Our visit to Luang Prabang brought forth complex emotions, unanswered questions, and the opportunity to seek what Lincoln referred to as “the better angels of our nature.”
As seen from the window seat, Northern Thailand’s flat dry landscape gave way to lush, velvety mountains cloaked in deep gem-like shades of malachite and emerald. The plane flew us low, and we tried to forget that a friend had researched safety records of regional airlines serving our route to Luang Prabang. It seemed as though a crash would be swallowed by the jungle, any wreckage hidden by its impenetrable canopy, and we, as its passengers, forgotten in an unsolved mystery. This was unsettling.
Photo Credit: Travelfish
“Well, you see, Willard, in this war, things get confused out there. Power, ideals, the old morality, and practical military necessity. But out there with these natives, it must be a temptation to be God. Because there’s a conflict in every human heart, between the rational and irrational, between good and evil. And good does not always triumph. Sometimes, the dark side overcomes what Lincoln called the better angels of our nature.” – General Corman, Apocalypse Now
These were the hills into which Tai-speaking tribes migrated from China’s Guangxi sometime in the 8 – 10th centuries. Believing in a re-creation myth arising out of a great flood, they assigned their origin to three chiefs who had been spared. These three had been placed by the Great Deity to till the land near what is now Dien Bien Thu, just over today’s border in northern Vietnam. The progeny of this divine restoration were both dark-skinned and light. Those with lighter skin were ruled by Khun Borom, whom the Lao consider to be the father of their race, in what was to become The Kingdom of One Million Elephants.
A working elephant along the Mekong River outside Luang Prabang
After we landed in Luang Prabang, our driver took us into town by what seemed like a back way. But actually, retracing it on the map later, we realized this was most direct. Muddy Phetsarat Road had more pedestrian traffic than any other kind in the early evening. We shared the lane with barefoot young men, raggedy children, a few bicyclists, and the occasional pushcart.
Narrowing further, Phetsarat approached the Nam Khan River, an even muddier stream with steep banks in this drier part of the year. Suddenly, the road became a precarious one-lane wooden bridge with two simple tracks made of flat boards. We could see through wide gaps in its trestles to the mire far below as our vehicle slowly traversed, and were relieved to hit solid pavement on the other side.
Longboats ply the Mekong River at Luang Prabang
The Nam Khan makes a couple of S-bends before it empties into the Mekong here. In ancient days, pre-Laotian rulers had viewed this as the perfect location for a royal capital, strategically situated as it was on the Silk Route. Legend has it that Buddha rested here with a smile, as well as made the prediction that this spot would someday boast a city for the rich and powerful. Legend also has it that this confluence is the home of the Phaya Naga, a supernatural, sacred marine creature similar to a dragon or serpent, which is prominent in Buddhist mythology and iconography. The naga’s evil predilections can be neutralized, or even channeled into protective generosity by ritual prayer ceremonies.
A serpentine protective Naga adorns temple stairway
Founded by a warlord, and then kept as an administrative seat through various dynasties and principalities, by 1707 Luang Prabang was the capital of a kingdom by the same name. Annexed by Burma a few decades later, relations were friendly with the neighboring Kingdom of Champa which had been made a vassal by the Kingdom of Siam. After Luang Prabang was ransacked by the Chinese Black Flag Army, France came to its rescue and enfolded it with two other kingdoms into the French protectorate of Laos in 1893. As such, Laos acted as a buffer – a role it would play throughout the 20th century to come – between British Thailand and other more valuable French protectorates in central and northern Vietnam.
Luang Prabang was occupied by the Japanese, Vichy France, Thai, Free French, and Chinese Nationalist forces during and after World War II. Beginning in 1946, when the French attempted to retake Vientiane and Luang Prabang, and through the 1950s, 60s, and 70s, when a secret American air base was located in Luang Prabang, the city was the center of air and ground warfare.
