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"Every parent's nightmare": Families of poisoned teens share update

The families of Holly Bowles and Bianca Jones have shared a heartbreaking update as the teenagers continue to fight for their lives after being <a href="https://oversixty.com.au/travel/travel-trouble/two-aussie-teens-poisoned-in-laos-identified" target="_blank" rel="noopener">poisoned</a> in Laos. While travelling around south-east Asia on a gap year, the Melbourne 19 year olds consumed what is believed to be methanol-laced drinks in Laos. The young women were found barely alive in their hotel room and were rushed to a hospital in the neighbouring country of Thailand, where they remain on life support. Holly’s dad Shaun Bowles fronted the media on Wednesday in Bangkok where he confirmed his daughter remained in the ICU in a critical condition, where the family are spending as much time as possible by her bedside. “Right now our daughter remains in the intensive care unit in a critical condition. She’s on life support,” Shaun said. “We’d just like to thank everyone from back home for all the support and love that we’re receiving but we’d also like for people to appreciate right now we just need privacy so we can spend as much time as we can with Holly.” Bianca's family also released a statement saying there was no update on her condition, but confirmed that she remains on life support. "Our family has been overwhelmed by the messages of love and support that have come from across Australia," the statement from the family reads. "This is every parent's nightmare and we want to ensure no other family is forced to endure the anguish we are going through. We hope the authorities can get to the bottom of what happened as soon as possible." Authorities suspect the girls drank poisoned cocktails which reportedly had shots of "vodka" while holidaying in the party town of Vang Vieng, a popular tourist area about 130km north of Laos capital, Vientiane. They were among a large group of international travellers who fell victim to what is feared to be a mass poisoning which has already killed two other people. Editor's note: Police in Thailand confirmed the death of Bianca Jones on Thursday afternoon. Holly Bowles is understood to still be in hospital. Image credits: Facebook

Caring

Two Aussie teens poisoned in Laos identified

Two Australian teenagers who are fighting for their lives in a hospital in Thailand have been identified. While travelling around south-east Asia on a gap year, Melbourne teens Holly Bowles and Bianca Jones, both aged 19, consumed what is believed to be methanol-laced drinks in Laos. The young women were found barely alive in their hotel room and were rushed to a hospital in the neighbouring country of Thailand, where they remain on life support. Authorities suspect the girls drank poisoned cocktails which reportedly had shots of "vodka" while holidaying in the party town of Vang Vieng, a popular tourist area about 130km north of Laos capital, Vientiane. They were among a large group of international travellers who fell victim to what is feared to be a mass poisoning which has already killed two other people. Ms Jones’ family has expressed disbelief in what has happened to their daughter, describing her as their "angel" as they rushed to be at her bedside. "Our beautiful Bianca was on a dream getaway with her best friend Holly," they told the <a href="https://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/two-melbourne-girls-on-life-support-in-bangkok-after-ethanol-poisoning-in-laos/news-story/6194b29655744b3f1bceeab2980c8e83" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener">Herald Sun</a>. "They were filled with joy and had such incredible adventures ahead of them, travelling through Asia. We are here by Bianca’s bedside praying for her." "She's just an absolute star. She's a bundle of joy. To know her is to love her," the cafe manager told <a title="The Age" href="https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/fears-for-absolute-star-as-teens-fight-for-life-in-thailand-after-alcohol-poisoning-20241119-p5krpb.html" target="" rel="">The Age</a>. "We're just praying for the family. She's just a loyal, caring sweet person. We value her so much as a friend as well as a colleague." The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) provided <a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/laos-methanol-poisoning-melbourne-teens-suspected-methanol-poisoning-identified/b5721fe5-e323-4807-8790-e9d070b51194" target="_blank" rel="noopener">9News</a> with a statement on Wednesday, with a spokesperson saying they were "providing consular assistance" to two Australians and their families in Thailand. "Our thoughts are with them at this deeply distressing time," a spokesperson said. "Owing to our privacy obligations we are unable to provide further comment." Image credits: Facebook

Travel Trouble

Whether in war-torn Ukraine, Laos or Spain, kids have felt compelled to pick up crayons and put their experiences to paper

