Boating down the Mekong

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We spent the last 2 days @ Wat Phu. This place is amazing, & so ancient. The temple complex extends up a mountainside, & is over 1000 years old. They don't build 'em like that anymore. Festival in full swing. People come to make a pilgrimage & leave offerings at the temples. After that, its party time. Thai pop music is very popular here, & I guess that it dosent sound right unless played at FULL VOLUME for whatever the sound system can do. We went to the Temple site by long boat yesterday. Very relaxing & enjoyable trip in the morning. Also there was a textile exibit at the festival. They weave gorgeous silk & cotton fabrics all over Lao PDR. One of the provincial booths talked about recovery from the war. Laos had more bombs dropped on it than all of Europe during WWII. It averaged one plane load of bombs every 8 minitues for 9 years. We will be heading for the highlands, Bolovens Plateau, tomarrow by motorscooter, not much internet connection there.

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Photos

Fragripani, National Tree of Lao
These lined the steps up the mountainside at Wat Phu

riverside gardens in Pakxe
Along the Mekong

Heading to Wat Phu by Boat
We went back a second day from Pakxe.

ferry on the Mekong
This is the kind of Ferrys used to cross the river. There are people cooking soup & selling snacks on the ferrys!

Temple
Perhaps you can tell, we loved Wat Phu. This is one of my favorite pictures.

on a terrace
Sculptures could be found all up the mountainside

Sanctuary
I don't claim to understand the religous meaning of these sculptures & other images. The devotion of the pilgrams at the festival was deeply heartfelt.

Ancient
Ruins in the Foreground are thought to date from the 5th or 6th Centuries

Sanctuary again
The rear portion of the sanctuary is dated from the 5th or 6th centuary. The "newer" portion, from the 11th or 12th.

details from sanctuary
The sanctuary is at the "summit" of Wat Phu. (but not the summit of the mountain). Above the sanctuary under a cliff is a holy spring.

inside the sanctuary
Wat Phu was converted from Hinduism to Buddhism along with most of the rest of Lao.

Heading back to Pakxe
We went back to Pakxe by truck & ferry