Damage caused by a communist ground attack on Luang Prabang airfield, 1967. By U.S. Air Force – Public Domain via Wikipedia
Truth is an illusion. It is only something we create from memories and wishes and fragments of dreams. The truth is what we want to believe. And sometimes lies are so essential they become part of the truth. – Elaine Russell, Across the Mekong River
The Secret War, as it is known by Hmong and US Central Intelligence Agency Special Activities Division veterans, was a proxy war waged here between Cold War superpowers. During the Vietnam War, covert operatives and direct elements from the North Vietnamese Army (NVA), United States, Thailand and South Vietnam vied to control the Ho Chi Minh Trail supply route in the Laotian panhandle. This was a seasonal war farther north in the area of Luang Prabang, suspended during the wet months of May through December. As the weather improved, NVA and communist sympathizers would emerge from Vietnam and within Laos to reinstate the flow of troops and supplies.
Lao and Vietnamese used the Ho Chi Minh Trail from its inception. Image in the Public Domain via Wikipedia, ca. 1959
Beginning in 1961, the CIA recruited and trained Lao hill people from the Hmong, Yao, Dao and Shan tribes, supporting their guerrilla activities in northern Laos with air operations. The strategy was comprised of three parts: 1) disrupt and destroy the supply chain – much of which originated in China, 2) suppress the Pathet Lao communist group which threatened the Royal Lao government, and 3) protect the Laotian capitals (Luang Prabang and Vientiane).
Hmong tribesmen were recruited as guerrilla fighters in the Secret War. Photo: Air America (public domain), 1961
Details about the Secret War in the United States remained sketchy during that time, and to this day, it is still little known. The governments of the United States and the Democratic Republic of [South] Vietnam officially denied its existence on a technicality: Laos had been declared neutral during the Geneva Conference of 1954. These denials belied the fact that Laos was subjected to the heaviest bombing campaign ever waged on a country in any conflict.
“Well, we had all those planes sitting around and couldn’t just let them stay there with nothing to do.” – U. S. Deputy Chief of Mission Monteagle Stearns, testimony to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Ninety-First Congress, October, 1969.
It is only lately that statistical evidence and conclusions have emerged. Martin Stuart-Fox, a Queensland University historian quoted in USA Today maintains that “. . . on a per capita basis, Laos remains the most heavily bombed nation in the history of warfare.”
“Much of my life over the past 40 plus years has been spent trying to understand the deeper reasons why the richest of the species would bomb the poorest this way, what it really tells us about humanity in general and America in particular.” – Fred Branfman, author of Voices From the Plain of Jars, writing in Alternet.
More than thirty years thereafter, USA Today reported, “From 1964 through 1973, the United States flew 580,000 bombing runs over Laos — one every 9 minutes for 10 years. More than 2 million tons of ordnance was unloaded on the countryside, double the amount dropped on Nazi Germany in World War II.” Cluster bombs were the weapon of choice, designed to penetrate the canopied forests we’d flown over some 50 years hence.
“The thoughts of worldly men are for ever regulated by a moral law of gravitation, which, like the physical one, holds them down to earth. . .They are like some wise men, who, learning to know each planet by its Latin name, have quite forgotten such small heavenly constellations as Charity, Forbearance, Universal Love, and Mercy, although they shine by night and day so brightly that the blind may see them; and who, looking upward at the spangled sky, see nothing there but the reflection of their own great wisdom and book-learning. . .It is curious to imagine these people of the world, busy in thought, turning their eyes towards the countless spheres that shine above us, and making them reflect the only images their minds contain. . . So do the shadows of our own desires stand between us and our better angels, and thus their brightness is eclipsed.” – Charles Dickens, Barnaby Rudge, Chapter 29
In 1975, Pathet Lao communists eliminated the Luang Prabang monarchy with help from North Vietnam and established government control. This birthed what is now known as the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, a socialist state run by the Communist Party. In May of that year, the government newspaper declared the Hmong people would be exterminated completely for their role in the Secret War. A clandestine American operation ensued to airlift the most at-risk Hmong leaders and their families to Thailand, but lasted for only two days. By the end of the year, over 40,000 Hmong had taken refuge in Thailand, escaping on foot or via the Mekong River. Others fled deep into the mountain forests, threatened by starvation and hunted by the Lao army.
A hamlet a few miles from Luang Prabang on the Mekong River
Over the next seven years almost 60,000 Laotian hill tribespeople were resettled in the United States. The Pathet Lao is accused of genocide, estimated to have killed up to 100,000 Hmong (25% of their total population), although the government characterizes this as lawful in the face of their “rebellion.” In 2008, the Thai government began repatriating Lao refugees by forced deportation, even in the face of Lao military atrocities against them.
