Luang Prabang and the north of Laos
After all my previous visits to Laos in the last 16 years this excursion to the north and north-east of Laos was one of my most exciting tours in this fascinating country. The destination Phongsali is so much beside the main routes that its better to be reach from Yunnan/China than from the south part of Laos; we did it coming from Oudom Xai 232 km to Phongsali with the speed of 15 - 20 km per hou…
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Song Cha and the mountain torrent
Vendor for Wai (young rattan sprouts)
Village festival with Hmong people
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Its strange but seldom the boys get dressed in traditional clothes like I've seen many times in Thailand. In Laos only the girls and women dress themselves in the beautiful Hmong costumes.
Landscape in Luang Prabang province
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Nam Ou river on the way to Luang Prabang
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The Laos second longest river flows through a landscape which is ideal as a template for every painting artist.
Along the highway nr. 13 to Luang Prabang
Nam Ou before it flows into the Mekong
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Most people get to the Pak Ou caves by river from Luang Prabang but its very beautiful too to go by car or bus coming the highway nr. 13 from Luang Prabang and turn to the left on km 17.
Stupa at Wat Pak Ou
Wat Rasavolavihane also named Wat Pak Ou
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When the royal court was transferred to Vientiane in 1560 its name was once more changed, this time to Luang Prabang in honour of the sacred pha bang Buddha image, then housed at Wat Wisun. Lane Xang later broke up into three kingdoms of Luang Prabang, Vientiane and Champassak, but of the three only Luang Prabang was destined to survive into the French colonial era and between 1946 and 1975 the King of Luang Prabang ruled as constitutional monarch of all the Lao territories. Since the early 1990s Luang Prabang city has attracted considerable interest for its unique and important fusion of indigenous and colonial architectural, leading to its inscription in 1995 on the UNESCO World Heritage List.
Wat Rasavolavihane simple called Wat Pak Ou
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Originally built in the early 16th century, Wat Pak Ou was intended as a bastion of Buddhism which would help eradicate animist practices in the capital of the Lane Xang kingdom, as well as a guardian temple for the nearby Pak Ou Caves.
Subsidiary building at Wat Rasavolavihane
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At the temple premise its the building for monks housing and their dining and living rooms.
Ban Pak Ou
At the Mekong river bank
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Coming from Luang Prabang the national highway going to Ban Pak Ou, boats waiting to across the Mekong river to the famous caves Tham Ting and the upper cave Tham Theung.
Monks rest at the river side
Tham Ting at the Mekong riverside
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This is the lower cave and is also called Tham Leusi. It contains the statue of a hermit of Leusi.
Tham Ting
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Stairs up to the lower caver called Tham Ting or Tham Leusi. Usually many more boats arrive to the pier bringing hundreds of tourists to the cave attractions. We came late in the afternoon at the last hour to meet less people and to have a much better light for photographing.
Tham Ting
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The mat on the floor in front of the Buddha altar is empty at that time. Normally Buddhist worshippers are kneeled in front of the statues for meditation and for sacrificing the brought so own Buddha image for leaving it in the cave.
Tham Ting
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About seven thousand statues found a place somewhere in the cave. Some Buddha images are very small and some are as big as 2 meters.
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