Luang Prabang to Angkor – Day 1: Luang Prabang

This Thursday evening, my friend Barron arrived in Bangkok. Planning his visit, we decided that I would take a week off from work and that we would explore Laos and Cambodia together. On his first day, Barron toured Bangkok by himself while I wrapped up my work and did some last-minute research. I also bought tickets for the train from Luang Prabang to Vang Vieng and from Vang Vieng to Vientiane, as these only became available three days before the journey. I had hoped we would be able to take the night train from Bangkok to Vientiane, but these were sold out far in advance.

Everything we could prepare in advance was thus arranged, from hotels and plane tickets to guided tours. Well, almost everything. While I was at work on Tuesday, I got a frustrated text from Barron. He said Laos’ E-visa site was not working and cursed the Laotian bureaucracy for a whole range of things beyond their control. I dropped everything I was doing to fill his form myself, but once I had confirmed almost all the details, I uncovered the root of the problem: the date for filing a form had passed.

We arrived in Luang Prabang just after two o’clock on a sunny Saturday afternoon. Barron and I did not manage to get seated next to each other on the plane, but we played this to our advantage: we switched tickets so that he could sit in the front and be one of the first to process his on-arrival visa. After we were through, we attempted to exchange the two hundred dollars Barron had brought but ran into another problem: the Airport’s currency exchange would not accept his pre-2013 one-hundred-dollar bills. We thus had nothing to exchange but the forty-five dollars Barron had in his wallet and the twenty euros I had in mine. I had also brought some kips left over from my last trip to Laos, but Barron used almost all of them to pay for his on-arrival visa.

Taking a taxi, we arrived by the National Museum at quarter past three. We thought of checking in at our hotel first, but most of the important sites in Laos close at four o’clock. The National Museum comprises two major attractions: the former palace of the Luang Prabang Royal Family and the Haw Phra Bang, a temple that houses the “Royal Buddha Image in the Dispelling Fear mudra.” This diminutive golden statue, called Phra Bang in Lao, was a major royal symbol in bygone days and gave Luang Prabang its current name. Legend says it was cast in Sri Lanka two thousand years ago, though it was more likely cast in Angkor before being taken to Luang Prabang (then Muang Sua) by King Fa Ngum in the fourteenth century. The Phra Bang was twice captured by the Thais and brought to Bangkok, but it was returned both times for allegedly causing misfortune and unrest.

King Fa Ngum is one of the most important characters in Luang Prabang’s history. Born in the city to the ruling family, he was exiled to Angkor for unclear reasons. After earning the support of Khmer King Jayavarman IX and marrying a Khmer Princess, he returned to Muang Sua in 1353 with 10,000 soldiers, consolidating the area and expanding his control far beyond its borders: his newly founded kingdom of Lan Xang (“the land of one million elephants and a white parasol”) spanned from the Red River in modern Vietnam to Sipsongpanna in present-day Yunnan and to Chiang Mai in what is now Thailand. Fa Ngum is credited with bringing Khmer culture and sacred texts to Luang Prabang, as well as instituting Theravada Buddhism under the influence of his wife.

The Kingdom of Lan Xang lasted until 1707, when a succession dispute led to its division into the Kingdom of Luang Prabang and the Kingdom of Vientiane. Xieng Khouang also arose as a principality paying tribute to Luang Prabang, and in 1713 the Kingdom of Champassak split from Vientiane. All these successor states enjoyed some measure of independence, though they soon ended up paying tribute to larger neighbours like Siam and Vietnam. Following the Second World War, the Kingdom of Laos was reconstituted under the rule of the Luang Prabang King; the Kingdom of Vientiane had been dissolved by the Vietnamese, and the King of Champassak renounced his claims in favour of a unified Laos.

The Luang Prabang Royal Palace has a relatively recent history: it was built in 1904 by the French colonial administration for the Luang Prabang King, who continued as a figurehead under French rule. The palace’s furnishings are the focal point of the National Museum, which has preserved its throne room, reception hall, and several other chambers. The throne room is interesting for its red walls decorated with colourful human figures made of glazed tiles, and the reception hall retains its 1930s Beaux-Arts mural of Lao nature and life by a French artist. One cannot take pictures at the palace, and to enter, one must wear long trousers – a lesson Barron learned the hard way (or rather, the monetary way, by paying 10,000 kip to rent out long trousers from the guard on duty).

From the National Museum, we continued along the road to Wat Mai Suwannaphumaham, an eighteenth-century temple and the largest in Luang Prabang. As we were walking around the courtyard, we saw a trio of young monks wheeling a bucket of water on a cart and splashing each other instead of watering the potted plants, which we assumed to be their task. We then walked around Phousi Hill to Wat Wisunarat, our last destination for the day. The temple is the oldest in Luang Prabang, erected by King Wisunarat in 1513 in Sri Lankan style. It was home to the Phra Bang Buddha for two hundred years.