Luang Prabang – a temporary farewell

We were in the old Laotian royal city for almost three weeks. When we were planning our trip, it quickly became clear that Luang Prabang would be one, if not the destination. We were here for a few days in 2022 and fell in love with the city and even the whole country. A year later, we immediately felt at home here again.

It is now clear to us that we will come back: in just a few weeks we will pass here again on our way from the south of Laotia. The city captivates you with its charm and sublime tranquility. With the many old Buddhist temples and the royal palace, you have the feeling of being in the middle of living history.

At the same time, the city and the country are changing, one might think from the 19th straight into the 21st century. For a few years there has been an express train line from the capital Vientiane to Kunming, China. Another line that will connect Vietnam with Thailand via Laos is being planned. There are construction projects everywhere: hydroelectric power plants, factories, infrastructure. With a glorified romantic European view, you want people to maintain their calm, spirituality and connection with their surroundings through all of this. The Laotians call Yulala their old way of life, where they only work as much as necessary so that there is still plenty of time for family and the community.

But for the Laotians themselves, the development that is now taking place in the country is exactly that: development. It is not our place to evaluate or even judge this - Yulala is completely foreign to our way of life in Europe.

After we said goodbye to Luang Prabang, we took the slow boat up the Mekong for two days to the Thai border. Europeans would call it deceleration. Maybe Yulala is a better term.

Robert