“They had names, these people: Thao, Bounphet, Khamphong, Loung. They had treasured wives and husbands, children and grandparents, buffaloes and homes, rice fields and temples. And they had dreams — and as much right to these dreams as did any of the U.S. leaders who obliterated them.” – Fred Branfman, writing in Salon, May 2001.
Girls resting alongside the Mekong River at Pak Ou Caves
Today, Luang Prabang, with about 50,000 residents, is a UNESCO heritage site, known for its Buddhist temples and monasteries. UNESCO cites the town center as “an outstanding example of the fusion of traditional architecture and Lao urban structures with those built by the European colonial authorities in the 19th and 20th centuries.” It is home to both royal residences and religious structures. The various religious Wats (or pagodas) have intricate carved and painted decorations.
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- Wat Monorom Corridor
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- Wat Monorom Door Detail
Wat Manorom, Luang Prabang
Throughout Laos, it is customary for boys and young men to spend variable amounts of time with the monks, preparing for marriage, being educated, learning temple restoration techniques, or taking lifelong vocation. Monks interpret dreams, practice traditional medicines and provide religious and practical counsel.
Painted detail from Wat Monorom. The white horse and his rider are carried along the river by two naga
Mystical ceremonies designed to pay tribute to the mythical naga and ward off evil spirits, along with processionals and morning alms rotations, create a sanctified atmosphere in Luang Prabang which is harmonious with the natural environment. Animistic and shamanistic beliefs overlap with the traditional Buddhist practice to acknowledge territorial spirits who hold dominion over houses, villages, cities, and the realm. Spirits are often ceremonially called to preside over special occasions such as weddings and birthdays. Their symbols and legends adorn the temples and other buildings.
Traditional handwashing station outside a restaurant
We found the energy in today’s Luang Prabang complex, reflecting its volatile and sorrowful history as well as its reputation as an off-the-path, relatively inexpensive Southeast Asia destination. It had a full complement of visitors to match every aspect. A boozy backpacker scene was rife with instances of public inebriation, all-nighters at the Utopia bowling alley, and rope-swinging at the waterfalls outside of town. There were travelers lamenting the presence and higher prices of pseudo-gentrification in the wake of increased tourism and UNESCO certification. This, not surprisingly, tended to occur while they were partaking of same: the wine bars, pizza places, souvenir handicrafts at the night market, and whichever other “too-touristy” elements specifically stuck in their craw. Others were seemingly bent on what the Seattle Times calls a “WHS [World Heritage Site] quest,” presumably notching up quantitative proof that they fell solidly under the more prestigious and desirable “traveler” umbrella, as opposed to the mere tourist side of things.
We’d come with few expectations and far less background knowledge than we’ve shared with you in this post. Outside of boating the Mekong River, we left things in Luang Prabang unscripted. This gave us time to “be” and observe. The upshot is that we were troubled, and after researching for necessary context perhaps even more so.
The open air interior courtyard of Lakhangthong Boutique Hotel. The reception clerk slept behind the desk on a pallet.
Why were so many of the locals meek and fearfully subservient, much more so than the typically eager-to-please southeast Asian service standard?
Why were the Pak Ou caves of standing Buddhas, supposedly a highly sacred site, beyond filthy? Why was this site neglected with many of the statues damaged despite the myriad and rather demanding requests for offerings and donations from hundreds of daily visitors?
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- Luang Prabang Pak Ou Caves
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- Luang Prabang Pak Ou Caves
Where were all the customers at the night market going to come from to buy all this obviously mass-produced merchandise? How much does a vendor make compared with the one-third of the population of Laos who live on less than $1.25USD per day?
Luang Prabang Night Market Vendor
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- Snake Whiskey at the Luang Prabang Night Market
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- Luang Prabang Night Market Puppets
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- Luang Prabang Night Market Vendor and Daughter
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- Textiles at the Luang Prabang Night Market
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- Luang Prabang Night Market Enamelware
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- Luang Prabang Night Market Embroidery
Who really participated in the supply chain at the seemingly deserted handicraft village we visited along the Mekong?
Handicraft Village – Mekong River
What had happened to the former residents of Luang Prabang forced out by rising prices and land values after the UNESCO designation?
