Luang Prabang Day 4 (Jan 14): Royal palace

Today we slept in and grabbed breakfast then went to see the royal palace.  We knew better this time so we got there at 10:30 and left all of our stuff at the hotel so we didn’t have to put anything in the locker. The palace itself is actually a museum.  The building was constructed in 1904 by the French for King Sisavang Vong.  The 600 year old monarchy ended in the 70’s when communism eliminated the ‘kingdom’ of Laos.  The palace itself is huge and our favorite part was the throne hall full of sparkling multicolored mosaics as well as several large sabers, swords and special clothing for the king to wear for his coronation.  There are all the expected parts like reception area, throne room, bedrooms, library, etc.  There was a room dedicated to diplomatic gifts which included a moon rock from Apollo 11!  Unfortunately we couldn’t take any pictures inside to tell the story!

Outside of the Royal Palace museum – the three elephants with the parasol used to be the symbol of the royal family and was on the flag prior to the communists taking over and changing it

Outside, there is a lovely large Wat, which houses the Pha Bang, which is the most sacred Buddha image in Laos.  It is a beautiful building with the ever present nagas on the front and shiny gold painted designs on the sides.

Wat on the side of the Royal Palace

 

After the palace, since I still wasn’t feeling perfect and was a bit wary of street food we went to a restaurant we had been to previously and got sandwiches.  I had mozzarella and tomato while Michael had bacon and brie….a little pricey but so yummy 🙂  Plus it was a fun place to sit and people watch while soaking up the sun outside.  After sandwiches we wandered around town for a while soaking up more sunshine.  There are so many monasteries in town and we wanted to just walk by and look as well as check out some other parts of town down near the river, etc.  It was great to get outside!  We went back to the hotel for a bit then headed back out for dinner.  I still wasn’t feeling street food so we went to a french restaurant for dinner, which was pretty good food and a nice table outside.  We walked around the night market a bit but didn’t buy anything then headed home since we knew we had an early morning the next day!