Luang Prabang, Laos, Israelis Galore and Pesach

As Melissa mentioned in her prior posting, after Chiang Mai, we flew to Luang Prabang, Laos. We have now flown a number of local airlines, Precision Air (Tanzania), Nok Air (Thailand) and Laos Airlines. Maya and I noticed that on one of the Nok Air flights, Emma was studiously reading the safety card. Emma, who almost never follows instructions, dutifully adhered to the flight attendant’s request to read the safety card. However, not only did she read it, she committed it to memory with an earnestness, which, if she applied to her school work, would make her Harvard bound. Upon seeing this, Maya and I quizzed her on her knowledge of the safety card: What’s the crash position? Where are the exits? What position do you assume if you have to evacuate the plane from one of the slides? Emma scored a 100% on the test. Moreover, not realizing that Maya and I were teasing her (just a bit), Emma answered the questions with a seriousness of purpose, again generally absent from her prior academic pursuits. Maya and I were hysterical. Our poor little Emma is definitely a bit of a worrier. However, after I read that Laos Airlines did not have some FAA certification, I thought Emma might be the smart one.

Prior to two weeks before we left for our trip, I had never heard of Luang Prabang. Quite frankly, I had heard of Laos, but certainly did not know much. Thanks to a farewell lunch with a buddy of mine, I learned about Luang Prabang. Melissa and I put it on our list of possible places to visit and when we learned that Chabad would be offering a Passover Seder there, the decision was made. We arrived slightly battered and bruised, Maya literally, the rest of us emotionally, having just come off dealing with Maya’s injury. Indeed, we were still somewhat obsessed with figuring out how we were going to deal with getting her stitches removed. However, more about that later. After a short, mercifully uneventful flight, we arrived at the Luang Prabang airport and after a brief 15 minute ride, we were at our hotel. Choosing hotels is always a bit of risk, when you’re opting for something less than top end. Given the length of the trip (and our lack of employment), cost is definitely a factor, but we’re also not backpacking 22 year olds anymore. However, we picked well this time and ended up in a lovely little guest house, on the Mekong River.

After dropping our bags, we began to explore Luang Prabang. Luang Prabang is an enchanting city, a charming mix of Asian and French style, both architecturally and culinarily. Laos had been under French control for half a century and the French influence is manifest. There are essentially two main areas where tourists hang out. The first is on the road where our hotel is. Hotels, shops, internet cafes, etc. are located on the side of the street opposite the river and various restaurants are located on the river side. The Mekong is wide and breathtaking—particularly from our hotel breakfast patio. Although, the river was quite low, apparently due to both the dry season and some temporary Chinese hydroelectric need. We strolled along the river a bit and then headed away from the river, several blocks up to the other main road, which runs parallel to the river. This road also was filled with restaurants, guest houses, boutiques, stores, travel agencies, internet cafes, etc. While all of this was quite common place, the architecture, the generous sidewalks, the wide roads, gave it a very inviting, indeed an almost magical, feel. As you walk down the street, you eventually hit the night market (which starts opening at around 4:00 pm). The night market is a gorgeous and colorful display of crafts, all meticulously and beautifully organized. There were bags, scarves, statuary, skirts, tschotkes galore. Melissa quipped that she would like a Lao woman to come organize our house. Also, the market had a very pleasant feel. The Lao people are pretty laid back and are not constantly in your face beseeching you to purchase, as has been the case in many other places that we visited. We ended up spending a significant amount of time strolling up and down the night market and made our first few Southeast Asian purchases.


Also everywhere you go, you see folks on motor bikes. Indeed, they use motor bikes in the same way we use compact cars—it was not uncommon to see a family of four on a motorbike, usually with the toddler up front, sometimes with an infant nursing in the back with mom. The only mildly unpleasant aspect of Luang Prabang was caused by the ubiquitous burning going on in the region. In Northern Thailand, Laos and Burma it is common for the villagers to burn their refuse during the dry season, which pollutes the air. Indeed, you can see ash falling from the sky. This put a haze over the city. However, even this could not diminish the charm of the city.

