The way across the Nam Khan River is a bamboo bridge. There are boats that get you across and there is a bridge and roadway, but what is the fun in that?
A family built this bridge which is only up for 6 months. During the rainy season the river is too high so it is taken down. The family charges 5000 kip or 58 cents to go across. This is for their time and money in maintaining the bridge. I wandered looking for more sights and a different place to eat.
I should have taken more pictures. Much less crowded, not that Luang Prabang is by any means to begin with.
Not rickety at all. Very sturdy and wide enough for side by side people.
In case you are wondering about the many updates, this hotel Ban Jeck has amazing wifi and I need to give myself out of the sun for brief respites and to rehydrate.
The first temple I saw on the way back to my hotel was Vat Manorom.
I am not sure what this little house is for.
This building was used to serve food.
At Vat Thatluang.
A long boat.
In this building at the top is a drum that is what I heard beating in the afternoons. Bell and drum are important implements in a Buddhist temple, functioning as a signal for monks to gather together.
The temple and a stupa.
A stupa is a Buddhist commemorative monument that houses sacred relics associated with the Buddha or other saintly persons.
Other statues around the temple.
At the bottom of the stairs on the other side of the temple leading to the top.
Beside the stairs are many statues. This is actually at the park where the night Market also takes place.
This is one of the many small roundabouts that exist here.
I love seeing the temples, how each tells different stories of Buddha and are dedicated to inner and outer peace. They symbolize 5 elements : earth, air, water, fire, and wisdom.
Some I did not go in as I changed clothes to cool off. To go in a temple you must have shoulders and legs covered.
Yes, you saw that right. At the night Market I saw a couple people sell items made from bombs that had been been found and still active. I bought some as souvenirs as it was great cause and then set out to find the museum and the story.
They had a variety of bombs. Fuses and the chemicals have been removed from them. This shows all the devices that were used by the US and the Russians to back who we wanted to make Laos “safe”. We were wrong. Communism is not an enemy and we destabilized a whole area just like we are still doing in the middle east.
It tells the story of how the operation in Laos was an unofficial one and therefore where and how bombs were dropped were not conformed to international law.
Laos was the most bombed country per capita during the Vietnam War, also known as the 2nd Indochina war. Primarily the bombing was to cut off supply lines for the north Vietnamese.
Cluster bombs shown below were used. When dropped, the outer part opened and hundreds of small bombs were scattered. 30% of all of these bombs did not detonate, falling into rice paddies, fields, and jungles. They are still active today almost 50 years later.
Every day, a person in Laos is killed or injured when one goes off unexpectedly. I saw a video of a family of 3 girls starting a fire to cook fish for their mother and there was a bomb below the dirt and it exploded. One sister was killed and the other lost part of her arm. They have other stories as well.
UXO goes on and uses devices to find possible bombs using landsat technology. Sometimes they can defuse and sometimes they explode it remotely. The scrap they use to make souvenirs and raise awareness. It helps find their mission. Their landsat images of bomb locations match the poorest areas of Laos. That is because they live in fear that they will accidentally step on a bomb, they cannot farm further out or dig deeper for crops. Those areas are given priority as kids have been injured trying to go to school, family to the hospital, and just living daily lives.
More information about the war.
Of course I bought an item here as well. In the elephant park in Chiang Mai, they rescued two elephants badly injured from mine and bombs.
It was very moving and being against our action in Vietnam and made me even angrier that a country was caught in the middle and still paying a terrible price.
After I visited Mount Phusi, I went for a run. It helped me find places I wanted to see next and get lost to finally figure out some of the roads. This town is actually very uncomplicated, about the size of my home town, and very walkable. It is a work heritage site. There are no busses or trucks allowed. I stopped and looked at a few things while running as I knew I might not be back to that place.
The town is really pretty. This is the site of a night Market but have not gone there yet as the street in front of my hotel also shuts down for the market.
There is a temple close to the monument but looks like a closed community.
After the run, I went to tour the bottom of Mount Phu si again as I was passing by. Roadside stands being set up at the bar of the mountain. This is also where the night Market is.
This is actually across the street and will explore more there tomorrow.
Wat Pa Huak or the “Monastery of the Thornless Bamboo Forest” was founded in 1861 by Phaya Si Mahanam during the reign of King Chantharath (1850-72). The bamboo forest used to be on this site.
The doors are amazing and it is falling into disrepair. They have items for sale to benefit restoration as well as leaving donations which I did both.
Inside
This wat has original 19th-century murals that depict historic scenes along the Mekong River. They chronicle visits by Chinese diplomats and warriors arriving by river or horse and are different than other temples as they show day to day living and not pictures of the story of the life of Buddha or other religious paintings.
See if you can pick out the horse that is relieving himself in this picture.
Behind the Wat is a stupa.
After getting ready to go back out, I found a place on the river to eat. The smell was amazing.
This is where they cook. Not too big a deal in this area of the world.
View of the river
The yellow curry I ordered.
