Local kids
Painting on the walls depict a traddional buddhist story. I snapped a frame of each picture as the wall and ceilings were covered. Don’t worry I’m not going to upload them all but it would be nice to find some one who knows the story so I could show them and find out the tale.
A bit more history, during the new year in Laos the people bring piles of sand to the temple and pile it in to mounds. Then through the rest of year the mounds get smaller and smaller as it is tracked and washed away to be rebuilt the following new year. I didn’t get what it is to signify but I love all these customs :)
Maude and I manage to get in some temple viewing. They have a similar vibe here as they do in Thailand. Little buddhist history. Fat buddha isn’t the main buddha. He was a disciple of the main buddha, but being a very beautiful man people were distracted by his looks when he would deliver his dharma teachings. One man desired him so much that he turned into a woman. Not wanting his looks to be a distraction anymore he transformed himself in to the fat buddha that you see here.
The days begin to blend together again with all the partying but I motivate to take pictures on day 3 I believe. I crack open my snake juice bottle (which had begun to reak) for a battle picture.
The road gets worse and worse until its not a road at all but more a dirt track. Red dust begins flying everywhere and everyone wraps handkerchiefs around their faces. Silly travelers aren’t prepared so the four of us breathe in the red death with me being amused at the coughing fits I hear. At one point with my eyes watering horribly I just close my eyes and drift in and out of sleep. We arrive at sunset, pick up the only other foreigner on the bus (a swiss girl named Maude) and head down a strip of hostels and with vang vieng being a tourist hot spot there were a lot of them. We settle on one, the guys share one room and Maude and I share another. One weird (and a bit alarming) thing was they wouldn’t let us pay for the rooms up front instead wanting us to leave our passports. I gave my Jamaican one just in case of any funny business. I got it back when I checked out but it for sure made me nervous. The night of course was madness as I check more things off my bucket list. (I’ll have to make a new list by the end of this trip).