“They still draw pictures!” So wrote the editors of an influential collection of children’s art that was <a href="https://www.afsc.org/document/they-still-draw-pictures-1938">compiled in 1938</a> during <a href="https://theconversation.com/ukraines-foreign-fighters-have-little-in-common-with-those-who-signed-up-to-fight-in-the-spanish-civil-war-178976">the Spanish Civil War</a>. Eighty years later, war continues to upend children’s lives in Ukraine, Yemen and elsewhere. In January, UNICEF <a href="https://www.unicef.org/globalinsight/reports/prospects-children-2022-global-outlook">projected</a> that 177 million children worldwide would require assistance due to war and political instability in 2022. This included <a href="https://www.unicef.org/emergencies/yemen-crisis">12 million children in Yemen</a>, <a href="https://www.unicef.org/emergencies/syrian-crisis">6.5 million in Syria</a> and <a href="https://www.unicef.org/appeals/myanmar">5 million in Myanmar</a>. The Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 added 7 million more children to this number. To date, more than half of Ukraine’s children <a href="https://www.unicef.org/emergencies/war-ukraine-pose-immediate-threat-children">have been internally or externally displaced</a>. Many more have faced disruptions to education, health care and home life. And yet they, too, still draw pictures. In March, a charity called <a href="https://www.uakids.today/en">UA Kids Today</a>launched, offering a digital platform for kids to respond with art to Russia’s invasion and raise money for aid to Ukrainian families with children. <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=7bfZyk8AAAAJ&hl=en">As a scholar who studies</a> the ways wars affect societies’ most vulnerable members, I see much that can be learned from the art created by kids living in war-torn regions across place and time. <h2>A century of children’s art</h2> During <a href="https://www.nam.ac.uk/explore/boer-war">the Boer War</a> – a conflict waged from 1899 to 1902 between British troops and South African guerrilla forces – relief workers sought to teach orphaned girls the art of <a href="https://blogs.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/archivesandmanuscripts/2017/08/24/the-archive-of-emily-hobhouse-now-available/">lace-making</a>. During World War I, displaced children in Greece and Turkey learned to weave textiles and decorate pottery <a href="https://neareastmuseum.com/2015/08/13/every-stitch-a-story-near-east-industries/">as a means of making a living</a>. Over time, expression has replaced subsistence as the driver of children’s wartime artwork. No longer pressed to sell their productions, children are instead urged to put their emotions and experiences on display for the world to see. Novelist <a href="https://www.neh.gov/humanities/2015/novemberdecember/feature/the-talented-mr-huxley">Aldous Huxley</a> hinted at this goal in his introduction to the 1938 collection of Spanish Civil War art. Whether showing “explosions, the panic rush to shelter, [or] the bodies of victims,” <a href="https://library.ucsd.edu/speccoll/tsdp/frame.html">Huxley wrote</a>, these drawings revealed “a power of expression that evokes our admiration for the childish artists and our horror at the elaborate bestiality of modern war.” <a href="https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/herbert-read">Herbert Read</a>, a World War I veteran and educational theorist, organized another show of children’s art during World War II. Unlike Huxley, Read found that scenes of war did not dominate the drawings he collected from British schoolchildren, even those exposed to the London Blitz. In a pamphlet for the exhibition, he highlighted “the sense of beauty and the enjoyment of life which they have expressed.” While the shows discussed by Read and Huxley differed in many ways, both men emphasized the form and composition of children’s artwork as much as their pictorial contents. Both also expressed the view that the creators of these drawings would play a critical role in the rebuilding of their war-torn communities. <h2>A political tool</h2> As with the children’s war art made during Huxley and Read’s time, the images coming out of Ukraine express a mix of horror, fear, hope and beauty. While planes, rockets and explosions appear in many of the pictures uploaded by <a href="https://www.uakids.today/en">UA Kids Today</a>, so do flowers, angels, Easter bunnies and peace signs. The managers of this platform – who are refugees themselves – have not been able to mount a physical exhibition of these works. But artists and curators elsewhere are beginning to do so. In Sarasota, Florida, artist Wojtek Sawa <a href="https://www.fox13news.com/news/new-sarasota-exhibit-features-artwork-of-ukrainian-children-coping-with-war">has opened a show</a> of Ukrainian children’s art that will be used to collect donations and messages from visitors. These will later be distributed to displaced children in Poland. <a href="https://warchildhood.org/">The War Childhood Museum</a>, based in Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina, had recently concluded traveling exhibitions in Kyiv and Kherson when the Russian invasion started. The museum’s managing director, who has <a href="https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-war-crimes-schools-d1e52368aced8b3359f4436ca7180811">spoken</a> out strongly about the need for cultural heritage protection in war, was able to retrieve several dozen artifacts from these shows a few days before the fighting commenced. Those toys and drawings, which tell the story of children’s experience during Russia’s previous effort to gain control of the Donbas region in 2014, <a href="https://warchildhood.org/2022/02/24/updates-from-ukraine/">will be featured</a> in shows opening elsewhere in Europe in 2022. By capturing the attention of journalists and the public, these exhibitions have been used to raise awareness, solicit funds and inspire commentary. However, children’s art from Ukraine has not yet played a role in political deliberations, as it did when peace activist Fred Branfman shared his collection of drawings by Laotian children and adults <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/07/us/fred-branfman-laos-activist-dies-at-72.html">during his 1971 testimony</a> before Congress on the “<a href="https://legaciesofwar.org/about-laos/secret-war-laos/">Secret War</a>” the U.S. had been conducting in Laos since 1964. Nor is it yet clear whether this art will play a part in future war crimes trials, as the art of Auschwitz-Birkenau internee Yahuda Bacon <a href="https://www.economist.com/books-and-arts/2020/01/25/for-child-survivors-drawing-is-therapy-and-a-tool-of-justice">did during</a> the 1961 trial of Adolf Eichmann. <h2>Windows into different worlds</h2> Art historians <a