From there I decided to go to the Nam Dhong Park which is great gardens. I hired a driver to take me and wait. Unfortunately I did not bring enough money to do the ziplining. It was the original reason to go but I found there was much to look at. The road there was terrible though and combined with heat and sun made for a very tired traveler at the end.
Views on the way.
At the park.
A bridge that goes between the trees in the jungle.
Some views from the walkway.
Wandering through the gardens.
And down to the waterfall where you can take off your shoes and go in the water.
The gardens up top are really beautiful and peaceful with flowing water.
At the swan pond is an opportunity to weave with bamboo. I was running out of time at that point.
After the long bumpy ride back I took a much needed nap and headed out to meet Yvette and Krista from the boat tour at a movie at L’Etranger.
The coconut pancakes are so good. You are served them in a banana leaf. They are the small pancakes next to those big donuts.
This caught my eye. So I went to look at this temple.
Prior to leaving I heard drum beats. Not sure if that was a call to prayer.
Where the Monks live around the temple area.
More images from around the temple grounds.
At L’Etranger, a book store owned by a French expat. You can bring old books to give for credit and every night they show a movie upstairs. Tonight is Green Book. It was very good. Tomorrow night is Bohemian Rhapsody.
At the end of the day I ended back where I started taking a picture from the base of Mount Phusi of the night Market.
If you want a 360 degree view of Luang Prabang, then head to Mount Phu Si. It’s name means sacred mountain/hill. It is over 100 meters above the city.
Ancient legend is that a powerful Naga that is part human and part serpent deity called the mountain its home. There are many temples throughout the hill. Since there are temples one should dress appropriately for respect. No knees or shoulders should be visible. It really is disrespectful not to abide by this simple rule.
There are two sets of stairs on either main road to get to the top. There are over 300 stairs to climb but even in the dark is not perilous. On my way back down there were many out of breath coming up so it is moderately intense.
I started climbing at 5:30 am based on recommendations I had already seen. However, being tired, I should have realized that would be the best time in the summer. If it is winter, start up the mountain at 6:30.
Pictures from the top before sunrise. Wat Chom Si is the name of the temple. It was constructed in 1804 by King Anourat and has a 20m high golden stupaon top.
So I had time to spend. It is difficult to hear on this video (put your ear close), but I sat and listened to the chants in the morning during alms giving. I will see that tomorrow when the monks walk through the streets and alms are given by the locals. The alms are food for the monks as that is their only meal of the day. This is a quiet city without trucks or buses. It was extremely peaceful and a great time to be reflective and appreciative of my good fortune.
This pregnant kitty also kept me (and others) company. Such a love bug. She willingly climbed on laps. Life must be good for her too.
I chatted with a woman from Vietnam who also loved the mama cat.
These baskets can be purchased at the bottom. They house tiny birds. You set them free for good luck at the top. Though I wanted to buy them all and set them free, I do not wish to perpetuate cruelty.
Once the sun should have rose, I snapped these pictures as it is going to take some time for the fog to lift. There is very little pollution here. Yesterday on the boat it took a several hours for it to lift.
Facing the Nam Khan river.
A temple below. This is also the Mekong River.
Headed back down there was another goodbye to the kitty.
Views on the way down.
Many people go at sunset when it is spectacular but is also very crowded. I appreciate the calmness of morning.
I was in need of coffee. I chose a great location to stay as it is on the street fur alms giving and the stairs to mount Phu Si as well as having great little shops. I stopped at Kaogee Cafe.
Here I had an Americano and bread with Pandan. Pandan is also known as Screw Pine. This is a fruit that has the consistency of honey. It is sweet and mango like. The color is green. It is really hard to describe but tasty. The price is 30,000 kip which is 3.00 US.
There are other places on the grounds of Mount phusi I missed and week so that when I wander later.
Today is actually February 2nd here though not yet in PA. The weather is certainly better.
We stayed overnight in the Mekong River houses. It was great to hear the river right beside us and the breaking of the houses. I really did not sleep much as I awake to every noise. It didn’t help that I slept between every attraction on the car ride up to stay the cruise and slept a solid full night. Some pictures of early in the morning.
The restaurant across the street served breakfast. Simple but tasty.
While we were eating breakfast, we heard the elephants trumpet. They were down at the water. We left to go take pictures.
There is an elephant park across the mekong and I’m sad to say that the mahout ride the elephants.
We assembled in the boat and we were off downstream again towards Luang Prabang. As we started out several hours earlier than yesterday, it s much colder. Some hot coffee and blankets helped.
Some of the sights we saw today.
Asian cattle.
It is difficult to make out, but the poles hold peanut plants in the sand.
We disembarked from the boat to visit a village. We tried fresh peanuts. Our tour guide is such a ham!
On to the village.
There is a temple. There are 3 villages in the area and the monks come to this temple on a rising basis.
Here is where the monks stay during the visit.
The villagers weave scarves and table runners to sell. It takes 2 days to make one. This is the loom that they use in the background of the first picture.
Winding of thread. And, yes, I bought a scarf. It is beautiful.
