DON KHONG – KHONG ISLAND

Into the 4,000 islands region of the Mekong River.

The mini bus pulled into the tiny village of Ban Hatxai Khun, really nothing more than a few houses and a shop or two. This was the ferry landing for transport across the Mekong to Muang Kong on Khong Island.

Don Khong is a large island in the middle of the Mekong River. It is one of the first islands in the '4000 Islands' area of Southern Laos. It is 18 km long and 8 km wide in average width. A road goes right around the coastline and there is one which crosses directly across the island.

Within a few minutes three of us were boarding a motorised long boat, with a roof, to cross the river. The boatman asked 15,000 kip (under $3NZ) per person and would not bring it down at all. This seemed a fixed charge no matter how many were actually travelling. But the guest houses lining the oposite river bank looked inviting in the distance and after an hour plus in a fast moving mini bus, who wanted to worry about a few kip!

I suppose the trip across took 5 or so minutes and it was pleasant to be riding across the smooth flowing late afternoon water. Up stream I spied several islands of varing size and I suddenly realised that yes, there must be some of the famous 4,000 islands. And that was sort of exciting.

We eased in to the muddy river back between two other long boats, giving us a certain degree of stability to alight with. Just a step from the bow and I was onto the sloping earth bank. A few steps climbing up to the end of the concret steps and onto the road above. Straight away to my right I could see two of the guest houses I had selected to check out.

Inspired by a fellow passenger, I made sure that where I stayed could get ESPN sports channel. A Canadian, John was mad keen to watch the final of the world cup rugby that afternoon and I thought it could be worth doing as well. He had decided to come here rather than Don Det because this was the location where some guest houses mentioned having satellite tv. So his first question wasn't 'how much' but can your satellite system pick up the game. The first guest house seemed promising but I checked out next door as well. Rooms and price were ok but they could not get the channel I needed on their tv.

Back at Pon's Guest House the foyer tv set was already tuned in and the one in the room I was shown also picked it up. Seemingly the system had been specially retuned while I was checking out next door. However right on start time he realised that it was not on ESPN and so maade the manager search. through 200 channnels to find the coverage on Star Sports. I didn't know that was happening aand was in my room scannning. the channnels trying to find it, when suddenly there itwas about 2 minutes into the match. Thanks John from Vancouver.

At Pon's GH I was given a front room #10. It is a upstairs double room at the front of the guest house which gives me a river view. Slightly obscured by trees and a restaurant roof or two, to be completely honest. It opens out onto a large balcony with cane chairs and tables. Seems a very colonial feel. I could just imaging a group of colonial expats sitting here in the late afternoon enjoying their gin and tonics. It could be just was director needed for a feature film.which opened out onto the verandah- this was shady. and airy and from time to time a cool breeze woulde bnloww over it. My room comes with air conditioning, fan expellair and ensuite -with hot water.

Pon's have their own resturant set up on a roofed, open sided terrace jutting out over the river. Several other ghs havesimilar arrangements..This is not the busy season thank goodness but I can imagine in a month's time that all these terraces will be a hive of activity. The same owner runs a more modern up market hotel a little bit further along the road. This is where we go to get an internet connection.

While both Pon's establishments have pretty much the same restaurant menu, the hotel is better presented with table service set up starched white cloth napkins etc. Prices do not vary much between the two though. Cooking standards do though.

There isn't a lot to do here in the village and several people are just stressing out and relaxing while their final visa days run to a close - as I am also.Why not!

Besides long boat day trips down the river to Don Det you can hire a bicycle and ride around. This not a. costly aactivity asbike hire for the day is only 10,000 kip.

Now let it be known that I last rode a bike at least 50 years ago and I had no way of knowing if I could still do it. There is a comment about never loosing the riding skill - but you have to test it out to find out.

So taking courage in both hands I did rent a bike for the day. My take off was a little wobbly but I soon realised that I was going to manage ok. The bike technology was what I recall from all that time ago.Two handbrakes and no gears. No safety helmet either. The new thing for me was a basket on the front. There was no cross bar and in the old days I would be riding a woman's bike.

When I chose my bike I thought it would be good to have one where my feet could easily touch the ground, so I suspect that I got a bike a little small for my use. Oh well, I did not have to angle across to put afoot on the ground.

So off I went on the bike tor my first long ride. I knew it was 8 kms across to the next settlement and that meant I would be doing at least 16 kms for my first ride. Actually, coming back around the island on a mixture bank top track and the parallel road must have bought me up to around 20 kms. Not bad eh?

Fortunately the road was not only sealed the whole way, but it was flat as well. Mind you I did have weave around several pothole collections along the way. Sometimes the pothole had been filled in and sealed with a light coloured material which looked the same colour as pothotes did. So sometimes I was avoiding something completely safe.

The flat rural countryside was ideal for rice farming and that is what I found. I really enjoyed the slow cycle through the rice area. It seemed to be at several stages in its growth. Some fields were at the padi stage, others varing stages of greenness and some a golden colour of ripeness. In there fields I saw many small groups of women bending over cutting the stalks. It seems that harvesting is very much the women's job. I did see some men doing it but women were in the majority. I did tske photographs but in most cases the workers were just a bit far away for my short zoom lens to really do justice too.

Along the road a bit I came across a small group operating a bright blue threshing machine on the road side. Blue seems to be the standard colour for these machines inLaos. I have seen a number working as I have traveled along in a bus and they were all blue.

But this was nice and close so I stopped and took several photos of the activity around the machine. Chaff would fly out of a shoot in a graceful golden yellow arch before landing on a pile beside the machine. Very picturesque. Like several I have seen, this was on a trailer attached to a Kobto cultivator engine. These units are a crucial part of rural life and pull various impliments and trailer units along the road. I have seen one which was a regular passenger transport between a town and a village. I know because it was written on the side of the trailer. But today I also came across a couple which had their rubber tyres and wheels replaced with metal wheels edged in 'paddles' to assist with cultivating in the damp padi fields.

So although the ride was hot, it was interesting even if the main scenery was fields of rice. Amazing how interesting that can be if you keep looking. I past various styles of fish traps set up in the drains and padi field water races. There were larger irrigation channels which fed lines of smaller subsidary channels. There were bufalo grazing as far as their teather would allow.

Finally I could spy the radio and microwave towers ahead and knew that Muang Saen would not be far away. Lonely Planet describes the town as ' as busy river port' and I sort of though there would be a few larger river boats there. But no, all that was around were the narrow long boats used to ferry folk across the river or to an island. Not much more activity than at Maung Khong. However, the actual town had lots of small businesses trading in the basic essentials of local rural life. A couple phone outlets, some clothing mixed with other goods, hardware and dry grocery goods. I went back later to inspect the little local market which I had passed coming into the town. Perhaps 20 fresh fruit and vegetable stalls, some fish and that comprised the middle section. I assumed from the protective wrapping aropund some fruit, that it had been brought in from outside the island. We have the same sort of protective wrappers on some NZ imported produce too. I thought about the way in which the world is increasingly becoming just one great global community. I remembered elsewhere in Laos seeing imported USA grapes as we get them back home. Apples I think were Chinese. Disney was right 'It's a small world after all".

Around the perimiter of the market courtyard layout were dry goods clothing hardware – exactly the same sort of gods which the shops lining the streets also had.

