Laos Day 5 - Luang Prabang Museums

Laos Day 5 - Luang Prabang Museums - SEAsia Day 19

A simple day was planned for touring around Luang Prabang today. The first stop of the day was at the UXO visitor centre. UXO - Unexploded Ordinance - is an ever present problem in Laos. "Between 1964 and 1973, the U.S. dropped two million tons of bombs on Laos, nearly equal to the 2.1 million tons of bombs the U.S. dropped on Europe and Asia during all of World War II, making Laos the most heavily bombed country in history relative to the size of its population; The New York Times noted this was "nearly a ton for every person in Laos".[37] Some 80 million bombs failed to explode and remain scattered throughout the country, rendering vast swathes of land impossible to cultivate and killing or maiming 50 Laotians every year" For more see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laos
Unfortunately for us the visitor centre was closed when we arrived, but we did take in a large amount of information and saw some gruesome images of those recently affected by UXO.

The second museum we visited showed a peek into the various ethnicities of people that make up the country of Laos. The Traditional Arts and Ethnology Centre gives a glimpse into the musical instruments, arts and crafts, and some of the cultures and traditions of a handful of the most prominent ethnic groups in Laos. Similar but different learning about the lives and livelihoods of people is always an informative and rewarding experience.

After stopping back at home to put on "temple" appropriate attire we made our way to the Royal Palace of the former Royal Family of Laos. Their story can be read about in the wikipedia link above. The palace did not allow any photos to be taken on the inside but was finished simply with an abundance of teak wood, high ceilings and a grand throne in a large throne room.

The day was warm so we found a cool spot in an air conditioned coffee shop and planned a bit more of our upcoming travels. The day ended at the Red Bul bar with a few more beerlaos and the final night with a few people from the river cruise.