href="https://www.massey.ac.nz/%7Ealock/hbook/bremner.htm">once thought</a> children’s drawings, no matter where they lived, revealed the world in a way that was unshaped by cultural conventions. But I don’t believe that children in all countries and conflicts represent their experiences in the same way. The drawings of children imprisoned in Nazi concentration camps during World War II are not formally or symbolically interchangeable with drawings made by children exposed to America’s bombing campaign in Laos. Nor can these be interpreted in the same way as images produced by Ukrainian, Yemeni, Syrian or Sudanese children today. To me, one of the most valuable features of children’s art is its power to highlight unique aspects of everyday life in distant places, while conveying a sense of what can be upended, lost or destroyed. A Laotian child’s <a href="https://legaciesofwar.org/programs/national-traveling-exhibition/illustrations-narratives/">drawing</a> of a horse that “ran back to the village” from the rice field after its owner was killed by a bomb offers a small window into the lives of subsistence rice farmers. The desert landscapes and <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-09-30/yemen-s-historic-tower-houses-are-under-threat">urban architecture</a> of Yemen are equally distinctive, and Yemeni children’s drawings highlight those differences even as they express aspirations that viewers around the world may share. <h2>The challenges of preservation</h2> As an academic who has also worked in museums, I am always thinking about how artifacts from today’s conflicts will be preserved for exhibition in the future. There are significant challenges to preserving the drawings and paintings young people produce. First, children’s art is materially unstable. It is often made on paper, with crayons, markers and other ephemeral media. This makes it dangerous to display originals and demands care in the production of facsimiles. Second, children’s art is often hard to contextualize. The first-person commentaries that accompanied some of the Spanish Civil War drawings and most of the Laotian images <a href="https://library.ucsd.edu/speccoll/tsdp/frame.html">often provide</a> details about children’s localized experience but rarely about the timing of events, geographic locations or other crucial facts. Finally, much children’s war art suffers from uncertain authorship. With few full names recorded, it is hard to trace the fates of most child artists, nor is it generally possible to gather their adult reflections on their childhood creations. By noting these complications, I don’t want to detract from the remarkable fact that children still draw pictures during war. Their expressions are invaluable for documenting war and its impact, and it’s important to study them. Nevertheless, in researching children’s art, it is necessary to reflect that scholars and curators are – like the child artists themselves – often working at the limits of their knowledge. Image credits: Instagram This article originally appeared on <a href="https://theconversation.com/whether-in-war-torn-ukraine-laos-or-spain-kids-have-felt-compelled-to-pick-up-crayons-and-put-their-experiences-to-paper-181458" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Conversation</a>.

Art

Vientiane, Laos - the city of charm

Laos is not one of the new, bright young things to take the international travel scene by storm: It has made its move by stealthily edging its way into a few traveller’s itineraries and, more so, into their hearts. Flying in from Vietnam via Cambodia, we landed in the capital city of Laos, Vientiane, a modest and charming little city that resembles a sprawling collection of villages. Vientiane (translated as ‘sandalwood city’) dates from the 10th century. Vientiane is a small city that oozes charm; it’s a laid-back capital that is clean, inviting and a little bit fancy. It’s not what you expect of a capital city; it is quiet, with ordered lanes and tree-lined boulevards, majestic Buddhist temples, loved but shabby monasteries, unhurried traffic and smiling, shy people. The Laotian temples have their own characteristics and even though some appear ‘shabby chic’ on the outside, it’s an inside job with a wealth of spiritual atmosphere. One of the oldest sights of the capital is Wat Sisaket with 10,136 miniature Buddha statues in the walls of the city’s oldest surviving monastery. The temple complex was built in 1818 and when the Thais sacked the city in the 1820s they left it alone. After Wat Sisaket, wander around town for a coffee – Laotian coffee is brilliant – enjoyed with a delicate pastry, a legacy of French colonialism. Then off to absorb the beauty of Luang Stupa, the gold-tipped national monument representing both the Buddhist religion in Cambodia and the Laos sovereignty. It was while I was mooching around the sweeping entrance that I noticed an odd, local phenomenon. There were lots of men walking around asking foreign visitors if they wanted their pictures taken. In this digital age, it surprised me and I thought the guys wouldn’t get any business at all. But they were one ( with well-shod with cowboy boots) step ahead of me. Strapped to their waists were portable printers. So, click for the picture, and click for an image and voila, nice picture, good background and ‘only one US dollar please’. Bargain! The urban cowboys were out in force wearing faux foreign correspondent vests and cowboy hats as they strutted around the gorgeous Patuxay Monument known as Vientiane’s Arc de Triomphe. It’s so decorative, a sight to behold with its Lao friezes from Buddhist mythology. The structure is at the end of the grand Lang Xang Avenue. Stroll around the laid-back city and pass crumbling colonial mansions, immaculate shopfronts, hidden gardens and bamboo thatched beer gardens on the riverbank. Explore the hidden lanes running off the main streets and discover French-style bakeries and noodle and sticky rice vendors. Most of the main attractions of town are concentrated in the tightknit commercial district where you’ll find the museums and squares with a variety of fine restaurants. Fountain Square has the charm of an old-fashioned village green and is surrounded by compact eateries including Italian and Thai restaurants and a Scandinavian bakery. Vientiane is a lovely little city that invites you to turn up and stay for a few days. There’s much to uncover and enjoy here, and who knows, those urban cowboys could win your heart – for ‘only one US dollar’. The writer flew to Laos with Vietnam Airlines. This story first appeared in <a href="http://getupandgo.com.au/">Get Up & Go Magazine</a> and has been edited. Writtenby Bev Malzard. Republished with permission of <a href="https://www.wyza.com.au/articles/travel/vientiane,-laos-the-city-of-charm.aspx">Wyza.com.au.</a>

