Dean Pickles: Luang Prabang

A cute, quiet colonial town on the banks of the Mekong, and so absolutely gorgeous. Among the lanes of antique shophouses, on a quiet tres-francais side street, we found the Pakam Guesthouse, surely the most expensive guesthouse in town at $15 a night. But what a guesthouse it was! The balcony, where I wrote in my journal as monks walked by, locals squeaked by on old bikes, a neighbor plucked quietly at his bass guitar, was worth the price alone.

But I'm way behind on the blog, so a quick rundown.

1. Mount Phousi

A billion steps up and down. Topped by an ancient Wat and offering a great view of all of Luang Prabang. Hence the occupying Russians' decision to stick an anti-aircraft gun up there. It's rusted up and mostly dismantled, but you can still make machine-gun sounds and play Capture the Wat on it. Quite awesome.

The monks now reuse and recycle the ammo, which is so San Francisco and so Readymade Magazine. Again, awesome.

2. Khao Soy

Les Quebeqoises and I rented bikes and explored beyond the walls of the old city, discovering a sprawling city of shacks and autorepair shops and government buildings. We left the main street and followed a small unpaved road which became a path which became a footpath which became an old woman's kitchen. It was awkward, to say the least.

We lunched at the main Phousi market, where I'd read tales of an amazing Laotian khao soy. Exploring the food stalls, a mixture of oozing, bleeding meat, fish flopping on the floor, stray dogs, and so many flies that some cuts appeared black, we finally found an old lady selling khao soy. A gang of workmen looked up skeptically from their bowls of soup, and then ignored us. The fans kept away some flies, but not the dogs. "Are you okay with this?" I asked, and received a very skeptical "Okay." "Sweet. Nyong khao soy gai," I shouted. "Bo gai, moo!" "Okay -- nyong khao soy moo!" The lady went to work. And it was okay. Little more than chicken broth with noodles and pork.

I didn't mention to them that the money I'd paid for the meal, a handful of frayed, dirty notes adding up to a dollar, had been casually thrown by the chef into the piles of ingredients. Nice.

3. Tamarind

Awesome family-style meal with a collection of Quebequoise and Dutch folks. Most of whom I didn't know. I guess Luang Pabang is awash in them. The most expensive meal to date, at a shocking $8 a person.

4. Alms for the monks

Every morning at 6am, old ladies line the streets to respectfully pay respect to the monks by donating home-cooked food, a simple, honest, meaningful ceremony. Something that's existed for generations. And now busloads of tourists show up to buy buckets of pre-made food from vendors, stand in line, and flash-photograph it (and each other.) We didn't flash-photograph it, or join in, but did sit back and snooze a little.