Bathing Optional

Lao: May 2007

Continents

Continents

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Our first view of Laos. Looking across the Mekong River from Chiang Khong, Thailand to Huay Xai, Laos.
Now on the Laotian side. Looking back to Chiang Khong, Thailand from Huay Xai.
River boats on the Mekong.
Morning activity on the river.
Laotian stupa. We couldnt differentiate from the Thai style.
Temple statue.
Old monk at Huay Xais temple.
Pond pavilion.
Local lady sharing a picnic dinner on the pond with her family.
Another shock! Laos, another devote Buddhist nation, is a nation of wild meateaters!
Our bus from Huay Xai to Luang Nam Tha double as a vehicle carrier. Motorcycles filled the aisle and the roof was covered in them!
Although the border town didnt look much different from Thailand, our first bus trip in Laos quickly showed us that Lao is very, very different. Its amazingly green, low in population, and overwhelming rural. Outside of several provincial capitals, most of Laos looks like this. Really.
At Luang Nam Thas bus terminal we were happy to see this poster on the wall. Well take all the advice we can get.
More of those Lao dos and donts.
Lady at the bus station in traditional skirt.
Skirt.
Laos tribal Akha people are easily identified by their headscarves.
Muang Sing, a very small town in northern Lao. We decided to take advantage of our proximity to the Lao-Chinese border by staying in this town in order to see some tribal villages in the area.
This man was very happy to see us so excited by his beautiful wooden home.
Going home at the end of the day.
Typical rural Lao home on stilts.
Tribal lady.
So cute!
Sunset clouds over Muang Sing countryside.
Fields.
Huge tree!
Old school temple drum.
Another very cute little girl.
Bam-bam!
Sunset over Muang Sing.
We started early the next morning, heading through the mist towards the Chinese border 10km. away.
We knew that we had just a couple hours of mist and coolness before the heat set in.
Fantastic countryside.
Ashe, enjoying the walk towards China.
The work day begins early.
Muang Sing is a historic opium hotspot. Glad to see that they are helping the locals during their transition phase to alternative crops.
We had our breakfast of congealed rice wrapped in leaves and topped with hot sauce at a roadside stand with some school children about 5km towards China from Muang Sing town.
The area between Muang Sing and the Chinese border is dotted with wonderful ethnic villages. The most famous tribal groups in the area are the Yao and the Akha. We made it to a Yao village first.
We knew we were in the right village when we spotted traditional Yao womens cloaks hanging out to dry in front of one village home.
Yao lady.
Village shack. Weve seen a fair bit of rural Lao so far and most villages are filled with buildings like this one. Straw, thatch and wood are the basic building materials.
Lady by the village stream.
The Yao ladies were certainly more shy about having their photo taken than they were about ambushing us and throwing their trinkets-for-sale all over us.
Morning shower.
Yao lady.
We found out why the ladies were laughing so hard when I barely got this hat on my head when we later saw babies wearing these cute bonnets.
Yao lady.
After the Yao village we visited an Akha village.
This group of Akha kids was very excited to see a couple foreigners wander into their tiny village.
Akha lady.
Curious kids on the trail back towards Muang Sing.
Ashe cooling off while a local lady does some laundry and sharpens her blade.
Us at a village home on the way back to Muang Sing.
The school day ends before noon so, all of a sudden, the road was filled with walking and cycling kids, indcluding young monks!
Hitching a ride.
Whatcha lookin at?
When in Rome, youve gotta try the local delicacies so Maciej decided to have a go at these huge, cockroach-like beetles.
Sunset over a rice field in Luang Nam Tha.
Morning in the fields in Luang Nam Tha. We were amazed that the very bustling looking city is nothing more than a few main roads surrounded completely by countryside like this. Thats the beauty of Lao.
Old school bridge leads over the river from Luang Nam Tha to a Thai Dam (Black Thai) tribal village on the other side.
On her way to school.
Heading out to the fields.
A work day begins.
For her too.