I did see trays of bright red chillies set out in the sun to dry next to three trays of small fish, open up to dry more quickly I supposed.

Floating on the Mekong was quite a large local style bar and restaurant and I went aboard for a cold orange drink, which although it came from the bottle refrigerator, was not all that cold. It was from Thailand and only 25% orange with added sugar etc. It didn't taste all that like orange I know.

Once I had walked up and down each side of the four short shopping areas radiating out from the central cross road and the short shop row from the market, I had seen the town.

So I headed off along the curcumference of the island. The guide books indicate the existence of a

useable track along the top edge of the river bank. And yes I did locate it and follow it along. It was quite rutted and muddy in places and in others it lamost dissappeared amongst the low ground cover. However, I kept going knowing that the road, which I could often see, was only a house or two inland from the track.

Finally I came to a section which I could not easily pass. The old bridge timbers indicated that it had long since ceased to function and the small cliff on both sides of the stream were too much for me to carry the bike down and up. I wondered if the guide book writters had actually done the track?

At this point I made my way back a bit until I found a well defined track leading to the road and past a couple of houses, past as well a rack of tiny fish set out to dry.

So I continued along the road but as I went I began to notice people obviously using the track – so how to get onto it again. UI came to a Wat which obviously backed onto the track and so I went in and across the grounds; only to find a hige wire fence and every gate padlocked. Onto the road again. But next was a school and I could spot pupils coming onto the grounds from the track. So that was the way I went.

Going along the track gave me quite a good look into the ajoining homes and small villages. On my right was the river with often good views out across to other islands and channels. Each house seemed to have their own boat moored to the bank. Often they had made convienent steps down to it – or to a fish trap, usually a basket style.

There were plently of tall over hanging trees providing welcome shade and for a while I was riding through glades of tall graceful bambo. I enjoyed that and though it very much and Asian stereotype.

At one point I came across a small shop perched above the river and beside the path. Some houses also had terraced decks set up above the river bank and often groups would be sitting there. One group of older men offered me a cold beer as I went past but I declined gracefully.

In time the track merged out onto the road. I could not find where of if it continued on later. So from then on it was along the road as were students heading for school. Often we would exchange Lao greeting. However, three young girls ahead stopped in the shade and as I past by one said in perfect English "Good afternoon". I was impressed.

Along the way I came to the vehicle ferry landing along with its few food and drink stalls. This seemed a good place to stop and watch for a while. I watched motorbikes being transported across the river on small barges made by joining two or three longboat hulls together and placing a flat deck on top. It worked and I saw four bikes and riders on one and it could have taken another four as well. Then it was buy a cool drink and sit in the shade and just watch the activity going on around. I also enjoyed watching the local collection of roosters and hens strutting around beneath the food stall tables. I decided that they have very long legs. Another time I watched a black hen in a grass area pecking away looking for all like a black pukeko.

As I got back towards Maung Khong I was again able to connect with the track. This took me past a food stall outside the back gate of a small school and kindergarten, past buffalo, turkeys, hens and motor cyclists. Then back to Pons Guest House for yet another cool drink. Soda water is a drink of choice for me but I think this time it was fresh lemon and ice.

I was originally planning to just stay here for a couple of days and then move on down river to Don Det or Don Khon. This so I could see the famous waterfalls. However,when I found that I could do a day trip from Don Khong the need to actually relocate dissapppeared. As it has for others as well, I discovered.

Pon's GH runs a boat down river to Don Det and Dopn Khon each day departing at 8:30am. They offer two choices. A return trip down and up the river with enough time on Don Khon to walk to one of the famous waterfalls. Then alternative carries on from the time at Don Khon with a transfer to a dolphin watching 'cruise' and then a mini bus to see the higher falls, before mini bus up the road to the ferry base for Maung Khong. That was alonger trip getting g back just after sunset.

I chose to do just the cheaper return boat trip although I now think it would have been good to have paid the extra cash and done the longer trip. Yes they did see dolphins.

The trip along the river followed one rir side down stream moving often through different channels to the return. Coming back we largely followed the opposite side of the river.

It was interesting passing along the bank and seeing villages and rural life. In the afternoon we found many children on the bank waving to us. There had been some in the morning too. I saw one little boy with an older brother, both were waving. But when we waved back, the littlest boy started jumping with a happy small on his face.

So we saw adults gardening, checking fish traps, in long boats – fishing in some cases, or just standing watching us go by. On most times the top of the river bank was at least 2 metres above us, usually more.

Quite often there were mature trees growing up out of the water and I assumed that during the dry season the water level would drop so that they were on dry islands. We also passed by reeds and grasses growing up well out into the river. I spotted what seemed like lots of small branches sticking up in groups. The water was making them dance and wriggle around in quite a chorographed manner. I could just imagine the dance music playing for them.

When we got to Do Det we pulled in to drop a ypoung back packer off. Don Det is reputed to be a swinging youth hang out much like Vang Vien is. Certainly when we arrived around 10am the place was totally dead. The bars were empty. It looked sort of depressing.

But we carried on along the edge of Don Det which seemd to be almost a continous line of accommodation choices. Once we past the towering remains of the French wharf with its loading facility. The colonial French had a system of wharfs and a connecting railway to get cargo past the Mekong's falls which are the spectacular attraction at this point. They block all shipping up or down the river, which is a pity in many ways. But the falls are impressive.

Further on we came to the connecting bridge linking Don Det with Don Khon. The bridge was multi purpose; railway and narrow road. It looks like a typical rural French bridge with low archs connecting solid square pillars in a regular pattern across the channel. We landed a bit before the bridge but shortly I had a good look at it as I passed by. Actually beside it is the ticket office where you pay 20,000 kip per day for the pleasure of visiting the island and viewing waterfalls and old French railway engines. The one I saw was surprisingly small with just two wheels per side. It looked like something out of a childrens construction set. But it was in qite reasonable condition for its age and wasn't too rusted away. The old railway track is now a road or cycle trail.

But I was off to see the Li Phi Falls. This was a three kilometre walk in the hot sun through fields of ripening rice. I did pass a Wat on the way but didn't go in. Later I discovered that there is a shady path from the back of the Wat to the falls. A pity I didn't know. But then I would have missed getting the photos I took during my return 'stroll' of a buffalo in its personal muddy slush pool. It kept flicking water with its tail and rolling its head into the pool. It didn't seem to mind me watching at all.

The falls were pretty spectacular really. They are not high and it is just a mass of tumbling water racing through channels in the rock rock. There seems to be a drop over a ledge or resitant rock. The first view is the one the tour groups spnd most time at. Yes we had a couple of groups there all wanting their picture taken in front of the view. But they didn't stay long really. It is possible to move on along the track and find other views of the first part and then to see fresh parts of the total falls. To the left the falls look like some gigantic rapids with a slope rather than a distinct 'fall'.

I walked on along the drack to find the beach. Yes there it was, a small bay with sand piled up high and the river water coming in and out like the actio n of waves in the sea. It was pretty obvious that the currents were curving in and out strongly and except for a shallow paddle swimming was dangerous. It wasn't very far out into the main channel with the rushing water and the currents of the little would get you out into the river pretty quickly.

