Well this is new, the road is actually straight, and not just for a few hundred meters; no, it has been straight for at least a couple of kilometers and it looks to be straight for several kilometers more. Sure there is only one lane in each direction, sure the surface is kind of rough but it’s neither bumpy not twisting. This is the closest thing to a highway I’ve seen in all of Laos so far. Amazing!… Read the rest
I’m floating down the river in an old tractor inner tube, it has been yellow but the paint has faded and peeled off from use and the black rubber is showing through. The water is a muddled brownish green color and the sun, already sinking lower, is sparkling on the surface like liquid silver. I lean back, raise my feet out of the water and relax. In front of me the spectacular Laotian nature, karst cliffs rising up out the jungle, and behind me the other tubers, all swimming suit clad bodies and yellow tubes, floating lazily along with me.… Read the rest
It’s like I’m not in Laos anymore, the mountains are still green but they are covered in grass rather than jungle. Here and there dark grey, almost black cliffs shoot up, bare rock against the blue sky. The lower slopes are covered in a kind of tall grass with white plumes at the top that makes it look like some giant has shaken out an old feather pillow over the hills.… Read the rest
The cave is long and dark, a single candle at the far end and the light spilling in at the entrance are the only sources of light. I shine my flashlight over the walls, there in the corner is a raised platform in a kind of alcove. On it a number of Buddha figurines in faded gold against the bare rock walls. The only sound is the wirr click of my camera and the soft humming of the ticket lady at the entrance. I put down the camera, turn off the flashlight and just listen for some moments in the … Read the rest
I’m in a cave and all around me, on shelves and ledges, are Buddha figures, hundreds or even thousands of them. The biggest is about a meter in height and the smallest roughly the size of my finger. They show the Buddha in different postures, standing, sitting or reclining, and they are all in a different state of wear, some old and pock marked, with faded, chipped paint, some new, the gold still sparkling in the light coming in from outside. It kind of reminds me of the Hill of Crosses in Lithuania, the same kind of feeling of being … Read the rest
The roof is steal with a high peak, the sides sloping down towards the ground in layered curves. The low walls and the pillars lining the central aisle, four on each side, are decorated with an intricate patterns in gold and red. At the back of the room is an altar adorned with Buddha figures and bouquets of red and white flowers, and behind that, a gilded Buddha statue with a shimmering orange sash across the torso, the statue is so large it almost covers the back wall. A group of people, probably around 30 of them, sit on the … Read the rest
The sign says “No photograph” but they can’t stop me from taking one without a camera. In front of me is a kind of gilded bas-relief depicting two griffins facing each other and on top of them two fantastical snakes facing away from each other, their tales entwined in the middle. Behind it a stepped dias done in red and gold, at the top of which is a kind of pavilion, two pillars on each side supporting a stepped roof. Under the roof is a small gilded Buddha statue, standing erect with palms facing outwards. At the foot of the … Read the rest
I’m on a low forested hill. Scattered all around me are large stone jars, roughly cylindrical in shape, differing in size but generally a bit bigger than a person. Most are standing straight but some are canted over and few lying flat on the ground. They were carved by some ancient people, supposedly for burying their dead, and have been left here for thousands of years. The jars show their age, they are covered by moss and lichen and many of them have been cracked or broken. I get an Indiana Jones kind of feeling about this place, but then … Read the rest
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