Run with the Wolfies: Photo tour to Myanmar (Burma) & Laos – Day 9 and 10
Laos
The Haw Pha Bang (the Royal temple) at the Royal Palace Museum in the UNESCO world heritage town of Luang Prabang in Central Laos.
By Michelle Alten
Day 10
Yesterday we flew to Bangkok, and today we are off to Luang Prabang, Laos. Arriving at this lovely town on the banks of the Mekong River, we have lunch looking down on the lazy waters as painted boats glide by. Our guide, Khamsouk, takes us to walk the quiet grounds of the temple he entered at the age of twelve. He tells us how, leaving behind his family, he traveled a few days alone to come here to join a Buddhist temple and study. He did not see his family again for five years. Khamsouk remained a monk for many years, finally leaving to become a tour guide in his early twenties when a tour agent invited him to join his business. After our visit, Wolf and Patty climb 329 steps to a temple on Mt. Phousy for a stunning sunset shot and are rewarded with a landscape bathed in a golden afterglow.
View of the daily night market Luang Prabang
Buddhist monks receiving alms from the people early morning before sunrise
A local woman is feeding stray dogs early morning in the UNESCO world heritage town of Luang Prabang in Central Laos.
Day 11—In the morning, our group heads out to see monks receiving their early meal and then to the Royal Palace Museum to see art objects and furnishings belonging to the former kings. At Ban Xang Khong, a small weaving village, we watch women creating intricate designs from silk. At a small family business, some women sit on the floor separating the silk worms while others create elaborate designs on their rustic looms.
The jute paper production (fibers are being spread in water in a sift) in Ban Xang Khong, a village near Luang Prabang.
The jute paper production (fibers are being dried after they were spread in water in a sift) in Ban Xang Khong.
A woman on a loom is weaving silk and cotton fabrics at a workshop in Ban Xang Khong
Back in Luang Prabang, from a viewpoint above the river, we watch young monks swimming and frolicking in the water. How lucky they are to have the Mekong and its tributaries.
The Chariot Hall or Royal Funerary Chariot Hall at the Wat Xieng Thong built by King Setthathirath in 1559 in Luang Prabang in Central Laos.
The Chariot Hall or Royal Funerary Chariot Hall at the Wat Xieng Thong contains King Sisavang Vongs gilded, carved wooden funeral carriage, decorated with large Naga snakes at the front.
Some of the exterior walls of the buildings at the Wat Xieng Thong contain colorful mosaics.
Visiting the picturesque Wat Xieng Thong in the afternoon, we run into a Chinese film crew shooting for a movie in the main temple– a love story about a Chinese and Laotian couple. Before we need to leave so it can film, we wander through the complex. A small temple houses a reclining Buddha; outside glass mosaics, including brilliant peacocks beneath a delicate tree, adorn the walls. A gilded wagon used for a king’s funeral and housed in one of the pavilions, recalls the grandeur of the country’s former monarchs.
If you are interested in a future photo tour to Myanmar, please email [email protected] and check the website at: https://phototours.us/