New luxury home in Luang Prabang
We could go on and on, of course, but perhaps the most heartbreaking question of all is, why did the United States spend almost $12 million (in 2015 dollars) per day over ten years dropping bombs on Laos, yet provide the equivalent of only 8 of those days’ expenditure ($85 million) in Unexploded Ordnance assistance?
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- Bombs into Bracelets
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- Bombs into Jewelry and Spoons, Luang Prabang Night Market
Our brief stay ended with these and other unanswered questions. This has been a difficult post to write for so many reasons, but the questions don’t go away just because you don’t write about them. Would we return to Laos and Luang Prabang? Most definitely.
“We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory will swell when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.” – Abraham Lincoln
Travel isn’t just about the prettier faces or the better time. While it’s fun to splash in waterfalls and buy inexpensive souvenirs and drinks, it’s about the more difficult moments, too.
Pak Ou Caves, Mekong River, Luang Prabang
Luang Prabang delivered us a chance to understand how shared history has vastly different impacts. It provided an opportunity for deeper empathy. It induced us to re-examine long-held conceptions about global roles and responsibilities. Perhaps most importantly, Luang Prabang gave us a moment from which to reach toward atonement and our better angels, as precariously distant as they may be.
More Information About Luang Prabang, Laos
If You Go:
We recommend the Lakhangthong Boutique Hotel, a traditional Lao guesthouse with certain modern amenities: air conditioning and deep soaking tub, free wi-fi, and complimentary bicycles with which to explore town. This guesthouse is located away from the riverfront in a more local neighborhood, close to Wat Monorom, yet only a ten minute walk to the Night Market and waterfront restaurants. The hotel will arrange for your van transfer to and from the airport, as well as any local attractions via tuk-tuk. Staff is eager to please, but limited in their options: for example, there was no printer on site, so no pre-printing boarding documents, visa letter, etc. for our next stop. Check out is a leisurely 1:30pm and breakfast is included in your room rate. The Lakhangthong Boutique Hotel is a non-smoking hotel.
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- Our outdoor breakfast table at Lakhangthong Boutique Hotel
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- Our beautiful, traditional room at Lakhangthong Boutique Hotel
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- Traditional details at Lakhangthong Boutique Hotel
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This post is fascinating! Many of the same questions that came up for you in Luang Prabang have come up for me in various other parts of the world, particularly in visiting developing countries that are growing their tourism sectors. If growth isn’t well-managed and controlled, it can destroy the local culture that the tourists have come to see! It leads to an inner debate of sorts: I want to go to X, and I know that my visit contributes to X’s economic growth through the money I spend, but I also know that if too many of us visit X, its beauty/charm/history/whatever will disappear. Food for thought!
Hi Rachel – All very true. Layer growth with failure to properly administrate along with corruption at every level and the situation is compounded. To us, that was a very close second in impact, though. First was the incomprehensibly vast and pervasive disregard for the individual humans who have endured decades of terror and abuse. Now it just comes in different forms. The disrespect we observed from many visitors – party-intent backpackers and good-time tourists – was infuriating.
This is easily the most articulate and perceptive writing I have read about Luang Prabang, its history and the current situation. We also visited there and I think your observations are spot on. Interestingly, Philadelphia was where many of the endangered Hmong people were resettled. I would like to be able to tell you that they fared well here. Instead, not surprisingly, they were literally shell-shocked to find themselves living in the poorest and most crime ridden neighborhood. We damaged the people of Laos in so many ways.
Hi Suzanne – Thank you so very much. It was a difficult task here to incorporate the guilt and heartbreak without allowing it to take over the narrative – and that would have been just as self-serving, if not more than those who take advantage or remain willfully ignorant. We are well-acquainted with the difficulties the Hmong are faced with in assimilating, as there is a sizable community in the Twin Cities as well. The two environments – southeast Asia and Minnesota/Pennsylvania – couldn’t be more different. The book mentioned above, Across the Mekong, was very enlightening. It’s a wonder they could maintain even a shred of mental health after everything they’ve been through. We can never repay these people.
What a fascinating blog post.
I have been troubled by many of these issues too and trying to understand the amazing country and people of Laos.
