Category: Laos

Buddha Park is also known as Xiang Khan, it means “Spirit City”. There are no traditional Buddha statues. Built by Luang Pu, who styled the park in Buddhist and Hindu mythology erected statues built by amateurs to showcase that mythology. The statues are bizarre and cool at the same timeand each tells a story. As it was my last morning in Vientiane and we needed to check out of the hotel, we did not spend time to do the audio tour. During unrest during the revolution in Laos in 1975, he fled the city into Thailand (Nong Khai) which is less than 1 kn away and built a similar park there. You can see the Laos park from the highest structure in the park in Thailand.

We took the #14 bus for the 45 minute ride there. It is only 6000 kip to ride one direction which is pretty cheap and easy to get to.

This structure is known as the pumpkin. You enter through the mouth of the demon structure and go up a sets of stairs several levels to eventually stand all the way at the top. This signifies hell at the bottom, Earth in the middle, and heaven at the top.

Inside the bottom level of “hell”. I didn’t realize you could walk in there at first.

As I went up one set of very narrow stairs, I realized that there were more sculptures in the center and even narrower stairs going up the direct center.

Here is the view on the Earth layer:

And the view in the center of the Heaven layer:

The view standing at the top. There are a lot of people trying to get around a narrow and sloped  level at the top. 

View of the 390 foot long giant reclining buddha from the top of the pumpkin.

I am fascinated with sculptures and mythology so snapped quite a few pictures even though I am unable to find an online guide for the meaning.

All of the sculptures are intersting not only because of their very large size but also their artistic detail. They look like they are very old but only date back to 1958. Flooding from the Mekong River right next to the park is causing decay of many of the structures.

The most outstanding sculpture includes this one: Indra, the king of Hindu gods riding the three-headed elephant.

An artistic deity with 12 faces and many hands that are each holding interesting objects. 

This is the only temple that was actually constructed there in the park.

A four-armed deity sitting on a horse.

One of the places I heard about and wanted to go to was the COPE foundation. It is a solemn visitor center and museum with displays on the history of bombings & related disabilities of those injured from bombings and other accidents that leave them disabled. Sometimes they are brought to the center where they fit them for prosthetics, provide rehab, provide or fix wheelchairs, etc. Many times they will go out to the villaged when they hear there is need.

What really saddens me is the other countries that have stepped up to help Laos in removing bombs that are ask in the ground and active or help with those who have had limbs ripped off as a result. Most notably is Australia.

It actually makes me sad and very angry that the US dies nothing when we were the most at fault fur bombing Laos. They were not in the war at all and this country is so poor and removing the bombs so daunting.

A cluster bomb and the many bombies that are released. 30% are still active today where they sit in the ground.

This does a bombie in the ground. One would not even see it and accidentally step on it. Many of the bombies also have trip wires that can set them off.

Look at all the red areas on the map. These are all areas where bombs have been identified or where known targets could be from bombing records and accounts. If you wonder why Laos is poor, here is one reason.

Many household items are made from bomb casings and scrap that is found.

To read personal accounts of the war and accidental finding of bombies can be found at www.legaciesofwar.org

Some prosthetics they create.

The trip wures coming from a bombie.

After breakfast I took off to find a couple of statues I had missed the day before and in the process found more temples I had missed…

In many temples you can hear the sound of children. I was told that some families cannot afford to feed their children and give them up to the temples. This country is very poor.

At the park near my hotel, I also saw an altar.

As I walked off towards a temple, I saw this sign outside a restaurant. It is amazing to think that Thailand is only 1 km away.

Wat Mixayaram.

Wat Ong Tau.

For an offering you can receive a blessing. The monk uses knotted strings to run across the inside of the arm while saying blessings to you. He then knows the bracelet on your wrist. You are to leave it on for 3 days.

Wat Hai Sak

The serpent naught my eye and e very striking. I saw that the scales were made from shells.

Wat In Pong.

Wat Xieng Vae.

Some of the stupas inside the fence are close to the wall. Some like these are part of the wall on the backside of the stupa. Inside the wall they would stick out and hold the artifacts of an important person.