Luang Prabang, Laos historic royal capital on the Mekong River. Its an amazing place -- green and tropical, temple-filled, and oozing with French colonial style.
View over Luang Prabang.
The main street in Luang Prabang is lined with well-preserved French colonial blocks.
Luang Prabangs Royal Palace is also an exceptional place.
Most notably, Luang Prabang is a city of temples and there are dozens of them. Xieng Thong is the most famous and beautiful of the many temples.
Shiny stupas at Wat Xieng Thong.
The temple Buddha.
This temple, others in Luang Prabang, and the Royal Palace are all decoraated with inlaid images of Japanese glass. The result is beautiful!
Great!
Temple details.
Also very Laotian, temple stencils.
Buddha stone.
Royal ashes on the royal barge.
Buddhas in the Laotian standing style fill a side chapel like a warehouse.
Even monks need a tea or coffee to start the day.
We still havent figured out what local legend these little guys are based on.
Boats are always waiting for passengers along the Mekong shores in Luang Prabang.
We couldnt help it -- we took a boat trip up the Mekong to the Pak Ou Buddhist caves.
The scenery got better and better as we went further up river.
The only stop we made along the way to the Pak Ou Caves was at a small village known as the Whiskey Village for its local brew.
Us at the Whiskey Village pier.
Local girl.
Village monks.
On the Mekong riverbank.
Lone monk.
Not only have we seen monks eat meat and drink in South East Asia but we also see them smoke, all the time!
River scenery.
The entrance to the Pak Ou Buddhist Caves.
Our river boat.
The Pak Ou Caves are filled with Buddha figures, offerings made by visitors over a few hundred years.
Cave Buddhas.
Looking out over the river from inside the cave.
The best thing about the Pak Ou Buddhas is that each one is unique.
Incense offerings.
Golden figure.
Reclining figure.
Great!
More fantastic scenery on our way back to Luang Prabang.
Flowers in our hair (we will be heading back home to SF soon...).
Luang Prabang is as close as weve yet seen to a full-service travelers center in Lao. They even have fresh honey and tampons!
Spring blossoms fill the city. Its beautiful!
Temple.
Temple image.
Temple creatures.
Garden views from the temple steps.
Wow!
On top of Luang Prabangs central hill, Phou Si, stands this golden stupa.
At one temple we arrived during an ordination ceremony for monks. Each monk had his mat arranged with gifts including the essentials: robes, meditation cushions, water heater and electric fan!
One of many French colonial greats in old town Luang Prabang.
The great stupa at the oldest temple in town.
Many of Luang Prabangs former French estates are now beautiful hotels and restaurants.
Peacock design.
Like every place weve seen in Lao, walk two or three minutes from the center and things get incredibly rural incredibly quick.
Young monks hitting the books.
Sunset skies over Luang Prabang.
The old silversmithing district is now a backpackers district with plenty of lanes like this one lined with cheap hotels and guesthouses.
Monk heads out to receive food offerings, early in the morning.
Heading out with the collection bowl.
The hammer and sickle hang from a shuttered window.
Functional, but beautiful.
Another of Luang Prabangs dozens of historic temples.
From above, Luang Prabang is all tiled rooftops and palms.
Climbing up Phou Si hill for a better view over town.
Shuttered windows.
Luang Prabangs old town lanes are very quaint and so, so green.
Doorway.
Wonderful Buddha inside one of the oldest and most beautiful temples in town.
Welcoming sunflowers outside one of the many wonderful guesthouses along the river.
Morning walk.
Mornings, for us, are always the best time to see the locals most comfortable and natural. Later in the day, interactions are more often that of tourist to vendor.
Colonial mansions line the riverside.
Statue at the top of one of many staircases leading down to the river.
Cafe.
Asiatic black bears rescued from poachers play happily inside an enclosure at the entrance to the amazing Kuang Si Falls about 25km. from Luang Prabang.
A rescued tiger also has his own huge enclosure.
The lower cascades and one of many swimming holes at the bottom of Kuang Si Falls.