I was there for a huge UNESCO event but I couldn’t help feel that the vast majority of people in the parade looked very uncomfortable with the barrage of cameras
Hi Jane – I got the impression that it’s getting more and more difficult to go about daily life for many residents of Luang Prabang. From the interference with the monks to outright displacement, it was disheartening. That said, we also encountered lovely pockets of neighborliness and tradition, too. Complicated.
Betsy, I was so impressed with your post as well as the research you did. It was very helpful understanding what Laos and Luang Prabang have gone through. It was sad reading about the filthiness of the Pak Ou caves and what all that bombing did. Your post is a very good reminder that when one travels one sometimes only sees the smiles and “pretty faces”, but many countries have sad histories that are worth learning about. Thank you for such an eye-opening report.
Hi Janice – Yes, it’s a very sad history, and the hill tribes are still being persecuted. A very complicated, compelling place. Thank you.
I read this post with a lump in my throat, Betsy. So thoughtful and moving. Your quote, “… the deeper reasons why the richest of the species would bomb the poorest …” is haunting. We learned the impact US policies and The Cold War had on Guatemala (including our country’s indifference to the genocide of the Guatemalan Mayan) and Nicaragua for decades and I was amazed so many of the people in these countries greeted us with genuine warmth. We’ve long since wanted to visit, Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos and your post on the sorrowful impact of the Cold War and “Nation Building” would have us keep in mind that travel without learning and trying to understand the ancient as well as the recent history of a place is only tourism. And sadly, your questions about the impact from the increased tourism following the UNESCO WHS designation aims a spotlight at the further exploitation of the people of Luang Prabang.
Hi Anita – Yes, that quote has a particular poignancy: Branfman died in 2014 after spending a lifetime advocating for the hill people, exposing the breadth of the Secret War, and seeking justice against government officials for war crimes. It is humbling, as you say, to be welcomed in the light of our shared history (we found this to be true in Vietnam, as well).
There is so much we do not know about what went on in the hot zones of the cold war. It is a tragedy with an unimaginable magnitude. My personal belief is that we must consciously evolve or we will destroy our species and take out many if not most of the living creatures with which we interact. When will we understand that “they” are “us?” Thank you for telling this story in an informed and compassionate manner.
Hi Nancy – Yes, you’re so right that the objectification and dehumanizing of the “other” (or “they”) is in the root structure of that which will destroy us. And until we understand the fear cuts both ways, the divisions and aggressions will continue. Thank you.
A deep and detailed post that raises provocative questions, even as it shows the beauty of your visit. There are so many situations like this that make absolutely no sense. Compassion is so not part of our national political and international relations games.
Hi Carol – “Compassion is so not part of our national political and international relations games.” So very true. Thank you.
This is a fascinating post. I knew Laos and the Hmong people had been treated badly over the course of history but I didn’t know about the extent of the U.S. bombing – how appalling. It never fails to amaze me that people in countries we’ve treated horribly can still be welcoming. The UNESCO designation seems to be a bit of double-edged sword. It ensure a place being preserved but it does put it on the the map and raise prices. Everything is so much more complicated than our politicians want us to believe!
Hi Kay – Like you, I had a rudimentary knowledge of what happened here in those days. I think the lesson learned is that we must always question the “official” interpretation or even the prevailing wisdom. People dismiss anecdotal evidence all the time, but its credibility is all the more meaningful in the face of examples such as this one.
This is a fascinating and haunting post. You’ve conveyed a complexity of emotion well. It was hard to reconcile some of the beautiful photos with the horrific history. I am impressed with all the research you did afterward and suspect I would have also been driven to dig into it after visiting, disturbing as it is. It is hard to understand how the so-called civilized societies we belong to can be so cruel. As you’ve said, while it is fun to enjoy the prettier faces of travel, sometimes it is about difficult moments too. It may be in those difficult moments we gain the best understanding of another place and hopefully develop more compassion. Thanks for sharing what must have been a difficult post to write and research.
Hi Donna – Thank you so much. It was very difficult to sort out the emotions with this one. I was told by a fellow visitor that “as an empath” I shouldn’t “take on these people’s karma,” that it was theirs to sort out. Easy to say, and perhaps the best way (but not necessarily a good way) to grapple with the experience. I’m glad I’m not the sort of person (and there appear to be many visitors who are) who is oblivious to all this, no matter how painful.