Wat Hua Mueng.

Some repairs are being made here. It shades me how strong the bamboo scaffolding is here in southeast Asia.

While there, I heard drum beats as a call for food. This in need where arriving to the dining hall to receive food from the Monks. I had seen them carry rice pots from the building on the right to the hall on the left.

Wat Simuang.

Wat

That Kao

Chanthabury temple.

That Dam.

Vat Phiavat.

A drum tower.

Xieng Nyueng.

I think I have exhausted most of the temples here.

On February 6, I took a short aeroplane hop from Luang Prabang. It is a very small airport which makes ticketing and security easy. With only 4 gates you walk on to the tarmac to get your plane.

This place is so beautiful in going to miss it.

The flight was only 35 minutes. A sleeker bus would take 10 hours. When we landed you can see the sky is not as clear. There is pollution here as it is the capital city.

I arrived at the hotel but they have 3 properties and I was actually at a different one. The manager took me by bike. Good thing I only had 2 backpacks. There is a swimming pool I can use at this one which made it totally worth the move.

After swimming and talking to some very friendle people, I took off to get lost. For people who know me I have no sense of direction and it is not getting better. But I have sim card and Google maps and a paper map. Google is great because it automatically pinpoints your reservation. In this case though, I had to mark my maps with where my new hotel is.

First I saw the presidential Palace.

I found Wat Sisaket. Architecture dates back to 1818. It was built by Chao Anuvong, the last king of the Lan Xang Kingdom. It survived the Siamese-Lao war in 1828 and is the oldest Buddhist monastery here in Laos.

I have no pictures inside the temple which is beautiful. It is forbidden. One woman walking around with her phone in her hand had to open her pictures and show them every one. Mine was in my hand but I have it in a wallet which was closed.

The cloister walls house thousands of tiny Buddha images and rows with hundreds of seated Buddhas. They date from the 16th and 19th centuries and there are all sizes. There are statues made from wood, stone and bronze. It is said there are more than 6,800 Buddhas in total.

There is a five meter long beautiful wooden naga (in Sanskrit, it means serpent deity). This wooden trough carries water during religious ceremonies. Perfumed water is poured into the hang hod and it flies into the heads of the Buddha and other statues.

The one above is not used anymore. This one behind the temple is the one that they use.

Pictures of the many stairs made of different materials and ones that caught my eye.

Other buildings on the site.

Architecture amazes me. The detail on the roof caught my eye.

There are many stupa which houses items and ashes from religious or important people. There are more on these grounds then I have seen to date. I saw one from an ambassador.

Some are ornate and others are not.

A drum tower.

A Buddha statue.

After I walked around and found the statue close to the Mekong. It is beside a park where the night Market is also found. Before the statue is a group of serpents rising up.

Chao Anouvong, also known as Xaiya Setthathirath V, led the Lao rebellion as the last monarch of the Kingdom of Vientiane.

Detail from the base of the statue which had thousands of figurines.

Vendors are putting together flower alms for giving at the statue.

Pictures taken at sunset.

Between the road and the mekong looks to be farmland. There is also a farmers market.

But there is also an amusement park that has animatronic dinosaurs and other things for kids. There are also vendors set up in little pods.

I wandered for awhile eating food from street vendors. When my phone battery was getting low I headed back to the hotel for a better night’s sleep as the day before Das a long day and I did not sleep as long as I should have.

A view of the fountain near my hotel.

This is my last morning in this awesome quiet town. I started with a run around both rivers one last time. Of course I snapped more pictures.

I caught a tail end of one street of alms giving. It is advised that Monks eat once a day:
As per the rules of monks (Vinaya) amonk can eat from Sunrise till Solar Noon. Thus a monk can eat any number of times within the stipulated time period. … Buddha encouragedmonks to have one meal per day as that is good for health and helps in the meditation practice.

There is a definite French influence that has remained since it was occupied by the French for some time.

This picture is in front of the guest house I am staying at. A family runs it and they sleep on the premises.

