Celebrating 20 years of World Heritage status in Luang Prabang
20 years ago Luang Prabang was given UNESCO World Heritage status, and that’s a good thing because it prevented Luang Prabang from going the way of so much else in SE Asia, torn down and replaced with bigger and shinier. That status has meant that there is still charm and character here and, hopefully it will stay that way for a long time to come.
And 20 years is worth celebrating, even if in a slightly subdued Laos way. There are banners up in town and a small market promoting Luang Prabang crafts and goods set up where I normally buy my chicken sandwiches, that is usually the location of the Luang Prabang Film Festival, but the major event was a parade down the main street.
As parades here go this was a pretty good one. It was held during the morning and attracted a large crowd. It had a bit more of a formal feeling, maybe due to the lack of drinking time before it started, and maybe because of the desire to impress the World heritage officials. Either way, it was designed to show off Luang Prabang’s virtues, industriousness and cultural heritage. And who doesn’t love a parade.
A number of the important groups, business and cultural, paraded but the most impressive were the traditional displays.
As impressive as all of it was though, the highlight, certainly for the tourists, was the elephants.
The Elephant Caravan arrived in Luang Prabang and to quote the project themselves:
The Elephant Caravan is a project which combines an elephant walk across rural and urban Laos with educational and conservation activities for village adults & children, and which terminates in an artistic and cultural festival celebrating Luang Prabang’s 20 years as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. In Luang Prabang, we will participate in NETS, a symposium on the use of elephants in tourism, with participants from 7 ASEAN countries. Travelling 630km from Paklay (Xayaboury Province) to Luang Prabang from 27 October to 17 December 2015, The Caravan will be implemented by the Xayaboury and Luang Prabang provinces and the Elephant Conservation Center with support from Community Learning Internation NGO, Des Eléphants et des Hommes NGO.
The Caravan in figures:
630 km
53 days walking
Average distance of 19km/day
46 villages crossed
12 elephants from Xayabury province
8 additional elephants joining in Luang Prabang city
A team of 66 people
A mighty effort on their part and one that I hope was as successful as the wanted it to be.