So it was an interesting day. Well worth doing. I walked back into the settlement of school, guest houses and a few basic shops. I found a pleasant waterside restaurant for lunch, where I could gaze at the river sement flowing past and at the picturesque bridge and image I was in France. Then it was time to reconnect with the boat and travel back up river after a brief side trip to drop off the full day tour passengers.

From then on, my stay was really just a few days of rest and relaxation – a nice term I suppose for being lazy. True, I did wander around the near by streets, such as they are and spend time on trying to get my blog entries done.

At 5:45am there is the chance to watch the sun rise directly across the river. I did take some photos of the emense glowing ball just above the horizon. Stunning. As the sun rises, so does the feeling of warmth. The heat of the day begins. It all happens quite suddenly really, as it does in the tropics. Sunset is the reverse with the sense of twilght dulling starting around 4pm and sunset at 5:40pm followed quickly by darkness.

Last afternoon around4:30pm we had a heavy down pour with rain and wind gusts. The guest house staff rushed up to the balcony and lowered the rolled up canvas blinds to protect the area from becoming too damp. That produced a strange sort of dullness on the balcony area. During the tropical downpour the power went off for a long while which just increased the darkness around me. It did not return until around 7pm.

Meanwhile the rain had soaked the open sided restaurant where the staff had put the chairs at an angle against the tables to let the rain drain off more quickly. As soon as the rain decreased, they had to set up two long tables ready for a bus load of tourists who were coming in for dinner. That made me decide to dine at the empty resaurant next door and so get my meal with little delay. Fried pork and vegetables with sticky rice. A tasty dish, freshly prepared and cheap.

There are two Wats close to the village of Maung Khong. The first I visited one afternoon and it was on the southern end of the settlement. I had seen it before but not gone in. The striking feature about this wat is a large statue of Buddha with a even larger representation of a naga (seven headed/toungue snake) towering up behind him. Freshly painted and bright in the late afternoon sunshine. There are paintings round the base of everyday local life and scenes plus some religious story telling.

Near the front gate a group of monks and novices were hand mixing cement and puttin in curbing and what looked like would be a path to a building. Around the wat perimeter was a high white wall with a continous series of text acknowledging the donation of money, with the amount clearly stated and the currency it was in. Obviously the temple complex is being slowly up graded as there was a half finished large sim like building standing to one side of the grounds.

At the northern end of town is yet another wat. This is spread out under tall coconut palms which provide a welcome coolness. I had walked to reach the wat and appreciated the coolness. A light breeze off the ajoining Mekong also helped.

The main feature here was an old sim which dated back 150 years or more. I took photos of the front of it which looked a bit like some Khmer ruins, but which were just a different design to the usual sim I have seen. A number of small children were playing in groups around the grounds. It all looked very peaceful and tranquil.

Across the river is a small hill. Along the ridge line can be seen a couple roof tops of Buddhist buildings amongst the trees. As well, there is a commanding Buddha statue which looks out across the Mekong. I happened to look out at the river and realised that the statue was in direct line with the Wat if was currently visiting. In fact I thought that the statue was looking right at the doorway of the sim. Not sure of the signifigance of this but I thought that it had to be more than coincidence/

Staying at Pon's for several nights were a group of travellers who are doing long journeys in 4 wheel drive vehicles. A Land Rover and a Nissan Patrol were two. One had come Australia, shipped his vehicle to South Africa and travelled up the continent. Explored Europe and then headed across Asia on his way back to Singapore, from where he shops the vehicle to Darwin and so back to home base in the south of Australia.

The other couple had set off from Europe and after crossing Central Asia, Mongolia and China where also heading for Singapore.

A third was aiming to carry on to North America before returning to the UK.

They had all met up along the way.

What a great thing to do although I guess having the vehicle and some mechanical knowledge would help. One driver said that he carried spares and this had helped when his wheel bearings gave up in rural China. Another had two blow outs in one day and had to flag down a passing motorist, luckily British, in some remote area and go 100 kms to get replacement tyres. The helpful motorist then took them back to the vehicle. That was a great way of helping a fellow traveller.

One group is attempting to raise awareness and money for UK Mountain Research and to help this have a website; www.landroveroverland.co.uk where they add blog video and photos of their travels.

The guest house became much quieter after they left – not that they were noisy, rather there were not many other guests. If any?

This is my last day on Don Khong. After farewelling the 4 wheelers, I spent time on journal writing. This one in fact. Around 11 am I set out for a walk along the path or track which runs along the river bank. While I had cycled along part of it a few days ago that had only been for the final part of this section. So I headed out as the mid day heat began to build up. Fortunately there were plenty of tall trees to provide shade over head. It proved to be a very interesting thing to do on foot. I past several rather flash guest houses and small hotels but most did not appear to be open yet for the busy season.

I went past a couple of schools and a kindergarten which all had parents waiting for their children just like in NZ – except there were no cars. A few scooters but most would be walking home. There were grazing buffalo to pass by not that any seemed to offer any challenge. Lots of hens, roosters and ducks running around. There were several groups of young chicks with their mothers scratching in the grass and earth along the track. Of course there was almost continous housing – homes constructed largely out of local materials and lots of open spaces to allow for the hot climate. Most were up on poles providing useful space under the raised floor. People were of course going about their various tasks – one woman had bowls full of washing which she was working trhrough. She was still there when I returned an hour and half later.

I was interested to look at the various gardens. Some were fenced in with bamboo rails but others were built on small terraces cut into the river bank. There were several small banana gardens too.

Much of my walk along the path was slowed down as I tried to capture some of the beautiful butterflies which were forever flying around me. In the end I did get some photos but not as many different butterflies as I would have liked. There were spme very large and colurful ones fluttering around me much of the time. Plenty of small ones as well, but it was the larger ones I really wanted.

Outside one guest house they had placed trays of sliced banana and other fruit out to dry in the sun. Here I found one medium sized butterfly which was more interested in the sweetness of the banana than in my moving around it. So here I did achieve a few good shots which I am pleased about.

I came across what appeared to be a small Chinese temple beside the track. It had an small outer room, then a small courtyard before an equally small temple with a Chinese looking god statue at the far end. Most ot the altar tables looked neglected and there were lots of leaves on them. I did wonder what the history of this small temple was.

As usual I past lots of school children coming and going, most smartly dressed in the white shirts and dark trousers or skirts. Many of the boys had little triangular scarves around their neck with the red triangle part neatly between their shoulders.

One school gate had a busy food outlet. Nothing flash, a tin roof and sideless with a raised floor which became a sitting area. Stock was very minimal. As I past along through small villages there would often be a more substancal shop beside the track. Always small but usally crowded with the stock they did carry hanging around the front area,

Finally I came to a branch in the track with one direction leading out to the road. I thought I recalled from my cycle ride a number of small shops and as I was beginning to think that a drink would be a good idea, I headed onto the road. Ahead I could see the masts whioch were at the vehicle ferry landing so I knew that there was food stalls there. I carried on along the road. On the way I was passed by several women on scooters which were laiden up and over loaded with hardware and kitchen goods. The local travelling salesperson. We gave each other cheerfull 'bai dee' greetings as I took photos.

I finally reached the ferry landing. From the map I knew that this was 2 km from my guest house. I was able to buy a couple of cans of cool drink but the food turned out to be a packet of potato crisps. Well OK, that will last me on the way back.

