Interesting “art” at the hotel.
Our first stop today is the National Museum. We had to turn in our backpacks, cameras, purses, etc. before starting the tour. First major sight was a very large statue of Sisavang Vong, the last king of the Kingdom of Luang Prabang and the founder of the Kingdom of Laos.
The complex consists primarily of the former Royal Palace and a temple. We toured the interior of the palace (no photos allowed). There were a lot of Chinese tourists visiting.
We weren’t allowed inside the temple but the exterior gave us plenty to stare at in awe.
On the way out we passed a large banyan tree…
and the old “gas station” of the palace.
We then walked over to the base of Mt. Phusi. Paul, Tara and the guide climbed to the top…328 steps.
There was a stupa at the top...
a Buddha and some Hindu gods...
and great views of the Mekong River, the city and the mountains beyond.
The stupa was built in 1804 by King Anourat. The mountain has long been a holy place with one legend telling328 s how the mountain was moved from Ceylon (Sri Lanka) by the monkey King Hanuman.
The Mt. Phusi stupa as seen from the Vat Visounnarath temple.
We then visited the Vat Xieng Thong temple...another Buddhist temple.
A small adjacent temple.
The neighborhood leading to the temple.
Offerings.
Temple details.
After lunch at the hotel we headed down to the river and boarded a longboat for a ride on the Mekong. The Laotians use long narrow boats on the Mekong because originally the river was swift moving with very narrow in spots and lots of rocks. The long narrow boats made it easier to navigate the river.
The boat was actually fitted with bench seats from cars. Resourceful.
Cruising the Mekong River.
We saw lots of boats on the river…
including one being loaded with cargo.
There were children swimming in the river…
fishermen,
 |
| Plastic bottles holding fishing nets. |
and beautiful mountains
And we often saw water buffaloes and cows along the riverbanks.
The two-hour ride took us upriver to the PakOu Cave. The cave is high on the side of a cliff (although during high water season on the river the river has been known to flood the cave).
It has been a place of worship for centuries and contained over 4,000 Buddha statues. Legend has it that the caves are lived in by the spirits of the rivers.
Locals believe that the caves themselves were identified back in the 16th century by one of Laos’ greatest kings, King Setthathirath.
There was an altar with lots of offerings...
***********************************
Video inside the PakOu Cave
***********************************
There were
great views from the cave.
There is a second cave higher up on the cliff face with hundreds more Buddhas. We didn’t climb up there, but Tara did.
On the way back to Luang Prabang we also saw
forest fires in the hills above the river.
As we were sailing into Luang Prabang we had a really pretty sunset. This is the season when farmers burn their fields. Consequently, there is a lot of smoke in the air, which helps with the colors of the sunset.
*************************************
More Mekong River Ride
*************************************
Previous
Next
No comments:
Post a Comment