Laos, The Mekong River

October 13th we started the morning with a visit to Wat Xieng Thong which is the most important wat in Luang Prabang.  Until 1975 and the overthrow of the monarchy this was the royal Wat and thus where all the high ranking monks resided as well.  Situated at the northern end of town along side the Mekong River the grounds are large with many beautiful out buildings.  The main temple is large and impressive.  Another golden side building holds the funeral chariot of the royalty and the walls of that building are all done in wonderful mosaics.  Even early in the morning the Wat was alive with activity and it was a wonderful visit to start the day.

We then went down to board our boat for a cruise on the Mekong. The boat was long and narrow and would have accommodated many but we were the only passengers.  As we cruised up stream we had full view of life both on and off the river.  Small narrow boats fished the river while farmers worked the dry looking soil on the banks.  Occasionally water buffaloes could be seen grazing or bathing in the river. Many boats similar to ours were going in both directions carrying tourists to various locations.  Small villages dotted the banks.  At one point there is a new railway bridge being built across the river which will extend the railway to China. The people of Laos see this as progress but I hope it does not result in large Chinese infiltration as has happened elsewhere.

We stopped at a small village of about 200 people.  In the center of the village was their small temple which was the nicest building there.  Some of the women were working hard making river weed for sale at the market but many were lazing about.  We took a long walk up a hill to meet an older widow who is hoping to start a small zoo with antelope, turtles, emus and such.  Seems like a long shot but one has to have dreams.  On the way through the village we gave the young children some finger puppets we had brought with us and their smiles made our day.  We have so very much to be grateful for.

After lunch at a floating restaurant on the river we visited the holy caves of Pak Ou.  Originally those sailing on the river would stop at these caves and go in and often leave a Buddha image to ask for safe passage.  Now they have been turned into a tourist destination and even though they are listed as a place not to miss we felt they were the one we could have.  You pay to go in and then once inside the small cave this was the only time in Laos that we were approached by several people begging.  According to our guide the same people are there every day.  From the number of boats hundreds visit every day and more in high season.

The cruise down river was much faster as the current is 12 knots so really pushed the boat along.  We stopped across the river from Luang Prabang at the temple of Xieng Mene which was very peaceful and gave us some great views back across the river to the city.

We got back to the city with time for a massage before a delicious tasting menu dinner at L’Elephant.

The main Royal temple

A bride and groom having wedding pictures taken on the temple grounds. The Groom dresses like the king did even down to the shoes and sword.

Peaceful Buddha’s

The bark of this tree is used to dye the monks robes

This is the Royals funeral chariot

The walls inside the whole building were done in beautiful mosaics

The grounds were beautiful with wonderful out buildings 

What a wonderful place to go and just contemplate life

Built in the 1600’s this Wat has endured the centuries well

Terraced garden on the river bank

Getting water from the river. Very hard work

A Laos boat house 

A morning bath though with the colour of the water I don’t think I would feel much cleaner 

Village houses with a common square in front 

Some of the village houses were built on stilts to have room for animals underneath 

Drying the river weed in the sun

Adding the oil, sesame seeds, tomatoes and garlic to the river weed

Cooking sticky rice in bamboo 

The “bridge” to the widow’s home where she wants to start a zoo.  May need to improve the entrance to encourage visitors as it was rather precarious 

Their grins say it all as Eric gives them some puppets 

A typical boat at a village dock


Everything including motorcycles are transported by boat

Water buffaloes cooling off in the river


The Holy Caves

Some of the Buddha’s that have been left by boaters inside the cave

These shots from inside the cave made the visit worthwhile 

These were little Buddha’s but they look impressive close up

Village across the river where we had lunch at a floating restaurant 

Same village from our boat

Our boat pulled up on the shore so we could go up the hill to see the temple. Those cracks in the dry mud were inches deep

Peaceful view down the river

The monk statue seems to be looking up as if to say what the heck was that

This lady was out making coconut pancakes every day and evening 

Setting up the night market. Each vendor pays for a specific spot so it is very orderly and goes up amazingly quickly 

A peaceful lane lined with scooters, the preferred method of transportation