I located the track enterence to save another hot walk along the road under the mid day sun and set off. Less butterfly chasing this time and less need to take landscape photos as I had done it all on the way. But I did find a few new shots to take.

Finally back into the village and into the first terrace restaurant I could find. As it was 3pm, the chicken sandwich, soda water and fresh lime juice were all very welcome.

After a rest I headed down the road to Pons Arena Hotel use the Internet. Connection was fairly straight forward but downloading was painfully slow. There were only 23 emails to bring down. In the middle of it Robyn tried to establish skype contact but I didn't have the needed microphone or headphones with me. And I was in the hotel foyer. So I had to let it pass. A pity though.

Around 5pm I headed for the Pon's Restaurant terrace for a cool dring and to watch the dark rain clouds build up as the breeze got stronger. Interesting and in the distance lightning flashes and thunder. Right on 6pm, just as the bus load of tourists arrived to take up their reserved tables, the rain began. I retreated upstairs to the balcony and to type this. Once the rain had begun for earnest, staff came up and lowered the protective canvas screens. My view was blocked, not that it is all that great from here. There are trees and roof tops which block out most of the view. A pity really. The power did go off but only for an instance before everything was on again. All in all this was a much smaller session of rain than was yesterday's downpour.

My final evening meal: was a fish curry And I enjoyed it.

CHAMPASK

CHAMPASAK

Laos DPR


I arrived in Champasak in the relative luxuary of my own tuktuk. After
discusion with yesterday's driver I decided to retain his services for a
further day.

The plan was to be picked up when I wanted to be and drive the hour out
to Champasak, find a guest house and then go out to the ancient ruins
before being dropped back at the guest house.


I would save the cost of a tuktuk to the bus station, bus fare, walking
around Champasak to find a place to stay (no cost, just hot and slow),
tuktuk to the ruins (70,000 to 80,000 kip ?). Effectively I paid double
the cost to have my own driver, but considering the heat etc I feel it
was worth it. And in NZ dollars it was not as expensive as it sounds.


There was a good new road from Pakse to Champasak, but then it changed!
I had selected a guest house from Lonely Planet and it seemed to meet
the drivers approval as being ok. It was quick to find and although
there were two others booking in ahead of me, there was a room. Room six
was a double bed unit at the road end of a group of rooms. It had its on
little terrace for me to sit out on in the evening cool and watch the
passing trraffice – when there was any. Ensuite was larger than many I
have had and there was a good flow of hot water. The reception office
come lounge had make your own Lao coffee avaibable a refrigerator of
cold drinks and yogurt. There was a stand of junk food but also some
individual serve packets of what appeared to be local breakfast cereals.
What I thought was small packets of fruit juice with attached straw,
turned out to be fruit flavoured long life yogurt drinks.


We made the 10 kms out to Wat Phu Champasak (a local leaflet spells if
Vat Phou), along the main road, which was waves mounds, ups and downs
and potholes – great numbers of them. And damp muddy areas. It would
have been great training for rodeo riding!


Wat Phu is a World Heritage site and is considered to be a very
important example of Angor era sites. However, this is a much much
smaller cmplex than Ankor Wat and is less well preserved. Or perhaps,
less reconstructed? Even in the off season there was a good flow of
tourists visiting (30,000kip). My driver suggested two hours and I found
that a suitable time, perhaps another half an hour but as I was a slow
mover taking photos along the way, most visitors would cover the site in
under the two hours.

Wat Phu is built on the side of a Phou Kao Mountain. There are three
levels to the complex; Lower, Middle,Upper – which makes natural sense.

The Lower level includes a large and picturesque rectangular Baray. This
is the term for a man made reservior used by worshipers to wash
themselves before entering the temple. It is a purifying ritual for mind
and body. In acnient times the water for the baray came from sacred
springs in the mountain and flowed on out from the baray to be used to
irrigate local farms.


After the baray are the base rocks of what once would have been a wall
and ceremonial gate. From the gate a long ceremonial road or prominade
leads to the next level. This road is raised up on a bung like causeway
which seperates what were once a pair of Baray but now are fairly swampy
or in places dried out. Either side of the ceremonial road are a series
of head high colums with what I am told is a lotus flower shape on top
of each. Well that could be but from the distance I had decided that
they were phallic symbols, this being a Hindu temple.


The ceremonial riadway continues up a few steps to the middle level and
passes between the remains of a pair of large stone worship pavillions
which are sometimes called 'palaces'. Even though small fences keep you
away from the remains, it is still possible to spot the Hindu style and
carvings on parts of the buildings. Although the outer walls remain and
some small towers, several parts are propped up by strong timber beams.
No roof remanins intact. They seemed to each have had a central
courtyard and some rooms off it. Particularly Shiva is the 'featured'
god along with Vishnu and Parvati.


Behind one of these palaces is a further pavilion called the Nandi
Pavilion which Italian archaeologists and restorers are slowing working
on. Nandi was Shiva's bull. The interesting thing for me was that there
is a theory that this pavilion is at one end of a road connecting it to
Ankor Wat – just a mere 280 km roadway. These ancients did things in a
grand way. But it also makes us pause and consider the sort of advanced
civilisation they must have had.


There are a couple of stairways to climb to reach the top level. One is
big and steep with the stone steps varing in width, from narrow to very
narrow in my judgement. I sort of felt that the steps were more modern
construction as on either side were lateritic stone blocks which looked
like the pattern of ancient steps. As it was I found that they made
excellent 'hand rails' to help balance my climb up and descent later.
Fortunately also, there were two or three 'landings' where you could
pase for breath or gain confidence to continue the steep climb. In the
grass on either side are various stone blocks and I located a couple of
headless and armless statues which I read were called dvarapala statues.
No others this large are known anywhere in the Angkor ruins.


Well finally the top is reached and with it a smallish half ruined half
retained sanctury complete with a mumber of Hindu stutues carved into
the stone work and lintel. While this was originally dedicated to Shiva,
today there is a statue or two or three of Buddha. The largest in the
rare and a couple smaller ones in front. On the altar are burning
inscence, flowers, and offerings. There is a donation box for cash.
There are several of these located around the ruins – as are a few other
Buddha statues of varing quality.


Once there was a series of pipes and channels bringing water from the
sacred springs (largely just drips when I was there), to the temple,
where it washed over a Shiva lingam (which I always think is a word for
pennis), before descending down to lover levels.


I went up to the small cave or undercut in the smooth rock face of the
mountianside. There was a small offering area and a couple of troughs
catching the drips.


I also found a place which was supposed to be a spring. On the flat
verticle rockface was carved an elephant and nearby and engraved Buddha
statue.


But I didn't find the look alike Elephant or Crocodile Rocks. Nor did I
see the Buddha footprint. But then by that stage my guide leaflet had
dropped from my pocket and I had forgotten to look for them.


There were great views of the river flats along the Mekong from this
level. Ver flat and fertile looking. Lots of green of growing rice.
Apparently at this level I was 75 metres above the Baray. UM, it seemed
much higher than that.

My Panasonic LX5 camera has a panorama assist setting, so I thought that
this would be a good place to try it out. I knew nothing about it but
realised that when set it supperimposed a light version of the edge of
the previous shot so that you could place that image over the same spot
for the next edge in the following picture. Should work although I have
yet to try to actually link them up on my computer.