We immediately heard the familiar tones of Hebrew as were walking the streets. It seems that Luang Prabang is a very popular destination for Israelis. We also learned that, like us, many Israelis had descended on the city to enjoy a Chabad Passover. Since it was Friday evening, at Melissa’s insistence (no big surprise), we decided to look for the Chabad House. Finally, after some help from Israelis, we found it. Much to our surprise, packed into a small room was a group of 60 or so people, mostly young Israelis on their post army travels, but some Americans, Canadians, and others as well, celebrating Kabbalat Shabbat. Melissa and the girls went inside. I, and this will surprise you, decided to grab a beer at the bar across the street. We then decided to stay for Shabbat Dinner. Despite the fact that it was sauna-like in the sanctuary/dining hall (I don’t know how the Chabad can live in Luang Prabang and still adhere to their austere dress code), it was quite a nice experience. The kids felt like they were at camp. And, of course, it was only a matter of time before Melissa was trying to recruit the Americans to join IKAR, notwithstanding the fact that not one of them lived anywhere near LA. Some habits die hard.

The whole Chabad thing was interesting to me. Clearly, the Israelis, both religious and irreligious (the two primary Israelis approaches to religion) found Chabad to be a home away from home. I can understand why—they seem to make it such an inviting and comfortable place to hang out. Indeed, I think that’s why the kids felt like it was camp. There was singing, there was dancing, there was comradery, there was joy. I had a tough time reconciling my comfort hanging out at the Chabad house, with my knowledge of their hard line views on Israel and their maintenance of a non-equalitarian approach to religious observance. Yet, I must say, there were many Israeli woman there (again both religious and irreligious) who seemed perfectly comfortable. Interesting.

As we were leaving Shabbat dinner, we asked the Rebbetzin if she knew of good doctors in the Luang Prabang area. We figured that the Jews must know where the good doctors are. Through the help of Chabad, a few days later, we ended up finding a Chinese doctor, who had the warmth and bedside manner of an ashtray. However, the day of the Seder, he checked out Maya and told us that he would remove her stitches the next day. We were not altogether thrilled, but did not have a lot of options. However, we hoped that maybe we would meet a nice Jewish doctor at that evening’s Seder.

Before the Seder, we went on a boat trip up the Mekong River in a long boat. Since, in view of Maya’s accident, we had cancelled our boat trip from Thailand to Laos, we thought we should take a trip on the river. We decided to visit some caves that have been used for centuries as Buddhist shrines. The Rabbi had informed Emma that she would be the youngest at the Seder, so Melissa tutored Emma on the Four Questions as we were chugging towards our destination (see the photo below). It was a lovely day.

Then the Seder. Much to our surprise, there were over 200 people (mostly Israelis). We were placed at a table with a dozen or so other North Americans. We were joined by a young Chabad Rabbi (he’s actually one class short) from Seattle, who translated for us (it was all in Hebrew) and explained what was going on. Emma, with another young child, read the four questions, albeit quietly and shyly. The Seder was festive, joyous and exciting—with people singing dancing and standing on chairs. There is something magical about seeing young, hip, interesting Israelis singing Jewish songs with such gusto and joy. A Seder that we will definitely remember.

We thought we hit pay dirt, when we learned that a French obstetrician was attending the Seder. Melissa, who had been chatting with his wife, asked if he might be willing to remove Maya’s stitches. She asked her husband, who politely declined saying that he did not have the right materials. Once again, the French declined to get involved. Oh well.

The next day, the Chinese doctor came and, not very gently, removed Maya’s stitches. Maya was a bit unhappy with his lack of gentleness, but we were all relieved to have the stitches out and to see that the injury looked pretty good. By the way, for the two house calls, we paid 100,000 Kip, which is equal to $10.

The next few days were a bit tough, as all of us, except for Maya, thankfully, were hit with traveler’s tummy, so we confined our diets to mostly matzoh (that we had been able to procure from Chabad). We initially thought that maybe it was something that we ate at the Seder. The thought of surviving three months in Africa and Southeast Asia, only to have our first serious bout of traveler’s tummy at the hands of the food provided by Chabad, is ironic, to say the least. However, the morning prior to our departure, I dragged myself out of bed at 6:30 to see the morning processional of the monks. Each morning the monks line up and walk down the main road and receive donations from people lined up on the street. The process is known as "Making Merit." The idea is that by giving to the monks, the people are essentially doing a mitzvah (pardon, the unholy mixing of religions) which will increase their chances of being reincarnated into a higher station. It was quite a beautiful scene.

Finally, on our last night, we attended a traditional Lao/Hindu ballet, which was beautiful.

All in all, we had a wonderful stay in Luang Prabang.

Next stop—Cambodia.