Saturday, November 11
Our tours this morning included Royal Palace Museum, Huan Chuan Heritage House, Wat Xiengthong and Wat Khili. Unlike all our other tours, these are very close. We started at the Royal Palace Museum which was built in 1904 for the king. It is located right on the river so that it would be easy for visitors to arrive. Everything is still decorated in gold so it is much more dramatic than the temples in Cambodia. They are also more strict about taking off your shoes and making sure your legs are fully covered when you go into the temple.
We then headed over to Huan Chuan Heritage House which is on the UNESCO world heritage site and acts as a small museum on the lifestyle of Luang Prabang. Wat Xieng Thong is a Buddhist temple that was built in the mid 1500’s. It functioned as a place for kings to be crowned, a place of worship for monks, a shrine to Buddhist relics, a celebration space of religious rites and festivals, a library for ancient scripts, and a showcasing of traditional architecture. Wat Khili was right next door and was built in the 1700’s. There were several different temples in the complex and a lot laden with gold leaf and several mosaics.
After temples it was time for lunch. Then it was back to the hotel to rest a bit. At 4 pm we went down to a conference area and watched a picture show our guide put together showing all the places we had been. It was really cool. We then went on a Mecong river cruise. Before getting on the boat we stopped to see where two rivers (Mekong and the Nam Khan) came together. After the boat ride, we went to the night market. Then it was time for dinner.
Photos
Additional photos coming