Here and there is the occasional temple, most memorably the tiny Wat Paa Huak, which has orange walls covered with stunning murals depictingexotica such as white tigers. Looking down on the other temples is Wat Chom Si, which perches on a rocky outcrop next to the main street. Outside it, women sell birds in tiny pink-dyed bamboo birdcages; release a bird and your wish will come true. A couple of hours upriver are two more unusual temples, hidden in caves carved out of the cliffs by the Mekong millennia ago. In each are hundreds of gilded Buddhas of all different sizes, left by worshippers. Some are intricate, immaculately carved, big and grand. Others arelopsided, as small as a chess piece, or a thimble, and squiffy-eyed, as if they have availed themselves of too much of the local rice whisky. The higher of the two caves, a steep climb up 200 steps, is dark and at first seems empty. But with a torch, suddenly the Buddhas transmogrify en masse, a magical entity dazzling out of the darkness.

这里随处可见寺庙，最令人印象深刻的是那座小小的帕华可寺，那里橙色的墙上有各色慑人的壁画，描绘着白虎这类珍禽异兽。接着来看另一所寺庙——宗西寺，它坐落在主街旁那片石崖上。庙门外有妇女售卖装在粉红色小竹笼里的小鸟，放生一只小鸟你的愿望就会实现。沿着河流乘船逆行两个小时，就可以来到另外两座非同一般的寺庙，它们建在湄公河边岩壁上凿出的岩洞里，已经有千年历史了。每座寺庙里都有几百尊不同尺寸的镀金佛像，这些都是香客捐塑的。有些佛像雕刻精美，尺寸巨大。有些则倾斜着，像一枚棋子或顶针那样细小，醉眼朦胧的，仿佛它们喝了太多 本地米酒。到较高的那个岩洞去要爬上200级陡峭的台阶，洞里光线很暗，初看像是空空如也。但是用电筒一照，佛像突然齐齐显现了，在黑暗中神奇地发出耀眼的光芒。

Back in Luang Prabang, at dawn the spiritually inclined—along with the more dedicated visitors—kneel along the length of the main street with offerings of rice for the crocodiles of passing orange-clad monks. To each you must offer a handful from your tip khao—the traditional woven bamboo pot. Next on the morning to-do list for locals is the market, which snakes along a narrow street in the centre of town. There are plenty of peculiar things for sale—squirrels, assorted rodents, crickets—but the main focus is fish and shellfish, particularly the small pinky-orange Mekong crabs, which are strung on large hoops of bamboo as if on some mermaid-gaoler's key ring. And then there are the vegetables: neat, abundant piles of morning glory and watercress, and so-called river weeds (a Mekong speciality). Everywhere you look there are mini-mountains of chillies and limes, both key ingredients in the national dish of laap, a spicy minced meat or fish salad.

回到琅勃拉邦。清晨时分，沿着大街跪满了虔诚而专注的香客们，他们向一队队穿着橙色袈裟的和尚们施舍大米。你必须从传统的编织竹篓里拿出米来分给那些和尚，每人一把。当地人接下来要在早上做的第二件事情就是去市场。市场位于市中心一条狭窄的街道上。有很多特别的东西在那里售卖——松鼠，各种鼠类，蟋蟀等，但最多的还是鱼和贝类。特别是淡红色的湄公河小蟹，用竹环扎起来，好像美人鱼看守人的钥匙环。还有那些蔬菜：堆得整整齐齐的圆叶牵牛花、豆瓣菜以及所谓的河籽（湄公河的一种特产）。到处都可以看见堆成小山般的辣椒和酸橙，这两样都是老挝人做主菜腊普（一种用肉糜或鱼做成的香辣色拉）的主要食材。

The eating houses of Luang Prabang are the best in the country. Here is the place to try out a cuisine that is much-loved in neighbouring Thailand—but difficult to find elsewhere in the world. Plus, its stylish, tourist-targeted shops bear dangerous testimony to the country's French past; as well as pretty antiques there are tasteful modern 43)reworkings of old textiles and 44)objet trouvé (particularly 45)covetable are the silver tip khao).

琅勃拉邦的餐馆是全国最好的。在这里一定要试试备受邻国泰国人喜爱的老挝菜，因为在世界上其他地方不容易尝到。此外，琅勃拉邦那些颇有品位，专做游客生意的店铺，还有那些高雅的古董店里陈列着的精美的古董复制品（特别吸引人的是那些银质的竹篓）都印证着这个国家曾为法国殖民地的过去。

But, this being Laos, you only need to cross the river to forget about shops and restaurants, about modernity itself. Hire a bicycle in town and 46)hitch a ride with a local boatman for a couple of dollars, and you can cycle out into the paddy fields and villages. Stop occasionally to watch the locals playing their version of 47)boules, or marvel at a tiny child atop a bicycle built for someone three times their size, or another child skillfully 48)cleaving a chicken in the yard. Glimpse a mother rocking her baby in a cradle strung between the stilts under the house, or watch a farmer and his family constantly bent, it seems, in the rice paddies. And then when you cycle back to the river bank, the boatman is waiting for you. And he is, of course, smiling.

但是，这就是老挝，你只要过了河就可以把那些商铺、餐馆抛诸脑后，把现代社会的一切忘得干干净净。花几美元在镇上租一辆自行车，接着携车免费搭乘当地船夫的小船渡一程后，你就能到乡村和稻田间去骑游。随走随停，看当地人玩本地版的法国式滚木球游戏，或惊奇地发现小孩子骑着比他们身体大三倍的自行车，或是观看另一个小孩在院子里熟练地杀鸡，或瞥见一位母亲摇着那吊在屋子柱子之间的摇篮，或看到一位农民和他的家人在稻田里持续地弯着腰劳作。然后，当你骑车回到河岸的时候，你会发现，船夫正在等你，当然，他面带微笑。