It's true. They say Lao Buddhas have the happiest look about them. They smile more than any other nation's Buddhas. It seems to be a part of the value system; people are taught that calmness and a relaxed state is the best way to deal with whatever life throws at you. "Bo pen nyang" (assorted spellings) is a very handy phrase - it means "never mind", "no worries!" or Hakuna Matata.
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| Mike, Marita, myself and Jules, Tuk-tuk ready! |
Haw Pha Kaew to the left. Khmer and Buddhist images
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| Gold leaf is everywhere. This is a grave marker - most wats have a place for
special patrons' burials
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Karl Marx's memo negating religion somehow never filtered down to the people in Laos. I think they just nodded, and then went about continuing everyday life. The pre-Buddhist animist beliefs are evident everywhere. "Kwan" are the spirits that inhabit our body. There are at least 32 of them, maybe more, for all parts. They give life and energy to us, and if they leave during times of change or stress, you are no longer really complete. So the Baci ceremony helps. This is called Soo Kwan, a calling back of the spirits, to help us on our journey. We had two of these ceremonies, presided over by local shaman, and the strings connect the shaman, the offerings, and all of us together during prayers. We then tied the strings around each other's wrists, with special blessings.
Here is a Buddhist monk, and it looks like he is incorporating the string connection into the Buddhist prayers - these two belief systems blend easily.
How practical!
Even the demons are smiling. They are probably guardian figures, good guys, actually, but I'm not sure.
And now, we continue on to the Vertical Runway. Once upon a time, legend has it, the Americans gave the Lao Government money to build a better runway at Wattay Airport - and the concrete ended up diverted. Patuxai is the result.
Here is Patuxai, "Victory Gate". And yes, it does look a bit like the Arc de Triomphe, which makes sense, since the French had an awful lot of influence here during the colonial days. Great baguettes in these parts, too.
The fountain park and plantings are very much nicer than before, and I'd never been up inside. Absolutely gorgeous, and cool - and the higher levels up the narrow spiral staircase had nice things for sale in a peaceful setting.
Every grotto on the way up the stairs
had something beautiful - syncretism enhances the art - Hindu gods, nagas,
Buddhas, apsaras, all living together in happiness.
Next, we head to That Luang. This place brings back a lot of memories. There used to be a horse race track there, and we would go and watch. These were really ponies, small and lightweight. One day, we watched a race finish - and the chestnut in the lead had something really wrong; its front hooves were flapping as it ran, both fetlocks broken. As I remember it, the monks from the temple there got the horse moved to the temple grounds, where there were big shade trees and grass. They put a sling around the horse's middle, and using the tree, gave the horse support so it could be upright without weight on its front feet. Then over the next few days, they fed and watered the horse, until it died, its spirit deciding when to leave.
As uncomfortable as this sounds (so much easier for us to put an animal down, right?), I was forever impressed with the way the monks walked the walk of their belief. They are not going to kill, period.
So, when we got to That Luang, and I could not figure out where things were, it was really disconcerting. Lloyd helped me out - explaining that the track is now a big parking lot, and that the old temple was around the corner - I actually ran to see it, before our tour had to leave.
To the right is King Setthathirat, who had this compound built when he moved the Lao capital to Vientiane from Luang Prabang mid-16th century. Before that, this was a Khmer site, ca 1100's.
The Siamese destroyed it all in 1827, but the French rebuilt That Luang in the 1930's from old explorers' drawings.
When I lived here, the gold and gardens were nothing like this.
Left is the stupa, with Buddhist relics. Now covered in gold leaf!
And below, one of the many tour buses - Korean and Chinese tourists, mainly.
And spirit houses everywhere. Even at That Luang, they don't need to be
fancy.
Tomorrow, our old American School of Vientiane, and the K6 neighborhood outside of town. Now essentially the Pentagon and White House of the Lao government.
The serious question of the day - did they really fill in the swimming pool at the school??
Here is a Buddhist monk, and it looks like he is incorporating the string connection into the Buddhist prayers - these two belief systems blend easily.How practical!
Even the demons are smiling. They are probably guardian figures, good guys, actually, but I'm not sure.
And now, we continue on to the Vertical Runway. Once upon a time, legend has it, the Americans gave the Lao Government money to build a better runway at Wattay Airport - and the concrete ended up diverted. Patuxai is the result.
Here is Patuxai, "Victory Gate". And yes, it does look a bit like the Arc de Triomphe, which makes sense, since the French had an awful lot of influence here during the colonial days. Great baguettes in these parts, too.
The fountain park and plantings are very much nicer than before, and I'd never been up inside. Absolutely gorgeous, and cool - and the higher levels up the narrow spiral staircase had nice things for sale in a peaceful setting.
 |
| View from the top |
Every grotto on the way up the stairshad something beautiful - syncretism enhances the art - Hindu gods, nagas,
Buddhas, apsaras, all living together in happiness.
Next, we head to That Luang. This place brings back a lot of memories. There used to be a horse race track there, and we would go and watch. These were really ponies, small and lightweight. One day, we watched a race finish - and the chestnut in the lead had something really wrong; its front hooves were flapping as it ran, both fetlocks broken. As I remember it, the monks from the temple there got the horse moved to the temple grounds, where there were big shade trees and grass. They put a sling around the horse's middle, and using the tree, gave the horse support so it could be upright without weight on its front feet. Then over the next few days, they fed and watered the horse, until it died, its spirit deciding when to leave.
As uncomfortable as this sounds (so much easier for us to put an animal down, right?), I was forever impressed with the way the monks walked the walk of their belief. They are not going to kill, period.
So, when we got to That Luang, and I could not figure out where things were, it was really disconcerting. Lloyd helped me out - explaining that the track is now a big parking lot, and that the old temple was around the corner - I actually ran to see it, before our tour had to leave. 
To the right is King Setthathirat, who had this compound built when he moved the Lao capital to Vientiane from Luang Prabang mid-16th century. Before that, this was a Khmer site, ca 1100's.
The Siamese destroyed it all in 1827, but the French rebuilt That Luang in the 1930's from old explorers' drawings.
When I lived here, the gold and gardens were nothing like this.
Left is the stupa, with Buddhist relics. Now covered in gold leaf!
And below, one of the many tour buses - Korean and Chinese tourists, mainly.
And spirit houses everywhere. Even at That Luang, they don't need to be
fancy.
Tomorrow, our old American School of Vientiane, and the K6 neighborhood outside of town. Now essentially the Pentagon and White House of the Lao government.
The serious question of the day - did they really fill in the swimming pool at the school??
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