Going down the steps required as much care as going up – just a bit less
energy.


Looking back now on the visit I realise that there is much more I could
have seen. An exhibition Hall and the layout of a large ancient city
which was associated with the temple complex.


A stop for lunch in a local cafe where I had a mince pork filled
omelete. Tatsed nice and filled the whole plate for about $3NZ.


After all of that walking in the heat, it seemed a good idea to return
along the bouncy road to the guest house and the fan to cool down. Along
the road we found a grader spreading shingle into the potholes and wavey
indentations. We needed to stop for the traffic hold up and that is were
the tuktuk broke down. The driver could fire the ignition but not kick
the engine into action. Needless to say plenty of local males apperared
to help out. They pushed it to try and do a running start. Then they
pushed it back again. In the end having lifted engine covers here and
there I believe it was the accelerator tension spring had come loose.
Once reatteached and the engine was working again and off we went past
the grader. I didn't hold out much hope for a long life for the hole
filling though.


Around 4pm I went for a 90 minute stoll along the village road to see
what the place was like.

Essentially Champasak is a long line of houses space and official
buildings one deep along the river bank side and not much more than the
same on the other side as well. There are a scattering of guest houses
of a variety of apparent quality and a couple small but modern hotels.
There are some French colonial style grand villas but these may not be
all that old. One had the date 1958 on its side – I thought for a moment
it was 1858. This villa houses an Italian resturant which uses it home
grown vegetables and mome ade sallami and sausages. Home made pasta too
I would expect. Prices were a bit expensive by local rates though.

As it was I went to the Inthira Hotel, a small modern looking
establishment and rather classy; where I had a chicken steak done with
black pepper. A pleasant meal and I discovered they have wi-fi. Next day
I did but all I could manage to do was bring mail down it would not
allow me to send.


On my rest and relaxation day in Champasak I decided to spend the
morning walking in a different direction to yesterday. I got about 800
or so metres down the road when I stopped at a Wat and went in to look
around. As I was finishing my looking an mpnk sitting on his upstairs
verandah called out 'hello' and the usual questions like where did I
come from and how long was I in Laos for. So we got chatting and he
invided me to come up and chat. So I took the opportunity to go up the
stairs and sit with him for a while, he allowed me to sit on a stool.


It turned out that he was a British citizen who had been a monk for 9
years here. He said that he had been living in USA but got sick and the
cost of medicine and a cure was beyond him. So he came to Laos and
turned to Buddhaism as the solution. He found the meditation and
scriptures and practices was useful to his mediacl well being but not
necessarily giving him a cure. It sort of took his mind off it –
although he mentioned it to me several times. While he retained his
English speaking I did feel that some how he was a little detached and
not able to answer some basic general questions. However it was a
special time to be hable to converse for that time.


As I came down the stairs a group of niovices arrived. One who looked
the youngest wanted to look through my camera viewfinder and he took a
couple of shots, one of which was a good shot of a fellow novice on the
stairs.


A bit further along the road I went into yet another Wat and moved
around. There was a speaker on a loud hailer in one of the open sided
halls and when I looked the arrangement in the centre looked a bit like
there was going to be a funeral. By the time I got to the gate I could
hear loud amplified music from down the road. I have seen several
funeral processions now and so I could guess what was coming.


It was a long procession which included two decorated articulated
trucks, each with mourners on the tray = one must have carried the
coffin. There were monks riding along as well. After a few cars I saw a
ute coming with an umbrella over the cargo tray. This turned out to be
an umbrella to keep the sun off the bight gold Buddha statue siting in
state on the ute. More cars a packed bus with several people waving at
me. I am not sure if the ute with a couple of small buffalo tied on the
back was part of the procession or not. Lots of people in the convoy
waved and smiled at me. It did seem a very cheerful group.


I was amused to what the vehicles manage the very bumpy road and watched
them rock and roll from side to side. They were certainly giving the
deceased a bouncy farewell.


Quite soon after this I returned to the guest house because of the heat.
Later in the afternoon I did wander down a few short side streets which
were new to me. But I ended up sitting on a wide verandah overlooking
the Mekong drinking a cold fresh pineapple 'shake' and watching the
twilight steadily darken the overcast skies. No sinking sun to watch as
I was in the wrong poision but I did notice a slight pinkish tone cross
the skies for a short while.


What a great way to end a day.

IN LAOS - LUANG PRABANG

Sailing down the Mekong at sunset meant that we just had to be close to arriving at Luang Prabang. Then I became aware that on the riverbank, above the various moored long boats and behind the tree line, I could spot lines of buildings. Yes this had to be it at last.

After two days sailing down river I had arrived at the UNESCO World Heritage city. This is one location which most tourists to Laos seem to head to.

The boat landing was just a ramp which we nosed slowly into until the boat gently ran aground. Waiting for us to disembark were numerous agents for guest houses and hotels. Although I had no booking or even really any idea where I would stay, it was not going to be a problem.

The first person to meet me was a friendly young man from Suk Dee GH. As we discussed prices half a dozen others began to offer their places. I actually enjoyed questioning and the general to and throw of the barginning. But in the end I choose the original place offered and headed off following the leader for about three blocks along the riverbank. Suk Dee was one block back from the river and in a nice location. The first room they showed me seemed too good for the price I was going to pay. It was. $US30 per night, but I was only going to pay $US10 per night. So I got an unstairs room, one block back, with a varandah and ensuite. A fan which was more than adequate as I was not paying for the air con unit which was also in the room. AC units tend to be set far too cool and during my stay the fan was all I needed.

The historic area of Luang Prabang is full of old colonial style buildings, most seem to now be guest houses and few are more than two stories high. There are lots of trees, many old and spreading, which provide welcome shade in the daily heat.

Except for a few main roads through the historic precint, most of the streets are narrow and there are numerous smaller lanes as well. Some of the lanes in particular are especially picturesque and photogenic. Growing on the side of one lane I discovered the largest bunch of bannanas that I believe I have ever seen. Of course I took a picture.

Once I had settled into my accommodation, I headed off for a walk around. I was only one block back from the main street which ran the whole length of the historic area and beyond. Just a block along from where I joined it I located the night market. This was the largest night market that I think I have ever come across. It ran down the street for the best part of five or six blocks, with some branches off into side streets. Besides stalls along each pavement,the middle of the road also had a double row of stalls. I found out after pushing agains the flow for a while, that the practice was to walk in one direction beside one pavement and the reverse on the other pavement. Most of the goods were spread out on mats on the ground. I do not recall any stalls with goods on tables. Many of the sellers were sitting on the ground, some others on low stools.