Cruising

Exploring the ancient Plain of Jars in Laos

Justine Tyerman learns about ‘bombies’ and sticks to the path as she explores the ancient Plain of Jars in Laos… We stood in Tham Thonghai Neung cave in the Xieng Khuang province of Laos, once home to many families. They sheltered there during the Vietnam war from 1964-1973, and 20 of them died there when US bombs struck their hiding place. A shaft of light shining through an opening in the roof of the cave illuminated a Buddhist shrine erected in memory of those whose lives were lost in the attack. The Kiwis in our small tour party stood in stunned silence as our Innovative Travel guide Fhan explained that Laos had the unenviable distinction of being the most heavily-bombed country in the world, per capita. Our knowledge of Lao history was sketchy at best and most were shocked and moved at what he told us. For nearly a decade, Laos was subjected to intensive bombing by the United States as part of the wider war in Indochina. Xieng Khuang province, being close to the Vietnam border and the headquarters of the Pathet Lao (the Lao communist movement), was one of the prime targets. Bombs fell every eight minutes, 24 hours a day, “like rain from the sky,” said Fhan. <img width="500" height="375" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/45059/image-5_500x375.jpg" alt="Image 5"/> Justine at the Plain of Jars, a vast archaeological site in Xieng Khuang province, Laos, dotted with mysterious 2000-year-old stone urns. In another cave, Tham Piew, about 50km away, 374 people died in a US rocket attack. Based on US bombing records, at least two million metric tonnes of ordnance was dropped on Laos between 1964 and 1973. Included in this figure were 270 million submunitions — the bomblets dispersed by cluster munitions — known in Laos as “bombies”. An estimated 80 million, 30 percent, failed to detonate and remained potentially dangerous after the end of the war. Some were dropped at so low an altitude, the fuse didn’t have time to arm, and some simply malfunctioned. These are called UXO (unexploded ordnance.) As a result of extensive ground fighting during the war, some parts of Laos are also littered with other types of UXO such as artillery shells, anti-tank rockets, mortar rounds and grenades. More than 40 years after the bombing ended, UXO continue to kill and maim people as they go about their everyday work. There have been more than 20,000 casualties since 1974. <img width="500" height="333" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/45060/image__500x333.jpg" alt="Image_ (14)"/> The green countryside is littered with bomb craters, a reminder of the pounding the area suffered from 1964-1973. UXO incidents Most UXO incidents in Laos are caused by impact — farmers who hit an UXO beneath the soil’s surface while digging, ploughing or planting. Other causes of accidents include lighting fires over hidden UXO, building houses, collecting food from the forest or breaking open bombies in order to sell the scrap metal or explosives inside. Bombies are sometimes trapped in bamboo plants as they grow and explode if disturbed. Children are highly at risk. In recent years, more than 40 percent of casualties have been children. Bombies are the same size and shape as tennis balls, and sometimes bright yellow in colour so they are tempting to play with. Tragically, in this impoverished country where 44 percent of the population live on less than $1.25 a day, many children are involved in the scrap metal trade, most of which is war-related scrap. It’s like playing Russian roulette but they take the risk to help generate an income to buy food in times of shortage. <img width="500" height="333" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/45061/image__500x333.jpg" alt="Image_ (15)"/> Working in paddy fields can be a dangerous occupation in heavily-bombed areas of Laos like Xieng Khuang province. There is a strong link between UXO contamination and poverty — 41 out of the 45 poorest districts in Laos are those most affected by UXOs. Many rural communities cannot grow sufficient food for their needs because the land area they farm is too small — but they are frightened to expand it. Experience has told them that ploughing new fields can be lethal. The land best suited to agriculture is often the most heavily contaminated. Communities would often benefit economically from basic infrastructure such as irrigation systems that would help them grow more crops, and roads and bridges that would make it easier to transport and sell any surplus — but the risk from UXO prevents them from building such things. We also visited the MAG (Mines Advisory Group) Centre in Xieng Khuang where our guide Vieng described the work of the bomb disposal teams. MAG, an international non-governmental organisation founded in 1989 with headquarters in the UK, has been operating in Laos since 1994. Working alongside community liaison teams, MAG chooses project areas based on a comprehensive assessment of what difference UXO clearance will make to communities in that area. <img width="499" height="665" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/45062/in-text-two_499x665.jpg" alt="In Text Two (1)"/> Inside Tham Thonghai Neung cave in the Xieng Khuang province of Laos, Innovative Travel guide Fhan explains that the area was one the prime US bombing targets. Land to benefit community This ensures that priority is given to clearing the land most likely to directly benefit the community, and therefore most likely to alleviate poverty. MAG hires and trains members of rural communities and actively recruits women because of their dexterity in handling delicate and unstable UXO. According to the most recent figures, MAG has destroyed 212,455 explosive items; cleared 58,526,823 square metres of land and surveyed 58,482,966 metres of land thereby helping 954,978 people. Needless to say, when Fhan and Vieng told us to stick strictly to the pathways as we explored the nearby 2000 year-old Plain of Jars, we did precisely that. Working in conjunction with UNESCO, MAG has cleared seven of the most important archaeological sites to ensure the safety of both local people and tourists. However, I was not prepared to take the risk. I followed exactly in their footsteps, passing many huge bomb craters that still scar the peaceful, green landscape. The clearance of such a significant site is an important achievement as it will enable the Lao government to apply for World Heritage status. This will boost tourism and reduce poverty by providing more employment for local people. The clearance work has also increased the amount of land safe to use for agriculture, enabling farmers to grow sufficient food to meet their needs and even generate a surplus to sell. At one of the three most important archaeological sites, we Kiwis were immensely proud to see a NZAID sign alongside the UNESCO one. It read “MAG cleared UXO from site 3 in 2005 with funding from NZAID.” <img width="500" height="333" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/45063/in-text-three_500x333.jpg" alt="In Text Three (1)"/> I was immensely proud to see this NZAID sign alongside a UNESCO one saying MAG cleared UXO from the Plain of Jars site 3 in 2005 with funding from NZAID. Emotional and sobering While the experience was emotional and sobering, it was also uplifting to see the international community getting behind such organisations as MAG and COPE (Co-operative Orthotic and Prosthetic Enterprise), a rehabilitation service offering orthotic devices, prosthetic limbs and wheelchairs to those disabled and injured by UXO. COPE assists 1000 people a year but there are many who are not even aware that help is available. They struggle by using homemade wooden or bamboo stumps to replace limbs lost in explosions. Our Innovative Travel-Singapore Airlines tour group combined to donate a lump sum to help fund COPE’s work. During our 12 days in Laos, the information enabled me to reflect on, admire and respect the indomitable spirit of the Lao people, who — despite having to live with the ongoing lethal legacy of a war that ended four decades ago — are joyful, positive and incredibly hospitable. <img width="500" height="333" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/45065/image__500x333.jpg" alt="Image_ (17)"/> A bomb casing has been recycled as a foundation on this house. I loved the irony of their recycling efforts, using war scrap as building materials — turning deadly into useful. We saw many houses propped up on bomb-casing foundations with tank tracks for fences. And outside Meaung Khoun Restaurant and Guesthouse in Phonsavan, Xieng Khuang, where we lunched one day on delicious local dishes, there was a display of bomb art. I’ve never encountered such universal good humour, warmth and cheerfulness. Without exception, we were greeted everywhere with smiles and genuine affection. In response, I found myself beaming all day long. Very therapeutic… and sorely missed when we left Laos and returned home to the somewhat sombre faces of our fellow Kiwis. Have you ever been to Laos? Image credit: Justine Tyerman *Justine Tyerman travelled with <a href="http://www.innovativetravel.co.nz/" target="_blank">Innovative Travel</a>, a Christchurch-based boutique tour operator with 27 years’ experience offering travellers the opportunity to explore historically and culturally unique destinations worldwide that provide a challenge but with the security of a peace-of-mind 24/7 wrap-around service. <a href="http://www.innovativetravel.co.nz/travel_companions.club" target="_blank">Travel Companions’ Club</a> creating new horizons for social travellers. Getting there: <a href="http://www.singaporeair.com/" target="_blank">Singapore Airlines</a> flies from Auckland to Singapore daily, from Wellington four times weekly, and from Christchurch daily. Singapore Airlines and its regional wing SilkAir operate 139 weekly flights from eight Australian cities to Singapore Changi Airport with Singapore Airlines and SilkAir.

