Friday, Feb 12 - Visit Buddha Park, BeerLao Brewery & Wat Si Saket

Well it's Friday and our 1st full day in Vientiane. Simon, Elizabeth, Jun and I are off to see "Buddha Park". The Park was built in the late 1950's as sort of a religious park that combined both Hinduism and Buddhism. The statutes are made out of concrete...so off we go in a tuk-tuk truck for a round trip cost of 50,000K or $6.


We were all surprised in what we saw. Look at the pictures...we believe that each set of statutes represent a story...unfortunately there were no local guides to hire you we made up our own fables....we stayed for about an hour plus examining the statues and amazed that somebodies could create suck a "Park".

Departing the Park we stop at the "BeerLao" brewery where we treated to a very cold bottle of beer and watched a video about the brewery. The beer is excellent an it has been my beer of choice while in Lao.

From the brewery we head for Wat Si Saket that was one of the few that was not destroyed by the Thai's when they invaded Lao in the 1800s. The name of the temple is "Pha That Laung" which was spared because it's design is Thai based. What an impressive architecture. Similar to Thai Wats but have cobras and nagas (dragons) incorporated in its design. A huge gold super stupa, beautiful temple ornaments and a hall full of pictures depicting the life of Buddha...100s of detailed pictures of Buddha's life...enjoy

After lunch, I found the "Big Brother Mouse" store which is a charitable organization designed to foster reading among the Laotian children. They also carry Laotian children story books in both Lao and English...bought a few for the grandchildren. Picture of one of the book's illustrator and me.


We will be leaving Vientiane tomorrow AM for the Viet Nam border. We will spend our last night in Lao at a small village at a village on the border. We can only bring a small bag since we must cross a river to reach the village which is located in a jungle are...will take mosquito net and repellent. From there we enter Viet Nam...until we meet again...Tom

Thursday PM - Feb 11 - Arrive Vientiane

We arrive in Vientiane and its 100F....hot. We head for our hotel, The Family Hotel, which is quite nice. Our accommodations have been more than satisfactory on this trips...rooms are large, beds comfortable and clean and wet rooms, bathrooms, clean and large.

After unpacking, those of us who can are taken on a short walking tour of the area by our guide, Tuo.... I forgot to mention that Alex and Frances fell ill...they made the plane trip but immediately went to bed.

After the guided tour, Simon, Elizabeth and I tour on our own and visit the Victory Monument, a whole sale goods market, "That Dam Stupa" and the surrounding area. Pass a library where a large number of students are hanging out...notice the uniforms...all school children that I've seen in Thailand and Lao wear uniform of one style or another. Boy is it hot and you need to drink and drink plenty of water.

Back to the hotel, shower and put on clean clothes...feel much better. Eight of us plus Tuo head out for dinner at a local Lao restaurant who mission is to help rehabilitate teenagers who are addicted to drugs. The restaurant's name is Makpert" which means chili in Laotian...besides the charitable side of the restaurant which teaches the kids to be busboys, waiters, waitresses, etc they are known for the superb quality of their food...buffalo wrapped in a seaweed, excellent curries, fried rice dishes and laub gai...everyone is pleased with their meals...some have dessert which include cake/ice cream and cake chips with sweet pineapple ....

Internet do do BLOG, wash clothes and bed...this is becoming a routine.

Thursday AM - Feb 11 - Monks Alms walk + Morning Market

We are up at 6 AM...we are to witness and participate in the distribution of alms to the Buddhist monks. Each morning the drums tool about 6;30 AM calling the monks to beg for their daily meal. Luang Prabang (LB) is home to a approximately 30 Buddhist monasteries...1000s of monks descend on the streets of LB with their large pots (approx 2 quarts in size) ... people on their knees line the street with their offerings which is primarily sticky rice .... tourist can purchase sticky rice pots and other offering from street vendors who prowl the streets and lanes.

I purchase a large sticky rice pot, select my street location with others, kneel on a mat and wait....here they come...one after another as I roll each small sticky rice donation in my clean hands and drop it into their pot....they come too quickly and I miss contributing to one or two monks...wheeew...I still have 1/2 of my rice left...wait here comes another group of about 25 - 30 monks....dig into my basket, roll a sticky rice ball, deposit it a monk's pot, repeat, repeat...100s of other people are doing the same thing in contributing to the monks' welfare. My basket is empty and I return it to the vendor.


The entire alms process/ceremony is over in 1/2 hour. The monks retire to their individual monastery and eat a portion of their food which is mainly sticky rice...they eat once again between 11- noon and nothing else until the next morning...they are allowed to consume liquids throughout the day.

Next we visit the morning market where the locals and restaurants buy everything for their dinner table... meats, fish, vegetables, spices....100s of vendors and 1000s of customers...the aromas and activity are a scene to remember..

Breakfast...back to the bungalows, final packing and off to the Luang Prabang airport to catch our 1:30 PM flight to Vientiane flying on Lao Air.

Wednesday Evening - Feb 10 - Sunset, Royal Ballet, Dinner

After getting out of the heat to update my BLOG, I hike up to the top of Mt. Phou Si which overlooks the town of Luang Prabang.... this is the place that one views the sunset over the Mekong River. I stay as long as I can...have purchased a ticket to see the Lao National dancers perform various mythology stories at 6 PM...miss the best of the sunset.
The show started on-time. There were 4 parts to the show which lasted 90 minutes....Lao female dance routine, monkey saga, additional female dancing and the prince and princess... interesting but very monotonous since it is difficult to follow story line....pictures from the performance are attached...

After dinner join Charlie and Frances for dinner....Both live in Perth, Australia...Charlie was an engineer for diamond/gold mines while Frances taught art to the elderly and handicapped ---nice couple...Frances is not feeling the best....hope she is not too ill since we travel tomorrow by plane to Lao's capital city, Vientiane.

Back to the bungalows for our last night...wash clothes and to bed...ZZZZZZZZZZZ

Wed AM - Feb 10 - Luang Prabang's Royal Palace and Wat Xieng Thong

Don't feel too bad...breakfast and take the tuk-tuk to the old Luang Prabang(LP) city center. Visit the President's Grand Palace. LP was once the capital of Lao before Vientene. Unfortunately, you are not allowed to take pictures of the Palace museum. Two features stand out...the throne room is quite large and it's walls are covered my intricate glass mosaics which depict Lao history, life and wars. It took 8 artisans 3 1/2 years to decorate these walls. The second feature is the presence of the PraBang Buddha which is the most revered Buddha statue/icon in Lao. It originally came from Sri Lanka and moved between various countries before residing in LP.

Visited a couple of other Wats, Seen and Sop, and met some monks who could speak English. They wanted to practice their English and I wanted to know more about them. One of the monks ...20 years of age...came from a village in northern Lao..has been a monk for 7 years..wants to enter LP University to study information technology.... didn't get his family name.

Visited the most beautiful of LP Wats...the famous Wat Xiang Thong. It is exceptional in beauty and functionality. Look at the sweeping roof..looks like the wings of a bird. See the miniature painting on the wall of the SIM, main prayer building, with the depiction of the penalty for adultery, lying, etc....look at the Buddha images and other beautiful icons.... Look at the funeral carriage which transported the last king , upright, to his cremation..

LP is an enjoyable small city..it is easy to get around and there is a host of activities within the city and in the outlying areas...elephant riding, zip wiring through jungle canopy, white water, trekking, visiting the caves and water falls, etc....

Walked around the city...met Charlie and Frances for lunch...updated the BLOG until 5PM...a nice leisurely day to relax and get back on my feet..

Simon is not feeling well and Jun is recovering...he was hit hard at both ends...