Another set of cascades.
More cascades. Those clear waters were a fantastically cool escape from the hot weather weve had here in Laos.
Us by one of the almost glowing pools.
A traditional Lao home on stilts stands above a picnic area near the main falls.
The main falls are huge! The last cascade itself must be 150 feet or more.
Another beautiful, emerald pool.
Maciej at the base of the main falls.
We hiked up to the very top of the falls to get some great views and go swimming in pools all to ourselves.
It took us a while to get brave enough to jump right in.
Cascades.
Under the falls.
There cant be a better way to cool of on a hot, hot day.
Taking a break from the waters.
Nice!
On our way out we had to stop to look at those cute black bears again.
Back in Luang Prabang.
Lawn bowling MUST be the Laotian national sport. They love it and we see groups of men playing every single night, where ever we are.
Lady at Luang Prabangs night market who just about got us to buy a few of her pillow cases.
Why hire a babysitter?
Sunset time in Luang Prabang is wonderful.
Beautiful!
Kids playing in the river at sunset.
Ashe with some great local blossoms.
Tonight those rice cakes dry in the sun, tomorrow well be buying them for 5 cents a piece.
Evening prayer at our favorite temple.
Drying chilis.
Another great block in Luang Prabang.
More colorful shutters.
Sunset over the hills in Luang Prabang.
A loooong bus trip from Luang Prabang to Vientiane meant that we arrived in the capital only to see the sun set over the Mekong River.
Vientiane is an interesting mix of crumbling colonial buildings and new temples attempting to look old.
Despite their independence, Laotians are still trying to capitalize on the Indochine link.
The Black Stupa in central Vientiane.
Umm... a cart full of delicious, ripe mangos sits at the side of the road by Vientianes Independence Gate.
Pha That Luang, the symbol of Lao.
Many, many fine bronze Buddhas fill the patio of Wat Pha Kaew, the old royal temple in Vientiane.
Weve seen so many Buddhas and never any with such pointy noses. Its great to see art change dramatically and in subtle ways from country to country.
Excellently carved wooden doors lead into the temple.
Monks at the royal temple.
Standing Buddha, a Laotian trademark.
Wat Si Saket, the oldest temple in Vientiane, is only a few hundred years old but all other temples were burnt down by the invading Siamese.
Niche Buddhas.
Dragon roof ornament.
More great woodwork.
Sabaidee!
Very cute child at the next table as we had dinner on the edge of the Mekong River with a view of Thailand on the other side.
On our way south from Vientiane to Savannakhet. Every time the bus stops (and thats many times) its quickly surrounded by women like these with a surprisingly limited array of food items for sale. Mostly its all kinds of meat and bugs on sticks and junk food.
Birds Nest Beverage! Definitely wanted to try this drink but, at 50,000 Kip ($5.50), we resisted the urge.
Savannakhet, in central southern Lao is known as a treasure of French colonial architecture but we had a hard time finding many of those buildings save for a few scattered along the main square.
Savannakhets old French church.
Another fast food woman gets a bowl of noodles ready for a passenger as we wait for the barge to cross the Mekong River to Champasak.
More fast food women on the barge pier.
Flimsy barges not much bigger than these ferry small buses and cars across the Mekong River.
The Mekong, South East Asias great river is wide and brown.
A moment of meditation? Tai chi, maybe?
The classic local response to a little rain.
Evening fisherman on the Mekong River.
Champasak, the tiny provincial capital is nothing more than one street lined with very ramshackle colonial homes.
Beauty even in decay.
Another forgotten colonial mansion in Champasak.
Evening palms.
Long-tail boat on the quiet Mekong right before some fierce winds shot across the river and brought a huge storm with them.
A rainbow before the storm.
Sunset clouds over the Mekong.
A new day! The rising sun was caught between the mountains and a thick layer of clouds for a brief minute or two at about 5:38 a.m.
Sunrise over the Mekong from our guesthouse patio in Champasak.