Most of the sellers had the same or very similar goods to sell. There are many scarves, even more T shirts, mixed souviners and every now and then a stall with something completely different. At the far end of the market I began to arrive at food stands. Most were specialising in fruitshakes coffee and cold drinks. However, the reall find, down a side allyway was the dinning area. Here various sellers had BBQ's with kebab style meats held on split bamboo strips – very efficient. Half chickens, duck, strips of pork, were common but there was one seller with BBQed buffalo liver which actually tasted quite good in a chewy sort of way. There were also cooked sassages including a buffalo one. Kebabs cost between 10,000 kip and 25,000 kip being the highest price I heard. Usually my meat cost the 10,000 kip. Next to each meat display, was set out a buffet range of salads, rice noodles, stir fries and sometimes fresh fruit. A help yourself plate full cost 10,000 kip. So for 20,000 kip a very satisfactory meal could be had for about $NZ3.25 – good value in anybodies' currency. I dinned here every night but one. Always the place was busy and seating in high demand. Not just locals but back packers and even small tour groups having an 'experience'. It was actually a very good way to have a meal at night.

On the first night after that I was walking back along the road and found some of the passengers from the slowboat at a street front winebar. So I joined the group and enjoyed French wine by the glass at about $4NZ. Great value! Several of the group had yet to book in anywhere so I ended up bringing them back to my guest house where they stayed for a couple of nights.

It was very enjoyable chatting over a glass of wine in that setting. Fun to watch all the activities going on about us. The group ended up drinking the wine bar out of bottles of Beer Lao.

I went back a second night later in my stay and drank on my own. How ever a two year old girl from one of the shop keepers who had been wandering around came and sat down at my table and started eating my peanuts. I didn't mid because they waiter had brought them along as a value added thing and having had a few I was going to have to pay for them anyway. As for the girl who had bought a book along with her – which she did seem to be proud and processive of, well she swopped tables when someone new came along. Perhaps they had better nibbles?

On the second evening in Luang Prabang, the 'boat group' invited me to join them at the market for a meal and then we went around to Lao Gardens – a bar a few blocks away. We missed the fashion show be were in time for the hip hop display. It did seem a bit of introduced American culture but the boys were pretty good at it. I think the young group members thought that I was a bit of a novelty as I was more than twice the age of most of them – perhaps even triple some ages? I didn't mind as it was a bit of a novelty for me as well and it did make an enjoyable way of filling in an evening. They were still enjoying the night when I decided that it was time to make my way back to the guest house. On night they climbed the hill to watch the sunset only to find that clouds blocked any view from the top.

The hill, Phu Si, is only 100 metres high, but it does dominate the township. It also makes an achievable spot to get good views of the town. That Chomsi, a 24 metre stupa crowns the hill top. There is a little temple there and a number of folk were doing devotions while I was on the summit. At night the stupa is illuminated.

Getting to the top involves a steep climb up a set of steps to reach the first terrace and the ticket office which you need to payt to actually go higher. But having got that far up, how many would decide not to keep on climbing? Clever marketing I thought.

From that point upwards the parth is less vertical but still a good test of fitness. I am glad I had improved my fitness before I set out on the trip. Most of the climb was through welcome shade providing trees but it was still hot, just without the direct sun.

From the summt I was able to sort out the various parts of the city and notice the greenery, the flatness and how low every building actually was. Looked very pleasant place. I watched a lizzard which was camera shy for a while which was a pity as it was worth a photo. There was a steady flow of folk arriving and takng pictures of themselves on the summit.  I decided to go down by a different pathway as this would take me past some Wats which sounded interesting. This was a path less used. I did. Spend some time trying to get a picture of several very attractive butterflies but they would not oblige and land near me.  A pity as they were different to our New Zealand ones and quite colourful.   Actually on this trip I am spending a lot of time on similar efforts to 'capture the moment' Mostly it is the big winged butterflies. I want to get but it sees that I am only photographing smaller ones.

Half way down the track I came across a whole series of sparkly gold painted Buddha statues in various positions and poses. Quite an interesting collection and very modern.

I spotted a sign pointing to Buddha's footprint in a cave. Well the first cave I found didnt have it although there were shrines at the enterence and and another inside the cavern.

However along the path was a little window shaped box with a small gold footprint painted on indentations in the rock to give a sort of footprint. However, finally I located the correct cave but despite trying hard I could not discern a footprint in the gloomy interior. Oh well!

I did managed to get a few photos of monks around the area.

Back on ground level I explored the side of town away from the main street and discovered a guest house which was beside the Nam Khan river and had a large bamboo verandah built out over the bank. It had reclining couches and was a great place for a cool soft drink.

Ah the luxury!

But after a pleasant 30 minutes it was time to pay the bill and head out into the heat again.

During my wandering in this general area I came across a small shop and museum for the Yao minority group. This was all new to me and I was intrigued to look and the products on display – mostly textiles, and to wander through the small museum displaying items and photographs from Yao everyday life. The Yao are one of the hill tribes who had migrated from an area of China to settle in Laos. As a result their language is different to Lao and I discussed this with the young woman who ran the shop. I had been surprised to find their books were printed with Chinese characters.

Outside, at the rear of the shop/museum there was a full sized Yao village house in traditional village style and materials. It was not very large and was mostly just one room. In one corner there was an open fire with the various simple cooking pots and kitchen impliments. However, there was one small room partitioned off which was just large enough to contain a double bed.

Luang Prabang has at least two other museums. The main one is a National Museum and is housed in the Royal Palace which is located in the middle of the old town. Effectively there are several buildings to visit. There is a large Wat, the Palace itself, the Royal Garage, the Guards Building and the Royal Ballet building.

The theatre building had an interesting exhibition of the Mekong, emphasising the cultures and peoples who live along the river's course. Each aspect had a small area composed of text photos, comments from ordinary people and sample impliments etc. Appropriate music was playing quietly around the exhibits. Although the exhibition was well prepared and interesting, it did seem rather cramped for space.

Wat He Pha Bang is a large and impressive building which somewhat distracts attention away from the Palace. It is tall with sweeping roof, and raised on a mound so that a dozen or so steps have to be climbed to enter it. Both outside but especially inside, the glitzy shine of gold against red paint is astonishing. I was somewhat staggered when I entred it. Numerous square gold columns stood at attention and the main feature was the gold palanquin which takes 16 men to parade a large statue of Buddha seated on a throne. Must be a very impressive time and I imagine it would be noisy with trumpets, drums and cymbles all playing together. It is a pity that no photography is permitted here or in any of the palace buildings.

The Royal Garage only contains five or six cars. Two are old 1960's vintage Lincoln Continentals which were gifted by the USA government. There is also a Ford Edsel model which is fairly rare and not a car that I can recall ever seeing 'in the flesh' as it were. I can recall when cars like these were all the rage and anyone owning one in NZ was the envy of everyone. I hate to think what the fuel consumption would be though.

In the Royal Guards quarters I was able to view an interesting photographic exhibition entitled 'The Floating Buddha”. Mostly in black and white many of the images where very engaing. Most were taken during a Buddhidt monks retreat which the French photographer was priviledged to attend and photograph. He took many thousands of shots so it would be surprising if he wasn't able to get some exhibition worthy images. The exhibition has also been released in book form. There were about 50 prints on show.

Most visitors only seemed to inspect the Wat and the Palace. The Palace reminded me of visiting a British stately home. The throne room and reception rooms are impressive enough with a couple thrones collections of swords and various objects related to receiving guests. I did hear it explained that the throne was onoy slightly raised as it was important that the king was not higher than the chief monk. The royal quarters are not large and are fairly dull. The dinning room with a table formally laid out in western style was interesting but I did wonder where the chopsticks where and what if a guest wanted to just use spoon and fork as is common here.

