Luang Prabang - The Rough Guide to Laos - page 172

Ban Jek
The neighbourhood just north of the former Royal Palace is still known to locals as “ Ban
Jek ” or Chinatown, as the rows of shop houses along Sisavangvong Road were once mostly
owned by ethnic Chinese shopkeepers - though an alternative name, “Thang Falang” (“white
man's way”), sarcastically coined by expats, is a more accurate term these days. Here you'll
find some fine examples of Luang Prabang shop house architecture , a hybrid of French
and Lao features superimposed on the basic South China style that was once the standard
throughout urban Southeast Asia. Downstairs was a shop or other place of business, while
upstairs the residents lived under a roof of fired-clay shingles supported by brick and stucco
walls. This combination kept interior temperatures cool during the hot season and warm dur-
ing the chilly early morning hours of Luang Prabang's winter. Shuttered windows, introduced
by the French, were coupled with transoms of filigreed wood above doors and windows. This
allows air to circulate even when doors and windows are bolted shut. Almost all of the shops
here are now rented out as tourist businesses of some sort, whether as travel agents, falang -
friendly restaurants or handicraft-selling boutiques, though for a tourist drag Sisavangvong
Road still retains plenty of charm.
BIG BROTHER MOUSE
Set up to promote literacy in Laos, BigBrotherMouse (Phayaluangmeungchan Rd; 071
254937, bigbrothermouse.com ) is an excellent scheme that publishes books in Lao and
enables young people to gain new skills in reading, writing and computing. Books are still
a rare commodity in Laos, so the work that Big Brother Mouse does is vital in helping
young Lao people develop new skills and enhance their prospects.
The organization, which is non-profit and Lao-owned, encourages visitors to buy books
to take on treks, rather than giving sweets or pens to village children. In addition, tourists
can sponsor a book party ($350-450), help young adults practise their English (daily 9am
& 5pm; 2hr) or volunteer in the office and shop (vacancies are regularly posted outside the
shop). You are welcome to visit the shop and speak to the staff in more detail about their
work and what you can do - look for the big cut-out of a mouse outside.
A similar literacy scheme is run at Luang Prabang Library .
Wat Xiengmouane
Xotikhoumman Rd ∙ Training centre showroom 8.30am-10.30am & 11.30am-4pm
Set in leafy, serene grounds and dominated by an elegant sim with a Corinthian-pillared
facade, WatXiengmouane is named after its old temple drum which produces a particularly
sonorous thump ( xieng mouane means “jolly sound”). A side building has been converted