The plan for yesterday, Tuesday, was to visit some temples East, North, and West of the city. Started out well enough, as there\u2019s one I\u2019d not yet seen located straight across from the guest house.<\/p>\n
The next was not too far down the road. But the third, Wat Phon Phao, was a bit of a hike. This temple\u2019s tree-shrouded stupa is one of the highlights of the vista from the top of Mt. Phousi \u2013 have been eager to visit since having spied its glory from on high.<\/p>\n
So, I battened down the hatches for a walk on a heavier-trafficked inter-city road. No sooner than, I missed two excellent photo opportunities. The first was this girl\u2026<\/p>\n
\u2026doing a hop-skip across the street with her little pink umbrella in tow. She was getting air, man \u2013 I think she\u2019ll be dunking a basketball in about two years\u2019 time.<\/p>\n The second was these crazy moto mofos and their pane of glass.<\/p>\n Still looks okay from this angle; but from the front was much better, as the glass-holder had an absolutely hi-larious look on his face. You can see it\u2019s not a very pedestrian-friendly thoroughfare.<\/p>\n The Wat is located right near to the New Bridge. Somehow I missed the turn-off, and ended up at<\/em> the new bridge. I could see the Wat towering on its hill above me, but was hoping I wouldn\u2019t have to walk all the way back to the driveway to get up there.<\/p>\n So I took this one dirt road that I hoped would lead me up to a back entrance, and soon came to an eco-lodge, whose owner happened to be out lounging around with a guest. She explained me of a shortcut to get up to the temple. Following her directions, the trail was much less-well maintained than I\u2019d expected \u2013 even had to do a little bit of bushwhacking. I was being extra careful not to annoy any snakes that might be in the area \u2013 me in my bare feet and all.<\/p>\n Got in through to a clearing, where a family had a little dwelling. It felt a little awkward, the trail leading right through the family\u2019s \u201cyard\u201d, but nobody seemed to mind. Then it was back into some jungle, for a hearty up-slope, and then a pain-in-the-ass muck through a bunch of downed coconut fronds. Just as I was muttering to myself that this temple had better god damned be worth it, I received my first glimpse, and knew instantly that it\u2019d be all good in the ‘hood.<\/p>\n But, the temple was closed for lunch. With an hour-and-a-half to kill, I set out to explore the temple grounds \u2013 whose were far bigger than any other temple I\u2019ve visited. I guess it\u2019s a major centre of the so-called \u201cVipassana<\/a>\u201d school of Buddhism \u2013 to do with the means of meditation, I guess.<\/p>\n Anyhow, the grounds are very beautiful, set up on the hill, surrounded by woods and jungle. Even gots a public shitter \u2013 which is de rigueur in Thai temples, but basically unheard of here in Laos\u2019. As at Phousi, cicadas rule the soundscape, and there are so many lovely trees around-abouts that it\u2019s never difficult to find some shade in which to hide.<\/p>\n Was checking out this cool set-up\u2026<\/p>\n \u2026and was joined for conversation by a novice name of \u201cSampaeng\u201d.<\/p>\n I told him that there\u2019s a \u201cSampaeng Market\u201d in Bangkok, but he didn\u2019t really seem to give a shit about that. Nice guy, fairly thick accent.<\/p>\n He asked me what kind of food I liked here, and I named off a bunch of the fruits I\u2019ve been eating. \u201cNo, not fruit<\/em>,’\u201d he protested, \u201cFood!\u201d I tried explaining him that I didn\u2019t eat meat, nor fish, nor fowl, nor rice, nor noodles \u2013 only fruit and veggies. I just don\u2019t think he was ever able to accept such a ridiculous notion, however.<\/p>\n When a gap in the conversation arrived, I asked if he\u2019d been painting (you\u2019ll notice the paint on his shoulder and chest)? He didn\u2019t know what in Hell I was talking about, so I pointed to the blotches. He was completely shocked, and had no idea from whence they\u2019d come. Then, he politely ended the conversation and ran off! I guess showing one\u2019s face in public with a paint-splotched body is a major no-no.<\/p>\n Went to visit the auxiliary temple, which was also closed; but whose outside is almost<\/em> as beautiful as the main temple\u2019s.<\/p>\n I set myself to photographing the temple\u2019s many murals \u2013 you can see some of them there \u2013 and was soon joined in another conversation, this time by a civilian. He asked me where I was from, and I told him, then returned the question. He said he was from Laos, and I tried to get from him which province in Laos; but his English wasn\u2019t so good, and I was unable to find out.<\/p>\n He offered to let me listen to his mp3-playing device; which I was quite glad to do — always want to know just what it is the kids are listening to these days. Turns out this<\/em> kid was listening to, as nearly as I could determine, the audio track from a porno movie. In which language, I know not \u2013 possibly Thai or Lao. I silently returned to him his ear-buds, and went back to the picture-taking.<\/p>\n He left, returning about five or ten minutes later. Noting my still-active camera, he whipped out his johnson, and requested me to take a picture of it! I mean\u2026I guess I could have<\/em> done \u2013 I can\u2019t deny that his was a fairly good-sized specimen. But right there on the steps of the auxiliary temple?? I respectfully declined, and he went back to his listening.<\/p>\n After making the grounds\u2019 rounds, I had about fifteen minutes to chill out and enjoy the view. Finally, they let us in, and\u2026it was much more understated than I\u2019d expected.<\/p>\n But the airiness and the open windows gave it an incredibly peaceful feeling.