Luang Prabang local landmarks and culture · Local landmarks and culture in Luang Prabang
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Local landmarks and culture in Luang Prabang
Local landmarks and culture in Luang Prabang
Alms ceremony ? monks at dawn collecting alms of rice from kneeling villagers (and early-rising tourists). Ask your guesthouse host to assist you the day before in preparing if you'd like to get up and give alms in the morning. Please note that the alms giving ceremony is one which, while picturesque, is not without its detractors. Unscrupulous local merchants have used the eagerness of tourists to participate in a local tradition as a means of making easy money, and sometimes sell unsuitable, stale and even unsafe food. This has resulted in monks falling ill after having consumed the offerings, and resistance to continuing the tradition. However, the government has made it clear that the monks have to continue the tourist pageant or risk being replaced with lay people clothed in saffron robes in order to keep up appearances, and thereby maintain tourist revenue. So if you wish to participate in this ceremony, prepare the food or fruit yourself, and avoid giving food of unknown quality. Another problem is the photographing. While it looks nice on your collection, think about how it must feel for the monks to have hundreds of tourists photographing them every day. Some lowlifes even stand right next to them, flashing them in the eyes! Strongly consider only watching this old tradition from a distance instead of using it as a tourist attraction, as this may detract from the beauty of the ritual - both for locals and tourists alike. You can always download a picture of it somewhere on the net for your collection.
Haw Kham ? the former royal palace and now national museum, 30,000 Kip, no photo/video/bag/shoes allowed, free locker. Open 8AM-11:30AM and 1:30PM-4PM every day except Tuesday. There's also sometimes local drama or dance performances in the adjacent theatre. In August 2011 for examnple, each Mo/We/Fr/Sa, there was a performance at 6:30PM of "Search of Princess Sida", a royal ballet, with prices from 80,000 to 150,000 kip. It is important to check the timings and plan the visit accordingly.
Phou Si ? the main hill in the city from which you have a good view of the whole area. It's not a very steep climb from the bottom and sunrise and sunset are the most sensible and rewarding times to go up. There is a near-panoramic view from the top. Entrance fee 20,000 kip.
Sunset on the waterfront ? take a walk along the Mekong, or sit and enjoy dinner at one of the many restaurants and watch the sun sink into the horizon.
Vat Xieng Toung ? the oldest monastery in town and one of the most beautiful. Opens from 6AM-6PM. Entry fee 20,000 kip. One entrance on the road along Mekong river, the other on the by-lane off the main road.
Vipassana temple and park ? this golden temple, highly visible from Phou Si, is a shrine for Buddhists who practice Vipassana meditation.
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Luang Prabang Travel Guide from Wikitravel. Many thanks to all Wikitravel contributors. Text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0, images are available under various licenses, see each image for details.