The wood pieces on the left side of this next picture is actually a pillow. You can put fabric on it but can adjust somewhat for your neck. At the bottom is a massager. On the top left is homemade sandals and yes they carved treads on the bottom.
The kids were great. I bought another bracelet from them. How can you say no.
They also distill alcohol from grain and use the top to cook sticky rice. The alcohol was pretty strong but good.
We walked along a path and these cuties followed us. We played games of gotcha, turning around quickly to surprise them and slapping hands. They had superhero shirts on and one had a cape too.
Boys carrying firewood.
This little girl was so sweet.
This is a jackfruit tree. Never saw one before.
Back on the boat for lunch and more travel. We asked if they would uncover a section of the boat. They did and we played music and sunned ourselves.
More pictures on the way.
We then stopped a Pak Ou cave where there had been a Buddha temple for hundreds of years.
I bought a flower wrapped in banana leaf to give as a prayer.
The large central Buddha is for meditation. Each one has a particular meaning.
Another place for prayer. If I would have known this was in the your cave, I would have waited.
From inside the cave looking out towards the karst formations across the mekong.
There have been few instances of flooding where large portions of the cave are under water. The highest chalk mark was in 1966. And the last flooding was 2008. All of the cave would be under water.
After visiting the cave we continued. We saw people fishing.
This was an unbelievable cruise. The crew was fantastic, the tour guide amazing, and best yet were the new people that I met along the way!
To the Aussies Kim and Tess. You guys are crazy but the loveliest people!
To the Canadians, Krista and Yvette, you guys are so fun too and we so great chatting up a storm with you. Thanks to all of you for so much laughter and friendship!
First off if you go to Chiang Khong this is the place to stay.
Nice people and a great place along the mekong River in Thailand.
This was my view from my room at sunrise.
The best tour is Nagi of the Mekong and Adisak is wonderful. The tour operator makes it easy. We are given Laos visa forms and they check to make sure all is okay and there to help with the process. They like US dollars and if you don’t use it the exchange rate is not in your favor. Note : if the dollars have any weird marks like dye they will not take it and they do not like large bills like 20’s. Take small denominations. Thank goodness the canadians I made friends with had extra cash.
I also took Laos kip currency out. Like Vietnam, I am a millionnaire. Okay, that was only about 117US.
The boat was awesome.
We were able to sit at the bow in the sunshine. There were places to sit or lay down. Here is a video I made when we first started down the river:
The views along the mekong were amazing.
We stopped a few times to meet locals and they purchased a root like potato that is a bit sweeter. You peel like a flower. You were able to peel with your fingers unlike our potatoes. It was delicious. It had a texture like a water chestnut.
We also stopped at a local village. The boat brings things for kids in order to stop.
Xay is our guide on the left. His sister is also a guide. He tour is going to the river and we are going down. Was nice to see them together. He has 11 in his family and is from a village much like this one.
The village used to be higher in the mountains but the government could not support them with what they needed so they moved further down the mountain.
Only about 100 live in this village. Children go to elementary school here but there is no high school. It is not free even for young grades. If a child goes to high school, the family must pay. If it is like china, then parents may have to go away to work to pay but may not be near their child.
This hut is to house sticky rice. The disks on each leg stop the rats from climbing to get into the house. There are a lot of dogs and not much cats. Here dogs do a better job of controlling the rats.
Piglets. I didn’t ask but sure they eventually are for meat.
The kids everywhere are especially fun. They wave, will high five you, and have the sweetest smiles. It is great to see kids helping and playing outside. Low tech. Note: For a bunch of the trip I did not have a Sim card or any connection which was great for connecting with others.
Coconuts.
The bones of animals are used to adorn for luck.
Drying tobacco.
Drying the sticky rice grain. Some villages like this one can pool money for a machine to remove the outer covering or bran. Otherwise it is thrashed by hand.
I bought a bracelet from a woman.
We continued on the cruise. Lunch was waiting for us when we finished the village.
At one point the mekong is 100% in Laos.
We stopped here in Pak Beng for the night. Our hotel is up here on the cliff.
After depositing our bags (we could keep what we wanted on the boat so only took a change of clothes),we met too go to the market.
Here is a picture of the room.
At the market we ate bamboo sticky rice. Some in the group had never tried it. It is always good. The bamboo sticks gold the sticky rice for cooking. Usually coconut, beans, or spices are included.
Here is banana flower and golangal. Both are used in cooking.
I played peek a boo around a person’s shoulder with this little boy.
I bought sugar cane that is processed and wrapped in the village. It becomes like chocolate. I am not going to try it until I get home to the states to share with my kids. I also purchased a bamboo spoon. I would rather spend money here for those who need it and are so friendly.
Dinner was tofu lob. Lob is a Laos dish and was very tasty. Not hot with fresh ingredients like lemongrass….
Sunset was beautiful…
Some more pictures of the village.
Tomorrow is another 8 hours of boating down the mekong before we land in Luang Prabang.