<\/p>\n The murals cover the walls in matching pairs. The top set, I believe, is a numbered catalogue of the glories awaiting the devout. The bottom, meanwhile, is entirely filled up with more shocking scenes of violence: impalements, sawings-of in-half, cleavings of skulls, the pulling out of nekkid ladies\u2019 tongues with calipers, and so on. Many of the victims are man\/beast half-breeds.<\/p>\n The implication, of course, is all too obvious. And this is precisely what I detest most about organised religion: the preying on of people\u2019s fears of hellfire and damnation for power over them (and let\u2019s not forget money from them) here on Earth. But I, personally, love all the hellfire imagery; and the artists\u2019 abilities \u2013 and their imaginations! \u2013 are the tops.<\/p>\n It\u2019s kind of a quandary: without all the fucked-up religions, we\u2019d have missed out on so much wonderful architecture and so many wonderful artworks \u2013 and yet, there\u2019d have been so much less pain and suffering in this world. The one is clearly not worth the other\u2026but it\u2019s too bad we couldn\u2019t have the artworks without all the bullshit.<\/p>\n Anyways, continuing on around the perimeter, and, what\u2019s this?, a stairwell? Wasn\u2019t for-sure it was a public<\/em> stairwell, as I\u2019d not yet been to a temple with a second floor. But I trod on up, and\u2026the second floor was a delight to behold.<\/p>\n The many open windows \u2013 and two balconies \u2013 afforded a great 360-degree view of the environs.<\/p>\n The space itself featured many more beautifully depicted murals, as well as objets d\u2019art (vases, carvings, antiques, and cetera), with a more modest Buddha set-up than even the first floor\u2019s.<\/p>\n Also, a wooden staircase up to a third<\/em> floor. Wow! On up we go, the third floor\u2019s rather small interior\u2019s murals are all stupae from (I\u2019m guessing) different parts of the world. You can see some of them in the background here.<\/p>\n And then, crapping you negative, another<\/em> wooden staircase, up to a fourth<\/em> floor. On the way up, you can stop and check out the little Buddhas lining the third floor\u2019s windowsills.<\/p>\n The fourth floor is a small dome \u2013 getting right up to the tippy-top now \u2013 with murals depicting scenes of Buddhist bucolia.<\/p>\n You see it there, don\u2019t you? The ladder\/stair to the fifth<\/em> floor! All up in<\/em> that motherfucking stupa, I\u2019m talkin\u2019 about!<\/p>\n The top\u2019s murals are portraits of what I\u2019ve come to realise are Luang Prabang Buddhism\u2019s five most important animals \u2013 the chicken, the buffalo, the turtle, the naga, and the griffin \u2013 as well as tastefully rendered capturings of The Buddha in repose.<\/p>\n And so there it is: my favourite place in the city. If these<\/em> are the digs, I think I could go in for a life of monasticism.<\/p>\n But for this day, it was onward, across the New Bridge, to the North side of the city (had not yet been). Where, visiting a small market, I came to a realisation.<\/p>\n This blog would perhaps be better titled \u201cThe Barefoot Farang\u201d. For, nobody<\/em> fails to notice them.<\/p>\n I said before that that Laotians don\u2019t give me shit for them the way that Thais do. But here in Luang Prabang, many are, without being vocal about it, fairly openly hostile. These (usually smartly dressed women) make a big show of looking down at me feet, then back up at me and not <\/em>returning my smiles. Most of the rest just think I\u2019m a nutter.<\/p>\n But the old geezers love it. When I motion to them that I\u2019ve shoes in my backpack, it\u2019s all they can do to keep from crapping in their pants, such is the gaiety of their laughter. At the market, a young shop-owner even pointed out to me a stall at which to buy flip-flops.<\/p>\n So long as they don\u2019t deport me, I\u2019m okay with it. I\u2019ve noticed that the soles of my feet have adjusted to the egg-fry pavements much better that my scalp has adjusted to the hot glaring sun. Funny thing is, in Bangkok it was just the opposite: I don\u2019t think I once put on a hat, but I frequently had to dance to and fro\u2019 in waiting for the light to change.<\/p>\n North of the city is a more laid-back, village-like atmosphere. Then, as one works one\u2019s way west, and then north as the Nam Khan makes its confluence with the Mekong, it becomes literally<\/em> a number of villages, dirt roads and all.<\/p>\n On the map, there\u2019re four or five temples along this route. The first featured a leaning stupa.<\/p>\n One may in the back of one\u2019s mind be wondering, by the way, \u201cWhy taking so many pictures of the Naga? Can\u2019t it be given a rest?\u201d<\/p>\n But, here we go, north of the city, not only first Naga with a wafer-thin tongue; but also first Naga with a rice offering on<\/em> its tongue.<\/p>\n Another first: Naga under construction.<\/p>\n This temple appeared to be on the receiving end of a general makeover, as it was also, at the time of my visit, getting\u2019 a fresh coat of paint.<\/p>\n Found the first two or three temples in their advertised locations; but apparently either took a wrong turn or the map was wrong \u2013 as I never did find the others. Found, however, a shitload<\/em> that weren\u2019t on the map. Every little village heading north along the Mekong has its own temple. Must\u2019ve passed through eight or ten of them.<\/p>\n At one such, stopped to take a pic of some novices splashing away in the river below\u2026<\/p>\n \u2026and was treated to an impromptu riverside jam session.<\/p>\n \n![\"hopskip\"](\"http:\/\/durianapocalypse.net\/travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/hopskip1.jpg\" "\\"hopskip\\"")
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