LUANG PRABANG, LAOS
The rainy season has finally caught up with us: After weeks of unseasonable sunny weather, the past two days have been rather grey and wet. Which is good news for the locals, as it's been a dry summer, but not so great for us in terms of outdoor activities. Consequently, we haven't done too much, although Chris went kayaking today on some river somewhere--can't get much wetter, I guess! I stayed in town and wandered around, buying a book at a bookstore and chatting a bit with Mark from Georgia, who it turns out owns a local bar and restaurant.
This morning I also paid a visit to the National Museum, which also happens to be the former Royal Palace. That is, until the present communist government took over in 1975, forcing the king to abdicate to Thailand (never to be heard from again). Most of the museum's contents, not surprisingly, are the royal furnishings, clothing, and regalia, along with a large number of small Buddha sculptures from around the country, gifts to the king from other nations, some giant ceremonial brass drums, and various other Lao musical instruments.
I would have to say that as a royal palace, the whole place is actually rather modest. Well, the throne room is pretty dramatic, with bright red walls completely covered in mosaics of colored Japanese glass, and several golden thrones. But the bedrooms of the king and queen, which have been left as they were during his reign, are really quite spartan: White walls, a couple of sconces, a bed, dresser, and a nightstand or two. It's not all that big, either--more like the large house of a well-to-do businessman, as opposed to a king. Still, it was interesting to walk around, and when I visited there were hardly any tourists there, which was cool. I found it amusing to be walking through a royal palace virtually by myself, in bare feet, no less! (Like most Lao dwellings, you're supposed to remove your shoes at the door.)
The rainy season has finally caught up with us: After weeks of unseasonable sunny weather, the past two days have been rather grey and wet. Which is good news for the locals, as it's been a dry summer, but not so great for us in terms of outdoor activities. Consequently, we haven't done too much, although Chris went kayaking today on some river somewhere--can't get much wetter, I guess! I stayed in town and wandered around, buying a book at a bookstore and chatting a bit with Mark from Georgia, who it turns out owns a local bar and restaurant.
This morning I also paid a visit to the National Museum, which also happens to be the former Royal Palace. That is, until the present communist government took over in 1975, forcing the king to abdicate to Thailand (never to be heard from again). Most of the museum's contents, not surprisingly, are the royal furnishings, clothing, and regalia, along with a large number of small Buddha sculptures from around the country, gifts to the king from other nations, some giant ceremonial brass drums, and various other Lao musical instruments.
I would have to say that as a royal palace, the whole place is actually rather modest. Well, the throne room is pretty dramatic, with bright red walls completely covered in mosaics of colored Japanese glass, and several golden thrones. But the bedrooms of the king and queen, which have been left as they were during his reign, are really quite spartan: White walls, a couple of sconces, a bed, dresser, and a nightstand or two. It's not all that big, either--more like the large house of a well-to-do businessman, as opposed to a king. Still, it was interesting to walk around, and when I visited there were hardly any tourists there, which was cool. I found it amusing to be walking through a royal palace virtually by myself, in bare feet, no less! (Like most Lao dwellings, you're supposed to remove your shoes at the door.)
posted by John Kuge at 10:02 PM
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