Early, early morning fisherman on the Mekong.
Local temple, Champasak.
On our awful rental bikes, we took to the countryside around Champasak in search of the famous Wat Phu, Laos best Khmer ruin.
Someones got to tell these bike makers that bikes, like shirts, cant be made in a one-size-fits-all manner.
Country farm.
Mountain reflection in one of the ponds at the Wat Phu temple ruins site.
Great peak.
The approach to ancient Wat Phu passes two ruin palaces before climbing a long staircase up to the temple itself.
One of the ancient Khmer palaces. The look and feel of the place brought us right back to our time at Angkor Wat.
Very familiar carvings over the temple entrance.
The palace and temple at Wat Phu are crumbling but UNESCO funds and limited ticket revenues are not enough to save them.
A multi-headed cobra greets temple pilgrims.
All-natural, bio-degradable temple offerings are sold at the gate.
Can a staircase get any more beautiful?
What an approach!
You can always count on the local, elderly women to pack the Buddhist temples of Asia!
Elephant rider.
Temple maiden.
Buddha figure outside the temple building.
A monk makes offerings to a Brahma image.
$Ashe, showing off just a small fraction of the 200+ bed bug bites she endured the previous night in our classy guesthouse in Champasak. Bed bugs are just one of the many uncomfortable realities of travel through South East Asia.$ Ashe, showing off just a small fraction of the 200+ bed bug bites she endured the previous night in our classy guesthouse in Champasak. Bed bugs are just one of the many uncomfortable realities of travel through South East Asia.
At the ruins.
Didnt we take a photo like this at Angkor too?
Wheres the wall?
A very faint Buddha on the cliffs behind Wat Phu.
Another great find in the cliffs and rocks behind and above Wat Phu -- a giant Buddhas footpring, and elephant carving.
Another great rock elephant.
A very recognizeable crocodile.
Just some of the fresh mangos that Ashe was able to round up by forraging in the surrounding forest. They were delicious!
Tree lizard.
Wat Phu ruins.
The welcome wagon greets us riverside as we prepare to take a boat out to Don Det, the main tourist island in the 4,000 Islands region of the Mekong River in southern Lao.
The view from our balcony at our $2/night, stilt bungalow on Don Det island.
Looking down the Mekong River from our balcony with views of maybe 10 of the 4000 islands.
An exceptional sunset over the Mekong from Don Det Island.
Sunset kids.
A final attempt to catch some fish.
Great sunset!
We dreaded the coming of dusk and evening in the 4,000 Islands area as it meant the coming of thousands upon thousands of bugs and insects.
Morning views across a few more of the islands.
The few populated and cultivated islands of the 4,000 Islands area are criss-crossed with nothing more than a few dirt paths.
People here move around by river, not land.
This island was nothing more than a tiny mound of dirt rising above the river with this immense tree growing on it. Amazing!
Many come to Lao for its laid back way of life with a Beerlao or two tossed in.
Temple guardian.
One of several cascading waterfalls found off the island of Don Khon in southern Si Phan Don.
Rough waters.
Would you cross that bridge?
Monks in the forest.
Very cute village girls at the very southern tip of Don Khon Island (a very bouncy and long bike ride following the old French rail along the island).
Baby in rustic hanging basket.
Village homes.
Village kid.
Village scene.
More village kids. Very cute.
As is often the case, we got more of an adventure than we bargained for on our day out on the rental bikes on Don Khon Island. It turned out that the road we were following was nothing more than a rough, single-track jungle trail that was often broken where landslides and deep streams cut through it. Here, we had to cross a deep gorge over a piece of the historic French rail that had been moved here as a bridge.
The monkey that saved Lao! In many ways (ways we cant even explain) this single monkey was probably the highlight of Lao for us. We couldnt break ourselves away from this energetic and lovable little guy.
While taking breaks from swinging in the trees and running around, our favorite monkey in the world would sit in Ashes lap and put his arms around her neck.
Sasquatch! Nope, its that little monkey walking around on two feet.