In other rooms there were displays of gifts presented the king by various countries. One from the USA included three small pieces of rock from the moon. They are mounted in a dome shaped piece of glass or plastic which I decided was designed to magnify what were really very tiny samples.

Overall the Palace is quite a short visit unless you try to read every lable – which I tried to do. Then I spent a little time to wandering around the pleasant but small formal garden.

The second museum is one devoted to the ethnic make up Laos. I had not realised how many different groups are part of the population. I was surprised to see that Laos is the most ethnicly diverse nation in the world with over 150 distinct groups. Some of course are very small groups.

Only a few of the groups had displays in place and the museum would be pushed for space to expand the exhibits. Of those that were there, I was interested to see the range of traditional clothing styles. There were eamples of several groups elaborate wedding costumes and marriage customs, elaborate beds and so forth. Athough the notice said 'no photographs' I was told I could taken pictures without using flash. So I did take a few.

I did discover that the Lowland Lao who live in the river valleys and flat land preceeded the later arrivals, some of whom didn't get into Laos until the 19^th century. The various later arrivals took to living in the hills because that was where the spare land was located.

I have noticed as I have travelled around Laos that you still find folk, mostly women, wearing clothing which would reflect their traditional group. to

Noticed in Lonely Planet that there was a silk weaving set up which gave free tours. Visiting the OckPopTok shop near the guest house, I noted that they would run free tuktuk rides to take anyone out to the centre, which was about 10 or 15 minutes from the shop. So I arranged to be taken out and they were as good as their promise and ran a tuktuk both ways for me.

At the centre I meet my guide who took me through the collecting of silk worm cocoons, extracting the micro fine thread and spinning it to produce a stronger thread. Still very very thin though. We then went into the workshop where about a dozen looms were set up. Not all were threaded up or being used. They tend to set the looms up to make to order. The widest cloth that they can weave appears to be about one metre wide but they can do many more metres in length. It can take a week to set a loom up for a pattern and I wondered what fine eyesight the women must have to be able to thread up hundreds of rows of such a very fine thread.

From memory there are three different types of silk weaving but I don't have the details with me as I type. I may be able to insert them later. I was very pleased to be able to photograph and video the women working and they seemed happy with that.

I visited the showroom but with prices over one million kips I was not prepared to buy something on the off chance that I would get a suitable piece. However, sitting near the showroom was a young woman from one of the minority groups weaving on a traditional body loom. In this process she had the lengths of thread tied around her back and her feet held a stick with the other end attached. She used her legs to maintain or release the tension as she worked. We had a good discussion about her work and her background.

In answer to my question, my guide told me that the women can or do earn between $US 50 and 100 per week. This is equal or better than the average wage earned by town workers. It seems that payment depends on amount produced but the more complicated patterns get paid more as they take longer to finish. I asked an American woman volunteer at the centre about the amount and she confirmed that it seemed about correct.

Two of the BIG attractions of Luang Prabang are to visit a waterfall and to visit an elephant centre. There are numerous variations on these offerered by the various booking agents around town. Elephants can be a half day, a full day or stay over night or even longer. There are activities based around the elephant centre or there are jungle treks riding elephants. On the full day and longer you not only ride and elephant but you also get to help wash one.

There are two main waterfalls to visit. One is higher but both seem to be composed of a series of steps and pools. One is closer to town than the other.

I finally decided that I could visit Luang Prabang without doing one or both. So in the spirit of keeping the price down I booked and Elephant Village half day trip which was to include an hour ride and a boat ride to visit the lower waterfall. Even at half a day it still cost $US42, which was more than my guesthouse charge for five nights accommodation – and there would be a few dollars change.

Well come the day and an 8:30am pick up say a van of eight heading for Elephant Village about 14 kms from town. The Village is set up to rescue and care for old work elephants, mostly from the timber industry. On arrival at the village there was one elephant around the Elephant Hospital and Feeding area. Day visitors get to feed an elephant – one elephant by the look of it. After coffee we boarded a local style longboat with an engine and a long shart to the propeller. The shaft can be lifted in shallow water. It was a quick ride across the river to the elephant 'trekking' area. There were other groups there beside us and as they only have 11 elephants in total and they were not all at this place, there was some competition to get a ride first. The longer you waited the shorter the time for other activities. Well in the end part of our group got elephants and three of us had to wait till they came back on 'our' elephants. There was a seat on the back of the elephant which would carry two normal sized adults. When our elephants came back there was a move to fit three of us onto one elephant -another group was waiting too. However the other couple objected, rightly so and we went off on two elephants, which is why I became the only solo rider. And no I did resist the invitation to sit on the elephants neck and control it

The hour was made up of 30 minutes actual riding and 30 minutes waiting. The ride itself was somewhat exciting as the movement of the seat reflected the moving of the elephant's legs. As a result there was a steady swinging side to side and up and down. It was a novel experience and one move thing to add to my list os 'experiencies'. We went over some open ground – actually harvested gardens of local farmers, before riding through open forest which seemed more like a plantation or certainly regrowth. At a point near the turnaround we handed our cameras to the 'driver' and he dropped off the elephant to take our photographs – lots of them. The elephant being creatures of habit just carried on along the path, which shows how often they have done this.

Back at the boat and it was a short run down to the falls. We first spied areas of rushing water cascading out of the vegetation on the bank. That was quite spectacular on its own. Having landed we went up the path to the falls themselves. Here there was another group of elephants giving rides for a different trip company. At the falls there were food stalls and a small changing hut. Various bridges and walkways took you over parts of the falls which were descending like a series of giant steps or stairs. As people were walking over the steps the water was only around angle deep. But it was quite forcefull and looked impressive rushing over the rim of each of the very wide steps.

There was a pool area deep enough to swim in – well push against the current. Watching the others venture in, I stopped taking photographs and went and changed. It was good fun fighting against the current and then moving out to the side to go upstream again. Overhead was a flying fox which people were riding along to drop into a pool and ther was also a rope swing. We only had 30 minutes before it was back to the boat and a quick ride back to Elephant Village for a buffet lunch. Along the way we passed local farmers and fishermen doing their daily work and ignoring the regular passage of camera snapping tourists.

I guess in the end was quite happy to have spent the money for both experiences were memorable. I would have liked to have spent longer at the falls however. Perhaps next visit! Oh, and perhaps I could find out who gives the elephant rides at the falls.

I think that this was the evening when I did not go to the Night Market for dinner. Instead I treated myself to a meal at the Sonphao Restaurant, which was just a 100 metres or so along the road from my guest house. I had discovered it one morning when looking for breakfast and was impressed with the ambience and service. I had been the only perosn having breakfast then and the service was imressive. The interior of the establishment looked very French with nice light wood tables looking rather like IKEA products and check tables cloths. Generally a sort of minimalist look to the place which with its light airy feel, I rather enjoyed.

Well each evening they run a dinner performance of Lao dancing in the upstairs area. I went along and found just four other dinner guests. The performers all seemed like teenagers but it is hard to tell ages here. There were three musicians playing traditional instruments including the curved wooden xylophone. The young women dancers prefromed four dances each with a costume change. Interesting to watch but each was quite short. Amzingly the final dance merged into a tune that seemed to me to be Old Lang Sign and once they started holding hands I new I was correct. I felt that this was really out of place and not appropriate. When they finished they got each of the guests or pairs to pose with them for a photograph.

