Southeast Asia - Clean Breaks: 500 New Ways to See the World - page 299

Green LuanG PrabanG

Laos eased restrictions on foreign tourism in 1994, and the sleepy former royal capital
of Luang Prabang, hidden away in the jungle at the confluence of the Kahn and Mekong
rivers, was made a World Heritage Site a year later. Visitor numbers have accelerated
since, and Luang Prabang now has several ventures that aim to cope with this growth
sustainably. The following experiences offer the best of this magical place, and will help
to preserve its soul for many years to come.

402 Enjoy a puppet show
Every Thursday and Saturday at 7.30pm the
kids at Children's Cultural Centre, a project
developed with Unicef, put on a traditional Lao
puppet show. Throughout the year the CCC
members (aged between 6 and 18) perform
in rural villages, using puppetry and other
traditional forms to deliver messages about
children's rights and health issues. The rest of
the time they learn all manner of traditional
arts at the centre, and guests are welcome
to learn as well, or help out. It's all part of
a concerted effort to ensure interest in Lao
traditional culture is carried on by the next

generation. And for families whose children are
bored of traipsing round temples, it provides an
engaging day out.

Need to know The 50,000K fee (US$6) for the
puppet show goes towards the CCC's work. The
Centre (open 8.30am- 4pm) is located between
the Hmong and Dara markets. T [phone]
732.

403 Get a massage with the Red
Cross
There are plenty of places in town where you
can get an invigorating massage for very little
money, but choosing the Red Cross means you'll
help to fund projects
to provide latrines and
water systems to local
villagers, and train local
youths and tuk-tuk
drivers in first aid. It's
a proper massage too:
after sweating away
toxins in a steam bath
infused with 24 different
herbs, you're kneaded
and pummelled back
into shape by medically
trained professionals.

Wat Xieng Thong, Luang
Prabang

Need to know The Red
Cross is on Visounlath
road. It costs 36,000K for
1hr (approx US$4). Open
9am-11pm. T +856 (0)
7125 2856 or E lrclpg@
laohotel.com.