International Travel

Top 13 things to do in Luang Prabang

Travel writer Justine Tyerman fell in love with lovely Luang Prabang. Justine Tyerman recently visited Luang Prabang, the spiritual capital of Laos, with New Zealand-based travel company Innovative Travel and Singapore Airlines. Located in northern Laos at the confluence of the Mekong and Nam Khan rivers in a valley surrounded by mountains, Luang Prabang is famous for its many beautiful Buddhist temples. Inhabited for thousands of years, it was once the royal capital of the country. It was declared a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1995 due to its ‘rich architectural and artistic heritage that reflect the fusion of Lao traditional urban architecture with that of the colonial era’. 1. Hire a bike <img src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/40443/image__500x630.jpg" alt="Image_ (3)" width="500" height="630" /> Justine heading off around Luang Prabang by bike. Luang Prabang is an ideal place to explore by bike. A small city with a population of about 56,000 people, the terrain is largely flat and the traffic is slow-moving and very considerate of cyclists. It’s far cooler than walking on a hot day because, depending on your speed, you generate quite a breeze. Our hotel, Parasol Blanc, had a fleet of bikes with locks that were free for their guests to use or you can rent bikes from many places in town. A great way to explore the Mekong River, temples, markets, museums and ethnic arts centres. 2. Pha Tad Ke <img src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/40314/2-the-ethno-botanic-garden-at-pha-tad-ke-is-full-of-medicinal-plants-and-natural-remedies_500x333.jpg" alt="2. The Ethno -botanic Garden At Pha Tad Ke Is Full Of Medicinal Plants And Natural Remedies." width="500" height="333" /> The ethno-botanic garden at Pha Tad Ke is full of medicinal plants and natural remedies. The Mekong River is born in Tibet and flows through China, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam on its way to the South China Sea. The longest stretch of the 4350km river is in Laos. It’s an ever-present feature in the country and a cruise of some kind on its swirling red-ochre waters is a must. We journeyed down river in a long boat to Pha Tad Ke, the first botanical gardens to be established in Laos. Work began on the site in 2008 on land that was once a retreat and hunting lodge for the Lao royal family, and the gardens opened in November 2016 creating the first living collection of the flora of Laos. You could easily spend a day wandering around the shady pathways to the ginger, palm, bamboo, organic and educational gardens, the arboretum, mist house, caves and orchid nursery. The ethno-botanic garden is especially absorbing, full of medicinal plants and natural remedies. The tropical flowers are so shiny and exuberant, I found myself touching them to make sure they weren’t artificial. <img src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/40447/2-flowers-at-pha-tad-ka-gardens_500x500.jpg" alt="2. Flowers At Pha Tad Ka Gardens." width="500" height="500" /> Flowers at Pha Tad Ka gardens. Pha Tad Ke is cared for by over 50 Lao staff and a team of dedicated scientists including botantist Bryony Smart, a New Zealander who has been working at the gardens since it opened. What a surprise to find a Kiwi there! They develop educational programmes for all age groups, conducting research into plant reintroduction, horticulture, ethno-botany and medicinal plants. Lunch at the Pha Tad Ke café was a feast of delectable Lao dishes. The gift shop had a 50%-off sale so most of us purchased souvenirs there. I bought fragrant mango moisturiser and another cotton scarf to add to my Lao collection. I could make a bedspread out of all the lovely Lao scarves by the time I’d finished the trip. 3. Traditional Arts and Ethnology Centre The Traditional Arts and Ethnology Centre (TAEC) in Luang Prabang, is the only independent resource centre in Laos dedicated to the country's many diverse ethnic groups. <img src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/40449/image__500x333.jpg" alt="Image_ (4)" width="500" height="333" /> The colourful pleated skirts of the Hmong at the Traditional Arts and Ethnology Centre. The doors opened in July 2007 and current exhibits feature unique cultural aspects of four of Laos’ most well-known ethnic minority groups - the gorgeous costumes and elaborate headdresses of the Akha including one made from over 300 pieces of silver; the colourful accordion pleated skirts and magnificent silver necklaces of the Hmong with locks to symbolise the locking of the soul in the body; the process and tools the Tai Lue use to turn raw cotton into fine thread for weaving; and the versatility and beauty of bamboo basketry woven by the Kmhmu. The story of Job’s Tears in The Seeds of Culture: From Living Plants to Handicrafts exhibit is also fascinating. The seeds from the grass plant are used by a wide variety of ethnic groups as embellishments for clothing, bags and jewellery. 4. National Museum The National Museum is housed in the former palace of King Sisavangvong who ruled the kingdom of Luang Prabang and later the kingdom of Laos from 1904-59. A huge bronze statue of the king stands in the gardens. The exhibits stretch back centuries, tracing the turbulent past of the Lane Xang kingdom and the colonial era, through to the present day. When the communists came to power in 1975, they took over the palace and sent the royal family to re-education camps. The palace was converted into a museum and opened to the public in 1995 after renovation. The royal apartments have been faithfully preserved and offer a glimpse into the lifestyle of the king and his family. The exhibits include royal religious objects, weapons, statues, screens and paintings from past centuries. In the mirrored Throne Hall, you can see the crown jewels of Laos. One room features murals depicting everyday Lao life in the 1930s. A pavilion houses the 2000 year-old Prabang Buddha which is made from solid gold. A garage contains the last king’s extensive collection of cars. Note: After paying your entrance fee you leave your shoes, bags and all photographic equipment in the lockers (free of charge) before entering the exhibit halls. Photos are forbidden at this site. 5. Temples <img src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/40450/4-wat-visoun-is-famous-for-the-‘watermelon-stupa’-in-the-courtyard_500x333.jpg" alt="4. Wat Visoun Is Famous For The ‘Watermelon Stupa ’ In The Courtyard." width="500" height="333" /> Wat Visoun is famous for the ‘Watermelon Stupa’ in the courtyard. Wat Visoun, the oldest temple in Luang Prabang, dates back to 1513 and the reign of King Wisunarat (Visoun). Once home to the Prabang Buddhas, the temple was entirely rebuilt in 1887 after being destroyed by the invading Black Flags from Southern China. It’s famous for the ‘Watermelon Stupa’ in the courtyard. It represents a lotus flower but is nicknamed watermelon because of its shape. Wat Xieng Thong, the most revered temple in Luang Prabang, was built in 1560 by King Setthathirat. A huge golden Buddha is the centrepiece of the ornately-decorated temple, surrounded by row-upon-row of smaller Buddha statues. The walls of the temple are decorated with magnificent glass mosaics and ornate carvings and murals depicting Lao legends. The golden frontage of the temple is exquisite. So too is the Tree of Life on an outside wall. There are over 20 structures in the grounds including a building to house the royal funeral barge pulled by a many-headed naga or dragon. We spotted a couple of friendly young monks who were happy to pose in front of the temple. Laos is one of few places in the world where travellers can take photos of local people without having to pay. There are a myriad of stunning temples in Luang Prabang. We also visited Wat Mai, a temple renowned for its golden bas-relief, Wat Aham, which was first built in the 1500s, and Wat That where the ashes of King Sisavangvong are kept inside the large central stupa. 6. Alms-giving You will need to get up early to catch the parade of monks through the streets of Luang Prabang. Every morning before sunrise, hundreds of monks from the many local temples walk along the streets of Luang Prabang receiving alms. Those giving alms are mainly women who sit in groups on the footpath with their bamboo baskets of sticky rice and other food. The monks chant blessings to the alms-givers as they walk by with their lidded containers for the food. Aged from eight years to quite elderly, the barefoot, shaven-headed monks are a colourful sight in their bright orange robes. Most are teenagers but some are so tiny, it’s hard to imagine them living away from home. <img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/40471/5-monks-receiving-alms-from-local-women_500x669.jpg" alt="5. Monks Receiving Alms From Local Women." width="500" height="669" /> Monks receiving alms from local women. About 80 percent of Lao males become monks at some point in their lives. They receive free education, accommodation, food and transport so a period of monkhood is especially common among rural communities where families tend to be larger and less able to afford schooling. 7. Street Markets <img src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/40316/2_500x335.jpg" alt="2 (191)" width="500" height="335" /> Local handicrafts on display at Luang Prabang night markets. The markets in Luang Prabang are a cheerful, friendly place where shoppers are not harassed to make purchases and any bargaining is good-natured. The variety of goods and bargains was so tempting at the night markets, I bought a painting of the monks’ parade, a series of three wooden statues of paddy field workers, a mosaic bowl, a pair of light-weight, loose-fitting shorts ideal for the heat, some scarves and a gorgeous silk-embroidered carry bag. Even when I couldn’t fit anything more in my suitcase, I kept going back to enjoy the colourful, vibrant atmosphere and admire the exquisite local handicrafts displayed so beautifully. 