The dance style is similar to Thai and Burmese (as far as I can tell) with graceful precise hand movements done in a slow flexible manner so the hands seem like separate entities from the body. The women did the “Well wishing” dance. Then the show continued with an episode form the Ramayana. “Mt. Meru and Phra in residence” is about a giant who is so struck by the beauty of the mountain, he starts offering praise. A gecko on the mountain thinks he is talking to him and interrupts his prayers. The lizard was a puppet and we had to laugh at his loud, “Ah O!” sound which is a sound we often hear from the geckos here. (It is actually the mating call of the male gecko) It is so loud we first thought it was some kind of bird. The giant stomped and had heavy foot movements with flexed feet and turned out knees.

This dance was followed by the Dance of the Monkeys. Humorous in its stylized monkey movements-- scratching, grabbing at things, etc. The dances seem very character oriented with giants doing different heavier moves than the sage.

The performance reminded me how much I like Thai/Lao/ and Burmese (I'm guessing) culture: The rich “palace” culture aspect, the emphasis on beauty and style. I wonder how the style of dance differs between these countries.

I should mention it was not a good morning. Our hotel is next door to someone who has about 10 roosters-- all of whom woke up and started crowing around 4 AM. Eventually we gave up sleeping and got up to look for a new hotel. We gave up and decided to try a different room-- probably won't help though. The smoke is still bad though we did get a little rain.

In town we looked at one hotel row-- a quiet looking street filled with guest houses-- none of which appealed to me. We walked up town through the Hmong Night Market which fills the main tourist street of the old town from 5-10 PM. Vendors had rich colored embroidered silk scarves, quilted bed spreads, and bags, hand woven clothing, embroidered pieces and much more. I really love Lao design. It is a fabulous combination of patterns, traditional techniques, rich colors and tasteful work. I could spend a lot of money. There is a richness and elegance to the silks and cottons that women seem to wear as everyday outfits.

The Hmong Market was started in 2000-2002 by Hmong women who came into town to sell crafts to tourists. There were some conflicts between townspeople and the village women. The town was going to close the market. UNESCO insisted they resolve it in a manner good for all involved. So they built toilets (one of the complaints about the villagers was they were soiling the area), and now the market is a bustling part of the town.

Luang Prabang architecture doesn't disappoint either. Elegant stupas of the Royal Palace and the stupa on Phusi were lit up and shiny gold. Delicately carved filigree adorns the wats. The streets also hold many French colonial buildings, traditional Lao houses, and buildings that merge French colonial architecture with Lao style.

At the foot of the karsts there was a man who tore our tickets and pointed back to an arrow pointing out the trail. We climbed up to the mouth of the cave. There was a little bit of a view of the valley but definitely not like the one advertised by the sign. The cave seemed to go rather deep but my flashlight seemed a bit weak so we just went as far as the second cavern. There were pretty limestone stalactites. Rowshan banged some with rocks and they made a musical sound. We climbed back down and explored some paths. The day was getting hot but the paths provided views of the limestone cliffs rising into the sky.

The text of the signs are very interesting. All the words are run together and when the painter got to the end of the line he just broke the word and continued on the next line.

We walked back out to the main road. Then went down a path which brought us to a dry river bed. We walked along this and came to a road. It had rained pretty hard the previous night so there were a lot of damp muddy spots next to the road. Butterflies gathered and drank the moisture from the mud. When disturbed they would fly off in strands one following the one in front, sometimes breaking into smaller strands peeling off then rejoining in a fluctuating cloud.

By this time it was very hot. We hoped to find a “blue lagoon” for swimming. Rowshan asked some girls who were walking down the road carrying woven baskets of firewood. They said there was no swimming spots on that road. We walked back to the main road and headed back to town, stopping at a relaxing drink place with bamboo tea platforms. We relaxed with fruit shakes and nori potato chips.

This evening we were sitting in a cafe when Rowshan noticed another couple at the table next to us. The guy was looking disgusted at the scene on the street. I don't know exactly what it was-- maybe it was one of the women bouncing down the street or it was a sawngthaew full of shouting guys. When another sawngthaew went by, Rowshan asked them what they thought of Vang Vieng. They replied they were planning on leaving the next day. We started talking to them and learned they were Swiss and had been traveling for about 7 months and had 6 more to go. They'd taken the Trans-Siberian from Moscow to Siberia and then across Mongolia. They had traveled a lot: trekking in Peru, and Nepal, and even gone to Antarctica. They had had a wonderful trip around Vietnam. They had toured by motorbike with Easy Riders. They talked about how friendly people were, how they stayed in villages in people's houses, had delicious food.

It made me extremely sorry we hadn't biked from Dalat to the North (We'd been quoted $130 for the both of us but they had done it for $70 by just having one guide and renting another bike). This conversation got us excited about travel again. It is interesting how in a town so full of stupid obnoxious tourists, we've managed to meet a very nice and well traveled couples.