luminous smile.

We feel so virtuous after our time spent with the nuns that we take a tuk-tuk back to town to blow it all by exploring the bars and cafes.

The in-spot in Vientiane is along the banks of the river with Thailand just across the water. Here you sit at plastic tables under the trees and drink the local Beerlao as the sun sets, the sky turns purple and the mosquitoes begin to bite.

Vientiane's French colonial history means decent coffee and great pastries; the beginning of a backpacker culture means a thin crust pizza in a trendy new restaurant.

Our friend is keen to try one. "I hope it won't make me sick," he says. Thinking of his usual healthy diet of sticky rice and vegetables, I feel as if we're corrupting the innocent.

I watch him tuck into pizza dripping with cheese and it is clear the outside world is definitely coming to Laos.

This year pizza, next year the golden arches so get there before McDonald's.

TRIP NOTES

· World Expeditions' seven-day Laos Highlights trip includes visits to the capital Vientiane, Luang Prabang and the amazing Plain of Jars near Xiang Khoang. Cost is from $1390 ex Vientiane, including transportation, six breakfasts, four lunches, two dinners, accommodation and internal flights.

· The 11-day Best of Laos and Cambodia trip starts in Luang Prabang, moves on to Vang Vieng then Vientiane and Cambodia. Cost is from $1990 ex Luang Prabang, including transportation, breakfast, accommodation and flight between Vientiane and Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Trips run between September and March each year. See http://www.worldexpeditions.com.au. Phone 1300 720 000.

The writer was a guest of World Expeditions and Thai Airways.

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