8. Living Land Farm <img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/40319/8_500x335.jpg" alt="8 (93)" width="500" height="335" /> Kiwis getting right amongst it, planting rice at Living Land Farm. The Living Land Farm, founded in 2005, is an entirely organic, community enterprise, run by a local team for the benefit of the Lao people. Guide Khamla, a born entertainer who had us in fits of laughter, demonstrated the 13 steps of rice production assisted by a couple of delightful Lao youngsters. The process involves selecting the best grains, planting the seed in a nursery, ploughing the field, transplanting the seedlings, watering and weeding, harvesting the crop, thrashing, cleaning, packing and storing, husking and grinding it into flour (for noodles), soaking it overnight and steaming. Our enthusiastic group of Kiwis donned coolie hats and had a go at everything from preparing the paddy field with help of Rudolf, the water buffalo, to thrashing the rice after harvested . . . and eating the finished product, the 14th and most popular step. Khamla showed us around the extensive organic gardens and shade houses and we also watched a couple of elderly men making intricate animal shapes out of a flax-type material from the rice plant to give to visitors. <img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/40473/image__499x665.jpg" alt="Image_ (7)" width="499" height="665" /> Khamla had us in fits of laughter as he demonstrated how to carry heavy baskets of rice at Living Land Farm. I liked the philosophy at the farm. Assistant manager Sia Lee said: “We grow organic vegetables, salad greens, herbs and rice and supply leading restaurants and hotels in Luang Prabang. “We employ workers who have learning difficulties or physical disabilities who are unable to find work. Our project supports children from poor families with their education and medical needs. We offer free English language classes to children from local villages and act as a training centre for agriculture students.” 9. Tat Kuang Si Waterfall <img src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/40320/9_500x333.jpg" alt="9 (77)" width="500" height="333" /> A young girl jumping into a pool at Tat Kuang Si Waterfall. The Tat Kuang Si Waterfall, 45 minutes’ drive from Luang Prabang, is a popular swimming spot on a hot day so take your swimsuit and a towel. It’s tempting to stop for a swim at the first of the inviting blue-green pools but make sure you follow the path up through the rain forest to the foot of the 60m waterfall. It’s a stunning sight. From the top pool, the water flows down a series of travertine terraces where swimming is allowed. I immersed myself in the cool water watching a handful of daring youngsters trying to out-do each other with daring dives off rocks. Our Innovative Travel guide Fhan told us the legend of the waterfall. Tat Kuang Si Waterfall (Tat means waterfall, Kuang - deer and Si - dig) began to flow when a wise old man dug deep into the earth to find water. A beautiful golden deer then made its home under a big rock that protruded from the falls. The sound of the water falling on this rock created an enchanting echo that drew people to the waterfall from as far away as China. <iframe src="http://players.brightcove.net/4174796129001/default_default/index.html?videoId=5526376867001" allowfullscreen="" webkitallowfullscreen="" mozallowfullscreen="" width="600" height="337.5" style="text-align: center;"></iframe> 10. Tat Kuang Si Bear Rescue Centre Just inside the entrance to Tat Kuang Si Waterfall, we came across bears lying in hammocks, feasting on bamboo, lolling around in trees, roaming through the rainforest and playing in the streams. Thanks to Free the Bears, nearly 40 Asiatic black bears, who were once victims of an illegal trade in wildlife, now lead idyllic lives at Tat Kuang Si Bear Rescue Centre, a huge enclosure within the waterfall reserve. <img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/40451/image__500x333.jpg" alt="Image_ (5)" width="500" height="333" /> An Asiatic black bear who has fallen asleep in a hammock while feasting on bamboo at Tat Kuang Si Bear Rescue Centre. Watching the amusing antics of Noy, Deng, Kham, Damn, Keo and friends, I was horrified to think of them being kept in tiny cages and ‘milked’ for their gall bladder bile, a popular ingredient in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). Bears are also poached and killed for their body parts that are used in TCM throughout the East and Southeast Asia. These beautiful animals are sometimes known as ‘moon bears’ because of the characteristic white crescent shape on their chests. 11. Luang Prabang Elephant Camp <img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/40452/image__500x333.jpg" alt="Image_ (6)" width="500" height="333" /> The star of the elephant camp is the baby, aged two, who is nicknamed ‘Sang Noi Kiddu’, meaning naughty baby elephant. On the way to the waterfall, I fulfilled a long-held desire to meet an elephant. Fhan took us to Luang Prabang Elephant Camp, an elephant sanctuary that is home to 12 Asian elephants and a calf who have been rescued from a life of hard labour at logging camps. The camp is supervised by Tha Thao, an elephant expert, with an ardent love for elephants. Under his guidance, starved, beaten and over-worked animals have been restored to health and happiness. The star of the camp is the baby, aged two, who is nicknamed ‘Sang Noi Kiddu’, meaning naughty baby elephant. She came to the camp with her devoted mother, Mae Kham Onh, 27, who is still feeding her. When Sang Noi Kiddu causes mayhem by stealing food, Tha says she rushes to one of her many surrogate aunties in the herd. Mae–Mun Qao, 40, is the biggest elephant at the camp. She weighs a whopping 3500kg and eats around 10 percent of her body weight every day as well as drinking 160 litres of water a day. She keeps her doting mahouts very busy providing sustenance for her. The love and care they feel for their animals is very obvious. We also met Keo meaning precious or gem, the only white elephant in Laos, Boun-Kam, 52, the eldest of the herd, and Kham Mun whose lumps, bumps and scars tell of her very troubled past in the logging camps. I was happy to just pat, feed and commune with the elephants and chat to the staff but if you have time, Tha and the mahouts offer visitors the opportunity to experience and learn more about their elephants. You can ride an elephant, help the mahouts bathe them in the nearby river and even take a mahout course. 12. Kuang Si Butterfly Park Also en route to the waterfall is Kuang Si Butterfly Park. Sadly, we didn’t have time to visit the park but others rate it very highly. 13. Cuisine The restaurant overlooking the beautiful lily pond at Parasol Blanc, our hotel in Luang Prabang, served delicious Lao cuisine. My favourite dish was vegetarian spring rolls in rice paper with chilli and garlic dipping sauces. It was so tasty, I even had it for breakfast. We also dined at the 3 Nagas where I sampled Khaiphaen Jeund or Mekong riverweed for the first time – similar to flatbread or lavosh, it’s delicious with spicy jam. <img src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/40454/11-my-favourite-dish-at-parasol-blanc-rice-paper-rolls-with-chilli-and-garlic-dips_500x375.jpg" alt="11. My Favourite Dish At Parasol Blanc , Rice Paper Rolls With Chilli And Garlic Dips." width="500" height="375" /> My favourite dish at Parasol Blanc, rice paper rolls with chilli and garlic dips. The Blue Lagoon is an elegant eatery tucked down an alleyway off the main street where the night markets are held. The menu features an interesting fusion of Asian and Western dishes but I stuck with the Lao cuisine. I just couldn’t get enough of the lemongrass, shallot, chilli, garlic, mint, coriander, ginger, lime, tamarind and galangal flavours. I had an aromatic fish soup and a black rice and vegetable dish outside in the lantern-lit courtyard, served by a team of extremely attentive waiters. They even had two young men just opening and closing the doors to the restaurant. Image credits: Justine Tyerman * Justine Tyerman travelled with <a rel="noopener" href="http://www.innovativetravel.com" target="_blank">Innovative Travel</a>, a Christchurch-based boutique tour operator with 27 years’ experience offering travellers the opportunity to explore historically and culturally unique destinations worldwide that provide a challenge but with the security of a peace-of-mind 24/7 wrap-around service and highly-qualified local guides. So important in a seriously-foreign country where the language, culture, customs and food are unfamiliar . . . not to mention the Lao currency known as kip. * <a rel="noopener" href="http://www.innovativetravel.co.nz/travel_companions.club" target="_blank">Travel Companions’ Club</a>, ideal for solo travellers: Getting there: Singapore Airlines flies from Auckland to Singapore daily, from Wellington four times weekly, and from Christchurch daily: <a rel="noopener" href="http://www.singaporeair.com/" target="_blank">www.singaporeair.com</a> SilkAir flies from Singapore to Vientiane and Luang Prabang three times weekly: <a rel="noopener" href="http://www.silkair.com/" target="_blank">www.silkair.com</a> Fly to Laos from NZ$1203 return with Singapore Airlines' World Wanderlust Special Fares on sale until August 7. Accommodation: Parasol Blanc, Luang Prabang, <a rel="noopener" href="http://www.parasol-blanc.com/" target="_blank">www.parasol-blanc.com</a>.

