Luang Prabang

Wat Xieng Thong

This was one of the largest Buddhist temple complexes we visited and one of the most beautiful. We were surprised how peaceful and deserted it was.

Baci Ceremony

Baci is a very old traditional multi-purpose ceremony. The ritual celebrates important events as well as welcoming guests. The tying of string round the wrists – which for good luck you keep wearing for 3 days – establishes a social bond to maintain balance & harmony. There were refreshments and some music & dancing in ethnic costumes. Delightful and charming. There is a video of some of the dancing here

Tak Bat

We got up at 5:00 a.m. to see the early morning Tak Bat ritual of the Buddhist monks and novices walking in line to collect food. Unfortunately its growing popularity among tourists is turning this serene ritual into an endangered one as some of the locals consider the behaviour of foreign tourists as disrespectful.

The monks walk single file, oldest first, carrying their alms bowls in front of them for locals to put food into. All this happens in total silence with not even any eye contact to disturb the monk’s meditations.

Wat Ho Pha Bang

We visited the Royal Palace complex where we presented the flower display (that we were given in the Baci ceremony the night before) at the most famous gold Buddha statue in the country in the Royal Temple. While our guide was getting the entrance tickets Ann held the flower display which then attracted other tourists to take selfies with her, thinking she must have been some sort of Buddhist nun!

I was also amused by groups of visiting Buddhist monks taking photos with very expensive looking SLR cameras & smartphones.

The Royal Palace Museum contained most of the country’s important artefacts which were well presented. No photography allowed in the museum.

Mekong Cruise

A pleasant day on the Mekong gave us a chance to sit back, relax & take in the Laos countryside. Very pretty.

There were a couple of stops on the trip, the oddest one being to a very primitive whisky distillery. Varieties included ones with Snakes & Scorpions. One of our group bought one of the bottles & apparently enjoyed finishing off the bottle during the rest of the holiday.

The most interesting stop was at the Pak Ou Caves. Buddha statues mixed with a history of being used as a storage area in the Vietnam / American war. As Wikipedia says “Near Pak Ou (mouth of the Ou river) the Tham Ting (lower cave) and the Tham Theung (upper cave) are caves overlooking the Mekong River, 25 km to the north of Luang Prabang. They are a group of two caves on the west side of the Mekong river. The caves are noted for their miniature Buddha sculptures. Hundreds of very small wooden Buddhist figures are laid out over the wall shelves. They take many different positions, including meditation, teaching, peace, rain, and reclining (nirvana)”

We also visited the Ban Xang Khong village which specialises in the production of hand-made paper. The framed picture in our lounge was bought here.

That Makmo

Though originally constructed in the 16th century, it was destroyed in the 19th century & then reconstructed in concrete in the 20th century. Though formally known as the Lotus Stupa, it is now known as the Watermelon (i.e. Makmo) Stupa because of its shape. It’s not in a good state of repair.

I noticed that the adjoining Wat Visoun was being restored by the US Ambassador’s Fund for Cultural Preservation to the tune of $125,000. Strange? Why?

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