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Alms Collection
This shot captures the long line of monks as they walk down the road, barefooted on their way to collect offerings from the villagers Leaving Chiang Mai behind, we board mini-buses for our long drive to the banks of the Mekong River where we will cross the border into the beautiful and, until recently isolated, country of Laos. Along the way, we drove through lush, green vegetation with the occasional sugarloaf mountain breaking the continuity of the landscape. Halfway through the journey, we stop at a small, roadside eatery for lunch and decide to visit a strangely decorated "White Temple" - upon approach it appears that the temple is fairly ordinary (though very heavily decorated), until you get close enough to realize that the temple is surrounded by statues of demons and monsters, with a sculpted version of hell (complete with hands reaching up to drag you down into despair) in the forecourt. Fascinated by this very different buddhist architecture we spend several minutes studying the exterior before crossing the bridge over "hell" and entering the interior of the temple. On first glance it appears normal enough - a large buddha image sits meditating at the front of the room and a large mural depicting standard buddhist scenes adorns the massive front wall; it is only when we turn around to leave and see the
B52 Boats
These boats used by the Laotian villagers are made from the discarded fuel tanks of B52 bombers used during the Vietnam ("American") War massive mural covering the entire back wall that the temple expresses it's uniqueness.
It is difficult to describe what we saw (and we weren't allowed to take pictures), but essentially the huge painting depicts a scene in which iconic images of the west (Jets flying into the Twin Towers, Kneau Reeves as "Neo" in The Matrix, F16 Figher Jets, Oil Wells, Brand Names) are encircling an apocalyptic vision of the future, all watched over by disembodied eyes which have images of George Bush and Osama Bin Laden in each of the irises - needless to say, the mural was fascinating and captivated us for quite a while. Inexplicably, at the shops outside there were many postcards and posters of the typical buddhist mural, but absolutely none of the more interesting one!!
Moving on, we spent the night in the small, riverside village of Chiang Khong where we boarded a ferry and crossed the Mekong River; the major waterway of South East Asia and the geographical feature demarcating the borders of Thailand, Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. We then boarded a typical, long-boat that would be our home for the next two days as we cruised the stretch of the
Hi-Tech / Lo-Tech
Couldn't get over this guy making a reed mat for his house in front of a satellite dish! Mekong between Huay Xai and Luang Prabang. The journey down the Mekong was a relaxing way to pass the time and provided plenty of opportunity to see the dense jungle (apparently still home to many wild animals) that covers much of Laos. We also had the opportunity to see native fishermen plying their trade, interact with local children as they tried to sell their goods at one of our brief stops and visit a school at a small, hill tribe village on the banks of the river. Our last stop before reaching Luang Prabang, was the famous Pak Ou caves - carved into the limestone rock face, these two deep caves are packed with buddhist images - of all sorts, shapes, colours and conditions - it is essentially a graveyard for buddha, but is interesting in its own way (and quite an invigorating walk to the top cave too!).
Shortly after our stop at the caves, we arrived in the beautiful, laid back town of Luang Prabang. At the point where the Mekong River intersects the Khan River, Luang Prabang, the "best preserved traditional town in South East Asia" and a UNESCO world heritage site since 1995 is a
Golden Stupa, Vientiene
This buddhist stupa is a significant symbol for the Laotian people pleasure and a delight. The town's world heritage status has created an environment where tourism flourishes without it impacting the town's character to the point where you no longer want to visit - it is full of nice cafes, high quality restaurants serving French / Lao fusion, but still has plenty of temples, French colonial and traditional architecture to allow you to get a feel for the culture of the former Royal Capital. The highlight of our time in Luang Prabang (other than the excellent meals we consumed) was observing the offering of alms ceremony that takes place each morning in the streets of the old quarter - every morning between 6 and 6.30am locals (mostly the older ones) line the streets with wicker baskets filled with hand-rolled sticky rice balls and wait.....until a line of monks and novices clad in saffron robes passes by and accepts the offerings.
As most males in Laos spend some time as either a monk or a novice, the villagers are quite often feeding members of their own families; what is astounding is the number of monks and novices that fill the streets - literally hundreds pour from the Wats (temples) scattered about
Roadside Markets
There was weird stuff to be had all over this market - Rhino horns; pickled snakes..... town and walk the streets in a set pattern collecting "alms" before returning to the temples and monasteries. Our several days in this idyllic town were great - in addition to wandering around the various temples and the royal palace, we visited Kuang Si, a many tiered waterfall cascading into a series of turquoise pools; climbed Mount Phu Si to observe a glorious sunset over the Mekong and spent time relaxing in the cafes and strolling through various night markets.
Unfortunately, our time in Luang Prabang came to an end and it was time to catch a flight to the slow paced capital of Laos, Vientiane. As far as capitals go, Vientiane is about as laid back as they come and the pace of life seems to resemble the flow of the Mekong which meanders its' way through the capital providing a picturesque setting for the many cafes, bar and restaurants scattered along the waterfront. While in Vientiane we headed out of town for a long (30+km) ride on a tuk-tuk to see the famous "Buddha Park". This landscaped garden contains hundreds of strange statues; many a combination of Buddhist and Hindu beliefs. It was created by a guy
Sell, Sell, Sell....
These kids clambered aboard our boat to sell chips, "Cok" and other snacks....they were very persistent. back in the 60's who was trying to create a new religious philosophy by combining various elements of these two major Eastern religions; as you can see from the pictures he was probably living on the "fringe". We spent a couple of relaxing days in Vientiane; the only other sights we visited were the Arc de Triomphe like monument known as the "Vertical Runway" (so called because it was built from concrete donated by the US to build a new runway) and the Golden Stupa at Pha That Luang, Laos' most important national monument - the rest of the time we hung out at cafes, bars and restaurants chilling out and enjoying the scenery.
Leaving the comforts of Vientiane behind, we drove for several hours towards the Vietnamese border before leaving the mini-van at the edge of the road, near a non-descript bridge. After making our way down a steep, dirt path we came to the rivers edge and saw our next mode of transport awaiting us - several "boats" made from the discarded fuel tanks of B-52 bombers active over the area during the Vietnam war. After getting dragged into the war because of its proximity to Vietnam,
Catch of the Day
Fisherman on the banks of the Mekong Laos has the dubious honour of being the most bombed country on earth - it is estimated that the US dropped more bombs on Laos than were used during the entirety of WWII.
Speeding along the Mekong in the discarded fuel tanks was a great experience, although a little worrying at first as the "boats" rode very low in the water and the likelihood of rolling with a sudden movement seemed high; nevertheless, soon we sat backed, relaxed and enjoyed the rural scene of life on the banks of this great river. Eventually, we pulled into shore and were shown up to the village in which we would be spending the night. For the most part these people still live an agrarian, subsistence lifestyle, but they all seemed quite happy and content despite the hardships that their country has been through in the past few decades.
After a great local meal prepared by our local guide and the family with whom we were staying, we headed off to bed and tried to get a good nights sleep to prepare for the border crossing into Vietnam the following day - unfortunately this proved difficult with the roosters, cows, pigs
Buddhist Statues
Silhouette of Buddhist statues at Pak Ou Caves and other animals that squawked, crowed and brayed during the early hours of the morning......
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Michelle
non-member comment
Living a life
Hi Daniel, you are truly living a life! Wow!