Pak Ou caves

 The Tam Ting Caves can only be reached by boat. There are 4000 Buddhas sitting and standing on every crevice, they look like 100 classes waiting for their school photo to be taken. 

Laotians also visit the caves, because its a holy site. They make pilgrimages there, a bit like Muslims go to Mecca, to give offerings. 

The entrance to the caves

We gave offerings also. Even though I'm not Buddhist, I always give incense or flowers because I want to show respect because it's a special place for Buddhists, and I gave them for my birthmother who was Buddhist and Christian. 

Mum also gives offerings. She says it to give thanks for me!

We then caught a boat back across the Mekong - for Mekong fish & rice. 

Mekong Fish - had to watch for bones!

Oh, and this is to show how DRY the land is on the banks of the Mekong. In two months this soil will be completely under water.

Road to the Mekong upstream

The one hour tuk tuk ride to another bank of the Mekong (upstream) was like being in turbulence on a plane - except we had no seatbelts and the windows were open!

I took this photo below to show how the low banks of the Mekong are used for growing crops during the dry season. When the wet season comes this will be part of the Mekong. It's also showing that people in developing countries live WITH the environment. When the Xayaburi dam is built up river, the water flow will decrease and it will change the lives of Laotians (and people in Cambodia & Vietnam) who depend on the Mekong to survive. 

Here are a group of Lao women making a pilgrimage to the caves. Do you see their parasols?

 

Monks also go to the caves. Mum took this photo of a monk, who was taking a photo of HER!

Heading to the caves.

Henri Mouhot's grave

 Henri Mouhot was 35 years old when he died. Mum wanted to show me his grave so she got a tuk tuk and we drove 19 km out of Luang Prabang. It is obviously not a tourist attraction because we had to find our own way through the jungle, following the signs. AND we were stupidly wearing thongs (and Mum put on a dress for the first time this trip - really stupid!). 

Mum has been telling me about Henri Mouhot. He was a French explorer and naturalist. I read that he had a thirst for learning and so he travelled a lot. He went to Indochina and spent his time in Cambodia, Thailand (which was called Siam then) and Laos. 

Can you see the "parasol" species?

 This is near Henri's grave. He camped by the river near Luang Prabang for months, to explore the plant and animal species. He was writing a book about Siam, Cambodia & Laos. 

Mouhot is described as being an unusual Colonial explorer because he developed deep friendships with all the people he met, from kings to villagers. He respected them, even though he worried about them because they were not Christians. You see, he did not have any understanding of Buddhist or Animism because he came from the West. 

But he also worried that European colonialism in the 1800s may not be a good thing. I read a quote from his book:

"Will the present movement of the nations of Europe towards the East result in good by introducing into these lands the blessings of our civilizations? Or shall we, as blind instruments of boundless ambition, come hither as a scourge, to add to their present miseries?".

I love the images I can catch in my camera (well, actually, Mum caught this one!)

 The walk reminded me of the Kep jungle in Cambodia, there were lianas and epiphytes, and LOTS of creepy crawlies. Mum remembered when we found a scorpion in the jungle and knew she had thongs on! (but so did I - so she told me to go first, so if I disturbed any, she would get bitten! BUT, hang on - I could have trodden on the scorpion first !!)

Leaf litter - which is why the soil is so rich.
You know, the leaves break down to humus and add rich nutrients to the soil. 

 Henri Mouhot thought he had immortality and was invincible because he battled so many tropical diseases, and infections and tigers (he slept with a loaded gun because the tigers were such a menace). BUT, in Luang Prabang he got Malaria fever and died. His servant, Phrai, loved him very much and somehow sent all Henri's journals and species to Bangkok so they could be shipped to England. His book was published three years after he died. 

See? Mum is in a dress which was stuck to her with sweat after walking through the humid jungle for an hour.

This on the way back to Luang Prabang. It was where we were cycling! It also shows how the roads are being improved, there is also a bridge being built. 

We had ten minutes back at the hotel before we tuk-tuked out again. I got a swim for the first time!

Cycling around Luang Prabang

SUNDAY 


This afternoon Mum and I hired bikes to explore more of Luang Prabang. We went out again at sunset. It is such a sleepy, quiet and pretty town which makes it so calm to ride around. 

I read somewhere that "its old world laid back charm is irresistible" .. and it is a beautiful town. 

Just some more moments captured on our bike rides yesterday. 

They start in the afternoon and finish as the sun sets.

Sunset ride