International Travel

10 must-do things in Laos’ capital Vientiane

Justine Tyerman visited Vientiane, the capital city of Laos, with Innovative Travel and Singapore Airlines. Laos is a landlocked country in South East Asia surrounded by China, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. Vientiane, on the banks of the mighty Mekong River, has a population of just 760,000 and is far less hectic than most other Asian capital cities. It’s peaceful and laid-back compared with Hanoi and Bangkok. The city is rich in history, heritage, culture and traditions, and has fabulous cuisine. Among the many fascinating places our excellent local guide Souk took us to, here are my 10 must-do things in Vientiane. 1. Of the many temples we visited in Laos, Wat Sisaket is my favourite. The only building to have survived the razing of the city by Siamese (Thai) invaders in 1828, it is therefore the oldest temple in the capital. Built from 1881 to 1824 on orders of King Anouvong, it is strikingly beautiful. The shady teak cloisters surrounding the courtyard and sanctuary or “sim” are lined with 10,136 statues of Buddha, 2000 large and 8000 miniatures. It’s a tranquil, cool place of reflection and quiet meditation. <img src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/39271/1_497x330.jpg" alt="1 (193)" width="497" height="330" /> The cloisters at Wat Sisaket are lined with 10,136 statues of Buddha. Image credit: Justine Tyerman If you want to see more stunning temples, visit nearby Wat Phra Keo, Temple of the Emerald Buddha, which has a fine collection of Lao and Khmer art. Built in 1565 as a chapel for the royal family, the temple was once home to the Emerald Buddha, hence the name, but the Thais stole the statue in 1778. It is now a museum famous for its wood and stone carvings and collection of Buddhas. 2. Pha That Luang, or the Great Stupa, is dazzling. Constructed by King Setthathirat in the 16th century and restored in 1953, it is the most important Buddhist monument in Laos. The golden spire or stupa is 45m tall and believed to contain a relic of Buddha. An impressive statue of the king stands in front of the stupa. In the grounds and nearby, there are a number of beautiful ornate temples and a magnificent golden reclining Buddha. <img src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/39285/2_500x750.jpg" alt="2 (186)" width="500" height="750" /> The golden Pha That Luang or the Great Stupa is dazzling. Image credit: Justine Tyerman 3. From a distance, you would think you were in Paris looking down the Champs-Élysées at the Arc de Triomphe. Vientiane’s Patuxay Monument or Victory Gate, built from 1957 to 1968, is dedicated to those who fought in the struggle for independence from France and perished during the World War 2. While it resembles the iconic Parisian landmark, the Patuxay has four arches rather than two and five distinctively ornate Lao towers on the top. <img src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/39273/3_500x333.jpg" alt="3 (157)" width="500" height="333" /> Vientiane’s Patuxay Monument or Victory Gate by day. Image credit: Justine Tyerman It’s quite a climb to the upper look-out, the equivalent of seven-storeys, but well worth the effort for the magnificent view over the city. There are bazaars and souvenir stalls on the lower levels. <img src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/39275/12_500x750.jpg" alt="12 (23)" width="500" height="750" /> The view of Vientiane’s from the top of the Patuxay Monument or Victory Gate. Image credit: Justine Tyerman 4. Buddha Park is one of the most bizarre and eccentric places I have ever visited in my travels. Also known as Xieng Khuan or “Spirit City,” the park is dotted with over 200 Buddhist and Hindu statues and sculptures created in 1958 by Luang Pu Bunleua Sulilat, a Lao priest-shaman who integrated Hinduism and Buddhism. There are sculptures of humans, animals, demons, a Hindu god riding a three-headed elephant, a god with 12 faces and many hands, and an enormous 40m long reclining Buddha. To get the best photos and a panorama of the whole park, you need to climb to the top of a giant pumpkin. This is no easy feat – you enter by way of a demon’s mouth and negotiate steep steps with no safety rails passing through hell, earth and heaven on the way, emerging on a dome topped with a tree of life. An awesome view of the whole park . . . but not for the faint-hearted or those who suffer vertigo. <img src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/39276/4_499x665.jpg" alt="4 (131)" width="499" height="665" /> Buddha Park, one of the most bizarre and eccentric places I have ever visited. Image credit: Justine Tyerman 5. It’s such a novelty for Kiwis to be able to (almost) walk to another country so one day, we all trooped to the mid-point of the 1174m Friendship Bridge that linksLaos and Thailand. Built by the Australian government in 1994 for $A42m, the bridge across the Mekong River connects Nong Khai province and the city of Nong Khai in Thailand with Vientiane Prefecture in Laos. The bridge is near Buddha Park. <img src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/39278/5_499x665.jpg" alt="5 (121)" width="499" height="665" /> Justine at the Laos-Thai border on the Friendship Bridge over the Mekong River. Image credit: Justine Tyerman 6. One of the most moving experiences in Laos was our visit to COPE (Co-operative Orthotic and Prosthetic Enterprise), an organisation working to help the victims of the millions of landmines that still litter Laos 40 years after the end of the Vietnam War. We listened to an earnest young man explaining COPE’S rehabilitation service that provides orthotic devices, prosthetic limbs, wheelchairs and other aids to those disabled and injured by explosions from cluster bombs. <img src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/39279/6_498x410.jpg" alt="6 (112)" width="498" height="410" /> A sculpture made from recycled bomb casings at the COPE centre in Vientiane. Image credit: Supplied The statistics are shocking. From 1964 to 1973, the country was subjected to intensive bombing by the United States of America as part of the wider war in Indochina. Based on US bombing records, at least two million metric tonnes of ordnance was dropped on Laos in nine years making it the most heavily bombed country in the world, per capita. Included in this figure were 270 million submunitions – the bomblets dispersed by cluster munitions - known in Laos as “bombies”. Bombs fell every eight minutes, 24 hours a day, “like rain from the sky”. <img src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/39280/7.jpg" alt="7 (100)" width="372" height="556" /> An artwork made from cluster bombs at the COPE centre in Vientiane. Image credit: Justine Tyerman An estimated 80 million – 30 percent – of submunitions failed to detonate and remain potentially dangerous after the end of the war. These are called UXO (unexploded ordnances.) Four decades later, UXO continue to kill and maim people as they go about their everyday work. Farmers and those who work on the land are most at risk but in recent years, more than 40 percent of casualties have been children. Bombies are the same size and shape as tennis balls, and sometimes bright yellow in colour so they are tempting to play with them. Every day in Laos, 3000 men and women conduct survey and clearance work, locating and destroying hundreds of UXO. COPE assists 1000 people a year but there are many who are not even aware that help is available. They struggle by using homemade wooden or bamboo stumps to replace limbs lost in explosions. Rather than buy trinkets as souvenirs, our Kiwi group combined to donate a lump sum to help fund COPE’s work. 7. I developed a strong taste for the locally-brewed beer on my first night in Laos. Drinking ice-cold BeerLao at Moon the Night Restaurant as the sun set over the Mekong is an enduring memory. Fishermen up to their necks in the red-brown water were hauling in their nets, scooters were buzzing by driven by young men with girls riding side-saddle behind them, the lights of Thailand twinkled just across the river . . . it was magic. Time Magazine called BeerLao “Asia’s best local beer”. <img src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/39281/8_500x333.jpg" alt="8 (91)" width="500" height="333" /> The Mekong River from Moon the Night Restaurant. Image credit: Justine Tyerman 8. Instead of dining in restaurants every night, meander your way through the Ban Anou night market, an area of street-eats popular among locals. It’s the Lao version of takeaways, fresh off the barbecue coals. The range of food is astonishing and the flavours and aromas intoxicating. Colourful fruit and vegetables, fish, duck, chicken, pork meatball wraps or “nem nuong”, sausages of every description, noodles and mountains of sticky rice or “klao niaw”, the staple food eaten at every meal. There are also sweet treats galore from Lao-style donuts to icecream and gelato. <img src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/39282/9_500x375.jpg" alt="9 (76)" width="500" height="375" /> Street eats in the Ban Anou night market. Image credit: Justine Tyerman 9. <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.facebook.com/doikanoi" target="_blank">Doi Ka Noi Restaurant</a> is an excellent spot for lunch. We were the only non-Lao people there, apart from the owner Mick, chef Noi’s English husband, who is a photographer and writer. The food was delicious with fabulous fresh ingredients, many from their own garden – yummy fish soup, crispy sun-dried pork with grilled aubergine and chili dip, salad of foraged fiddlehead fern topped with pork, stir fried chicken with black pepper, spicy salad with confit duck leg and organic Lao wholegrain black rice and white sticky rice. I loved the chilli, garlic, lime juice, spring onion, mint and lemongrass flavours. <img src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/39283/10_500x333.jpg" alt="10 (61)" width="500" height="333" /> Spicy salad of confit duck leg at Doi Ka Noi Restaurant. Image credit: <a rel="noopener" href="http://www.mickshippen.com/" target="_blank">Mick Shippen</a> 10. When we arrived in Vientiane, were treated to an evening of traditional Lao dancing and music at Kualao Restaurant. A four-piece orchestra played a variety of delightful Lao tunes which were recognised immediately by the mainly local diners of all ages who enjoyed themselves immensely on the dance floor. A pair of highly professional entertainers performed exquisite dance sequences while we consumed a delicious dinner – I had Laos’ signature dish, larb moo (pork salad with lime, lemongrass and shallots). I must get the recipe! <img src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/39284/11_500x334.jpg" alt="11 (31)" width="500" height="334" /> We were treated to an evening of traditional Lao dancing and music at Kualao Restaurant. Image credit: Justine Tyerman * Justine Tyerman travelled with <a rel="noopener" href="http://www.innovativetravel.co.nz%20" target="_blank">Innovative Travel</a>, a Christchurch-based boutique tour operator with 27 years’ experience offering travellers the opportunity to explore historically and culturally unique destinations worldwide that provide a "challenge” but with the security of a peace-of-mind 24/7 “wrap-around” service. So important in a seriously foreign country: Getting there: <a rel="noopener" href="http://www.singaporeair.com/" target="_blank">Singapore Airlines</a> flies from Auckland to Singapore daily, from Wellington four times weekly, and from Christchurch daily. <a rel="noopener" href="http://www.silkair.com/" target="_blank">SilkAir</a> flies from Singapore to Vientiane and Luang Prabang three times weekly: Fly to Laos from NZ$1203 return with Singapore Airlines' World Wanderlust Special Fares on sale until July 17. <a rel="noopener" href="http://www.laoairlines.com/" target="_blank">Lao Airlines</a> flies from Vientiane to Xieng Khuang * Accommodation: <a rel="noopener" href="http://www.ihg.com/crowneplaza/hotels/gb/en/vientiane/vtecp/hoteldetail/hotel-overview" target="_blank">Crowne Plaza</a>, Vientiane is an excellent place to stay.