Another brilliantly written post Betsy. I always appreciate your research and commitment to telling the harder side of a story. It’s timing is perfect during our election year. As travelers we often are asked about our political system and candidates while in other countries. This story on Luang Prabang is so insightful and heartbreaking. Our country has also committed atrocities which we rarely talk about. All the hateful language to is currently flooding our media and social media feeds makes me worry constantly about our future. I’m really hoping that people with compassion, concern for peace and equality and not greed will guide our country in the future.
Hi Sue – You’re so right. Finding these things out in the midst of an election year layers the rhetoric with the sort of reality that informed voters should heed. There’s so much awful in every single candidate, no matter which side. And there’s even more evidence to suggest that policy change won’t occur to any great degree no matter who holds the Presidency. I tend to agree with that: Policy originates and steeps in the bowels of the bureaucracy. It’s beyond disheartening.
Thanks for this wonderful historical overview. I remember reporting about UXO in Laos more generally in the late 1990s and found it difficult to understand the violence this country faced – on the surface so tranquil. You raise a number of important questions and this is the type of travel writing I love – thoughtful, researched, and aware. Thanks for an excellent piece!
Hi Leyla – The token response to the current UXO situation is inexplicable. Our initial difficulty in understanding what happened in Laos was a result of the deliberate obfuscations made by the governments involved. Currently, there is an information brown-out in Thailand on the repatriations from the camps. It’s easy to understand that the Thais can’t be expected to operate the camps forever. What isn’t so easy to understand is the inability to provide political refugee or asylum status for those who have managed to get out. It’s so hard to process, but putting the pieces together helps. Thank you!
This is an amazing post – so educational and intriguing. I learned so much, thank you! Your photographs are spectacular.
Hi Beth – Thank you very much! 🙂
What a great article. You bring the history back to life and show how it still affects the daily life there to this day. Thank you for taking me with you on your journey through Luang Prabang and its history.
Hi Mariaabroad – Glad you enjoyed it.
Incredibly beautiful post full of history lessons. I felt like you took me on a journey to connect with people from the past. My father was in the Vietnam War and I have very strong feelings about these historical posts. Very well done. Thank you!
Hi Hung Thai – It can be hard to decide how to write about these subjects, so your positive reaction is very much appreciated. Thank you.
It is almost hard to believe that such a beautiful part of the world has faced so much tragedy. Thank you for sharing this post, perhaps it will shine a light on what has gone one here to others who may have just joined the tourist track. It must have been troubling to learn about the history while you were staying there.
Hi Lisa – It was more troubling after we left as I began to more thoroughly research. While we were there, the energy was heavy and sad, but not knowing the details made it difficult to understand why at the time.
Wonderful walk through both modern and historical Laos. We have been considering visiting here next year with our children and we will keep this post saved so we can reference it!
Hi Kevin – Luang Prabang would be very interesting for kids. Diving into the complicated history can be for us adults.
Hello Betsy,
Luang Prabang is really incredible and peaceful place I have ever seen.
Thanks for sharing such deep history of Luang Prabang.
It truly deserves in the UNESCO world heritage lists.
Hi Rajkumar – Thank you so much. Glad you enjoyed it!
An excellent post, Betsy and I agree that travel isn’t always about the ‘happy’ stuff (I seldom read posts about ‘sponsored stays or goods’ any longer) — I prefer the ‘real world’ experiences — even when tough to write or read. Another great (but sad) read. We have welcomed many Hmong into the Pacific Northwest where quite a few are raising flower gardens and selling handiwork at Farmer’s Markets and tourist venues and others have gone on to open restaurants. Many of their children have gone through the school system and have begun successful careers, I am happy to report.
Hi Jackie – Yes, it seems assimilation is more successful in the second generation in this case. Thanks.
Fascinating read young lady. I have found similar quandaries on a few trips myself. The atrocities human beings level against each other are enormous and in most cases unexplainable. It’s also worth mentioning how societies can bounce back and move ahead after these events have transpired. I think the desire to survive always kicks in and people focus more on the future in order to shed their ill feelings of the past. Something in our DNA pushes this innate yearning for life. As long as this remains we will be okay, I firmly believe. Thanks for reminding us to pause an reflect!