Digging for my camera.
Us with our bikes.
Village girl.
Another cute girl.
No parents in sight. Out here, babies are more often left with their slightly older siblings who run around them while they play in the dirt and grass all day.
Cruising the roads of Don Khon Island.
Ashe cruising the island roads.
Ashe again.
The game that took Lao by storm! Weve seen kids all over Lao playing this very same game. The winner is the player who is able to surf their rubber flip-flop furthest across the expanse of dirt. Simple, but fun and we were amazed that, without any form of communication, kids all over the entire nation were playing this very same game.
Countryside stupas near one of the islands two temples.
How could we not enjoy a day out on bikes when the roads look like this?
Theres a lot of resorty-type ecotourism happening in Lao and at one such resort we found these great-looking stone huts.
Riverside stilt home on Don Khon Island.
The only thing that remains of the French colonial rail in the Si Phan Don 4,000 Islands area is this bridge that connects Don Det Island to Don Khon Island.
Thatch homes along the river.
Fantastic!
Back on our way to Pakse from Si Phan Don, more women ambushed our bus when it made its stops. This time they had another local delicacy for sale: fried beetles on sticks.
Pakse is another French colonial great in southern Lao.
Views across the river in Pakse.
Colonial building in Pakse.
In Pakse, we rented motorbikes for a three-day trip into the Bolaven Plateau of southern Lao. At km.21 beyond Pakse, this tiny sign was the only thing telling us to turn left for Salavan. Easy to miss.
We crossed this bamboo bridge to arrive at the first of many waterfalls we would visit on the Bolaven Plateau over the coming days.
Paxuam Falls.
Dining hall at the very nice resort built at Paxuam Falls.
On the bridge.
The falls.
Tadlo Falls, one of the most popular regions in the Bolaven Plateau.
Tadlo Falls.
Beyond Tadlo Falls, the jungle gets deep and walks along the river brought us to several very indigenous villages.
Village girl.
Village boy.
Village child.
Local ladies.
Lost. Really lost.
These kids were VERY shy about having their photo taken.
She wasnt.
Village boy.
Then, the rains came. It poured for a good portion of our second afternoon out in the Bolaven Plateau and we took shelter in the town of Tha Theng.
With nothing to do but eat, we ordered about 36 very tasty spring rolls from this local lady.
The rains werent about to keep this kids indoors.
Typical village homes out on the Bolaven Plateau.
Us on our rental motorbike.
Rural home.
Another home.
Stop along the road.
Local kids.
Kids.
Rice fields.
Storm clouds at sunset.
The most out-of-the-way part of our road trip took us 90+ km. along a dirt road through some very isolated jungle.
Roadblock.
A very Western home out in the Bolaven countryside.
Horses.
Ashe climbing down a wood ladder, heading for our favorite of Bolavens waterfalls, Tad Kyeung Falls.
Relaxing in a bamboo shelter on our way down to the falls.
First glimpse of the beautiful Tad Kyeung Falls.
Ashe gazing out at the Falls.
Mist rainbow.
Double falls.
A young monk heading down to the base of the Falls.
Beautiful!
Green, green, green.
Us at the falls.
Bridge above the falls.
Ashe on another river bridge.
River home.
Another stunning double waterfall, Tad Fane Falls.
Climbing back up from the Falls viewpoint.
The last waterfall of the day, Cham Falls, less known, but no less magical.
Wow, what a great idea! Bamboo raft with rope connecting it to the waterfall. We pulled ourselves right up to the falls.
On our way back from the falls on our bamboo raft, we flipped the raft and had to swim back. Getting soaked was a great way to finish a day of waterfall visits and we only got one huge, bloody leech between the two of us!
Ashe crossing the bridge by Cham Falls.
Sunset over the Bolaven Plateau.
Breakfast the next morning, a Lao classic: sticky white rice.
Breakfast companion, a motherless kitten. He loved our soy milk and ate up all the meat shreds floating around in our vegetarian noodle soup.

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