Luang Prabang - Day 2

This morning we met with Phonsy our guide and with bicycles we peddled off to the boat pier where we crossed the Mekong by long boat.

Once the other side we carried our bikes up steep steps and found ourselves in a tranquil clearing with a temple in the middle. This is Wat Long Khoun where the royal family used to come and meditate. The 14th century temple has since been restored including the beautiful painted walls depicting life as it was in days gone by.

Then off we set on our bicycles for probably around 20km through villages and jungle countryside until we reached the Hoy Khua waterfalls. In the village here they are fortunate because they can have more than one rice growing season by diverting water from the falls to flood the terraces. After a short rest and a chat as we listenined to the falling water it was just a short cycle back to the Mekong edge where our longboat and picnic lunch was waiting for us.

On the return trip upstream we stopped at Ban Chan a pottery village which makes house bricks, house tiles and big pots. They no longer use clay from their own earth but have to bringnit in from up North as it was declared a short while ago that there were so many holes around the village it wasnt safe for the children - one can only assume they kept falling in! Getting the clay to a malleable stage is hard work. It arrives on a boat, then spread thinly to dry, then ground and pummelled and finally mixed with water to a kneading consistency. The village supplies pots to all the hotels in Luang Prabang and many go to the capital Vientiene. I was given my first pottery lesson on a wheel and with a lot of help made a small pot. There was no electricity or a foot peddle to make the wheel go round so the huge pots/urns they make are all the more impressive.