International Travel

Why you should visit Luang Prabang in Laos

Anne Sinclair, 68, was born in England but spent most of her youth in Darwin, Northern Territory. Now in a position to travel and explore the world, Anne looks forward to sharing her personal experience and encourages others to step out and have fun. Well, this has turned out to be a most interesting city. Luang Prabang – situated in northern Laos and perched along the banks of the Mekong River. It is known for its many Buddhist Temples – fabulous structures with some even dating back to the 16th century. Luang Prabang was listed as a World Heritage Site in 1995, as it is home to unique and remarkably preserved architectural religious and cultural heritage. Add a touch of French colonial influences in the 19th and 20th century and, you have a truly amazing cultural experience at your fingertips. Luang Prabang was the royal capital and seat of Government of the Kingdom of Laos, until the communist takeover in 1975. The old name was Muang Sua – this enriched culture and its people have encountered such a diverse history – conquests, occupation, expansion, warlike tribe rulers, Siamese administrative system in the 7th Century, independence, dynasty struggles – and even occupied by many foreign invaders, during WWII. Today, it exudes peace and serenity. You will pass many a training monk in the streets here; their thirty five temple areas tempting you – with this spiritually tranquillity on offer, you may not want to ever leave! The temples and shrines are dotted throughout this area – its little wonder Luang Prabang is known as Laos’ premier tourist destination. <img width="498" height="315" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/33975/1_498x315.jpg" alt="1 (163)"/> It is believed the Phra Bang Buddha has been a source of the city’s protection since the fourteenth century. An 83cm statue of this Buddha remains today in the grounds of the Royal Palace. The Palace was built by French colonialists during 1904-1909, and offers a blend of Laos and French architect. Quite lovely. So much amazing history and architecture wonders are all around the city, offering a constant reminder of the wonder of Luang Prabang. The Airport is the transport mode I used, flying from Vietnam – but there are bus trips also available from their capital Vientiane - and many of the bigger cities would certainly have international flights, if not daily, to bring you to this wonderful spot! Just being able to stand on the banks of the Mekong River makes me feel in awe of the historical events reflected in this incredible city. The morning dedication of the giving of alms ceremony, for the many monks in this area, starts around six am. There is further delight in the incredible wild, yet peaceful waterfalls only one hour away. All waiting for you to discover! <img width="499" height="279" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/33974/2_499x279.jpg" alt="2 (163)"/> I happened upon an English Teaching School (its open to the public to drop in and help locals and monks) to improve their pronunciation of the English language. This school boasts the creation, printing and introduction of reading books into the lives of many Laos’ children. What an achievement. It was understood in Laos, that ‘Lao people do not read’ – but, with such a dedicated ambition, a young man named Khamla, has turned this all around. His story is both moving and extra-ordinary, as today, the children in Laos enjoy so many, many colourful and education reading books – making their literacy learning fun! Khamla and his supporters (I have called them visionaries) have achieved remarkable results, encouraging children in Laos to read and – read out loud. There is lots to see – explore – enjoy! Or, just come here and have some quiet time in those ‘special’ Buddhist parks. Pretty much something for everyone here in Luang Prabang. <img width="500" height="895" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/33973/3_500x895.jpg" alt="3 (141)"/> On visiting the Pak Ou Caves – which are situated about 25 kilometres from Luang Prabang by long boat – you will be privileged to visit one of the most respected holy site in Laos. These caves are reported as holding some 1000 (some say up to 4000) statues and Buddha icons. You journey along the Mekong River where the caves hold statues dating back many hundreds of years. Many are quite small, many in meditation positions, teaching, peace and rain – and also reclining Buddha. And, last but by no means least, we visited the Lao Lao Village, famous for its whisky – of which I would like to be able to suggest would be one of the world’s finest whiskey available – but, I didn’t try it – I have left this little adventure for you. So, come to Luang Prabang and let me know what you think! Related links: <a href="https://www.oversixty.co.nz/lifestyle/retirement-life/2017/01/anne-sinclair-on-volunteering-in-a-bali-orphanage/">Volunteering in a Bali orphanage</a> <a href="http://www.oversixty.co.nz/travel/international-travel/2016/11/step-back-in-time-and-experience-kirkwall-scotland/">Step back in time and experience Kirkwall, Scotland</a> <a href="http://www.oversixty.co.nz/travel/international-travel/2017/02/justine-tyerman-lifelong-dream-santorini/">I fulfilled a lifelong dream to visit Santorini</a>

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