There are a lot of Wats in Luang Prabang. A Wat is a Buddhist temple complex. There are a lot of wats in Laos as well. Within stone throw of my guesthouse there were five or six large wats. Mind you you would have to be a good stone thrower!

But it almost seemed like there was a wat down every street. There weren't of course, but there were a lot. That meant there were lots of monks and lots of novices in the area . They stood out in their saffron coloured robes.

I found it not only photogenic seeing the monks on the street but I was also intrigued by what they did. I sort of asumed that munks were conservative and shunned modern activites and devices. But what did I see? Monks with the earpods listening to mp3 players, monks with cell phones, monks using their laptops in coffee bars and of course monks with umbrellas. Some up as the walked along, some up as they rode bicycles along the road. They may not of all been monks some could have been novices. But it was often hard to tell as a novice can become a monk at 20 years of age. I also thought that you couldn't photograph them but none objected if I asked. Many were happy to talk and practice their English. They were happy to explain what being a novice entailed and discuss their daily routines.

So all in all there are hundreds of monks and novices in the city. And that brings me to the main tourist activity. Every morning then monks and novices do as Buddhist monks do everywhere, they go out along streets seeking offerings of food for their daily needs. In Luang Prabang, this activity has become a 'must see' tourist event.

Monks rise at 4:30am for the first prayers of the day. Then about 6am they go out collecting. One morning I went down to the main street to watch the line of monks collect offerings. I was rather amazed to see the crowds of tourists there and more arriveing in over full tuktuks. Vendors were offering tourists boxes of sticky rice fruit and other items of food to offer monks. Along the pavement people were shoulder to shoulder kneeing with their offering containers. Many were obviusly locals, but there were lots of tourists in the line as well. I went down the next morning as well and the whole tourist 'thing' was repeated. The second morning I went to the start of the line and round rows of neatly set out stools with a teatowel on each and baskets of food. Suddenly a row of tuktuks arrive and out pile a whole tour group of Japanese complete with a guide really shouting out instruyctions – and they had their own photographers to record their participation. Next to them was another tour group.

Promptly at 6:30am the first group of monks and novices begin to go along the line whie monks from other wats converge and joiin in what seemed to be a regular order of positioning.

As the monk passes each kneeling person he opens the lid of his collecting basket and a small portion of cooked rice is put in. There may be other items as well. As they pass along the line their supply of rice steadily increases. I noticed that everyy now and then a monk would check through his basked and remove wrapped items which he either threw into collectin bins or into baskets carried by boys marching along on their other side. My theory was that they didn't want commercially produced items, but it could also have just been that these items took up too much room and the rice collection would not meet their requirements for the day.

Now the tourists. Like me they all want to get that special photograph that time will prove to be a great classic shot. But even in the off season there were an awfull lot with cameras. Point and shoot, compacts, expensive silngle lens reflexes with various lenghts of lens attached. With flash and without. Most were on the road side but plenty were behing the givers line. It was the photo opportunity of their tour.

OK it all sounds like lots of pictures will be shown to their friends. The only thing is that there are leaflets out and notices around suggesting that photographs are taken from a distance and not close to the monks and not to get in their way. The problem was though if you did stand back to take a picture you line of sight was going to be blocked by some other picture taker.

I was not all that happy with the shots I took on the first morning, which is why I went back the second time. I chose to be near the start of the line because the toursit crowd was a little less, but also because I would have time to slip back the block to the road my guest house was on. I worked out that at least some of the groups would be returning along there and that gyess proved correct. There was hardly a tourist in sight but there were some local folk with offerings. I thing I got my best shots here and the pictures I like the best are just of the line of monks approaching along a tree lined roadway.

I did go into a lot of wats and wander around and in several I had the chance to chat to novices. I thought that was a priviledge and not something that the average tourist got to do. I think it was partly because I didn't rush, I was not in a group and I was old and that interested them. I was often asked my age and always were was I from. My age was the surprise. So I got treated with real respect. I made a point of always thanking them for talking to me and teling them how much I had enjoyed it. I was even invited in one wat to came back at 6pm and join the monks for their prayers. Well not so much 'join' but to attend and although I greatfully declined for a good reason I do feel it was an opportunity missed.

The big Wat with the tourists most visit is a monastry. Wat Kieng Thong is located right at the end of the peninsula which the town is built on. It costs 20,000 kip admission but there is a lot to see and hear. I was there around 4pm and right on the hour the big drum sounded. I went across to the drum building or tower to watch and listen. Beside the big drum there were gongs and cymbels being played. I suppose to the Buddhist there was a meaning but to me it just sounded like a loud noise. Well, perhaps not quite that. There was a rhythm to it and a pattern of rise and fall of the sounds. It went on for about 10 minutes. It was overall and impressive display done largely by novices.

Once the drumming was over the large crowds of tourists quite quickly headed off frpm the Wat. There had been a fair number there leading up to 4pm and I had overheard their temple guide busily explaining the workings of the temple and of Buddhism in general during my wander around the ornate sim, the large main building or temple. Once again there were steps leading up to it as with all sims I visited. This gave it a commanding position in the complex. Of course there was a large statue of Buddha at the far end and various other smaller statues around it. There were decorative carved panels along the walls and of course the outside walls and window frames were equally decorative. Gold colouring dominated.

Across the courtyard was another large building. Its name translates as 'The Carriage House'. This building, contained the large gilt decorated carriage which was used to to carry large urns of the remains of Lao royalty. I could imagine it in a funeral procession. It would have looked rater over powering to the ordinary spectator. Royal spendour even in death. There were a number of the naga snakes with their many tongues, usually on each corner of the carriage. The naga snake is a very dominant symbol in every temple and is included in many statues of Buddha.

Around the Wat complex were several other smaller temples or shrines. One contained a reclining Buddha.

One of the striking features of the buildings and near the main enterance was the coloured mirror glass patterns and figures on them. The walls were a mass of small figures and objects such as wagons and farm impliments all portraying scenes from daily life and from Lao legend. I hadn't seen anything exactly like this at other temples. I did take lots of cose photos isolating out particular scenes. Attached to the end wall of the sim was a full sized coloured glass tree of life, which quite a few of the young Asian visitors got themselves photographed in front of.

I stayed around the complex until most visitors had left and the stall holders were most packed up for the night. By now it was quiet and peaceful. Monks and novices were going about their routines and there was a general late afternoon or early evening tranquility.

Time to leave Luang Prabang and move on to the next destination. It had been very pleasant stay. The old town area at least had a very layed back, unhurried and relaxing feel about it. The many old buildings gave it a sense of timelessness. The lines of old house shops were still just that. In the late afternoon as twilght gathered, the families could often be seen sitting together inside the shop or out on the roadside eating a meal. Children would be playing games on the pavement while the main street continued its normal traffic and people movements.

Down the lanes off the main streets, the smell of cooking would be wafting through the air. At the riverside the boat owners would be trying to get a final passenger or two and the tables of the various bars ad resturants on the riverside would be slowly filling with guests.

Yes for once I felt a little reluctant to be moving on and I could fully understand how some travellers would revise their itineraries and stay longer.