Yes I think I missed a few temples.

And last night I did get a little bit of the evening prayer :

Now I had to Vientiane, the Laos capital.

Rather than just be driven to the falls, I booked a tour that started in a village and walked up to the top of the falls (and then back down to the lagoon pools you can swim in). Note to self: don’t be so organized and book the tour ahead of time on tripadvisor. You pay more money than just buying when you get there. They use what is called the single supplement. You pay more for a single ticket because if you are the only one on the tour, it is still guaranteed. When 2 book at the same time, the price for each is almost half!

We started out in the Khmu village which is one of the three predominate tribes in this area of Laos. Our guide was Thong (pronounced tung).

We passed through a school yard.

We then passed through the Hmong village, which is another tribe.

This woman is weaving a roof for the house which needs replaced every 2 years. To make it last that long she bunches 7 pieces together to tie.

A picture of their house.

From this tree they get rubber. It is trapped much like we do for maple syrup.

This is my friend Adrienne. We calle this the birthday rock in her honor, because it is her birthday!

They do slash and burn portions of the jungle to expand their farmland.

Along the way we tried various roots and shoots. This one is tasty and almost a hint of ginger. For stomachache.

This one is bitter and is used to cook with.

We saw coffee plants and their fruit.

Mango tree

We came to another village that was moved here from further up in 1996 in order to promote tourism to the falls. It has increased their livelihood and helped tourism in the area.

Here we had a snack and could pay to go to the Phawesi cave. This cave was used during the Vietnam War for people to hide during the bombing of Laos. Thong’s grandparents talked about many who died during that time. The statue on the right is the mountain spirit. These tribes do not worship in temples and use a local shamian for healing and religion.

We ate lunch near the spring that was constructed for the village to move here.

After a wonderful lunch, we continued on.

Soon we were at the top of the falls. Straight ahead is the edge.

Looking down at the lagoons below. Each is a different shade od turquoise.

Side view of the falls.

More of the top and the edge of the waterfall.

From here we had to climb down a path the entire height of the waterfall.

But the view from the bottom was spectacular.

A ficus tree.

We had over an hour to ourselves and decided to visit the Asian bears and the organization to save them.

They had an enclosure for little bears.

They had a separate one for the adults. Their face had a unique shape.

After purchasing a t-shirt for their organization to save the bears, we changed to go swimming in one of the lagoons. It is winter here so it was cool but worth it. There are fish in the lagoon that nibble on your feet. It actually is a spa treatment you can have here. They eat the dead skin cells off of your feet. It felt interesting.

After returning to town, we quickly changed and went to L’Etranger Books and tea to watch the movie “Bohemian Rhapsody”.

Dinner was a Lao spicy eggplant dip (Tam Mak Kua) with sticky rice.

Very fun day.

Luang Prabang has a large amount of temples which makes the entire town a historical site. A daily ritual is that of alms giving. Residents and visitors purchase sticky rice mainly though some give other items to each monk as they pass. The purpose of the ritual is good for the monk as they only eat one meal a day. The rest of the food is fed to the poor who come to the temple to eat food and pray. After eating, it is time for prayer.

This is the line of people waiting to give alms on Sisavangvong road.

Sticky rice is purchased in a large Steamer basket and is cooked just before the ceremony. Here you can ser people waiting on stools that have been set up for this giving alms. They have Steamer baskets in front of them.

As each monk passes, some rice is scooped out into each Monks metal container they carry.

It is very silent. The Monks walk barefoot through the streets.

As they reach the corner they turn down the side street.

From here they will turn towards their respective temple. You can see different Monks going into different directions. As they go through the backstreets, there will be others lined up there as well to give alms.

This was a very peaceful ritual and worth seeing. The rules are no flash photos, do not get close to the Monks, and wear attire suitable for temple. This includes long skirt or pants and shoulders covered. I was dismayed to see people break the rule especially using flash and stepping in front of a monk to get a picture.

Respect is key here and everywhere you go.

Note: because of no flash and distance, some pictures may not be as clear.