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photographie-irie > Monk Pair with Umbrella, Luang Prabang, Laos      Colorful monks everywhere doing all the things you or I might do, with umbrella. Luang Prabang is an upscale jewel of controlled development managed to preserve and heighten the charm of this splendid old capital city. Surrounded by green mountain peaks where the Khan River joins the Mekong, it is a place of natural beauty, more temples and monks than you can find in any similar land area, and UNESCO World Heritage Site status that preserves hope it will retain it's unique and relaxing charm through the inevitable development that is happening. What they are doing in the way of development now seems to be maintaining that optimistic mantra. Wonderful sights, great food, most excellent fruit shakes, and more monks and umbrellas than you can shake a stick at.
photographie-irie > Hmong Hut, Between Luang Prabang and Vangvieng, Laos      In one motorbike excursion about 120K south of Luang Prabang into wild mountains inhabited mostly by Hmong and other ethnic tribes, I encountered this dugout hut on a short walk atop a mountain peak. It was unoccupied at the time but showed signs of recent use. Perhaps it's a hunting or foraging camp. Were someone there I certainly would have been treated as an alien, but may well have been invited inside to share some token of friendship. Earlier while passing through a Hmong village and stopping for a photograph, I was approached by an American born Hmong from Minnesota visiting relatives in his parents' homeland. We talked while his non-English speaking relatives maintained keen and friendly interest. A little further down the road my motorbike broke down, and after pushing and coasting the bike mega kilometers to the nearest Hmong village where not a word of English was spoken, I was treated like a celebrity of sorts while aided by people running for tools and parts that were jerry-rigged to get me back on the road. Stuck in the middle of nowhere with the sun going down, rain threatening, I was asked to pay less than repair would have cost in distant Luang Prabang.
photographie-irie > Gracious Elderly Monk, Wat Xieng Mene, Laos Across the Mekong River from Luang Prabang by unscheduled hired boat is a tiny very low key hamlet named Wat Xieng Mene, with its namesake wat and three others nearby a short walk further up the hillside. There are nice views of Luang Prabang looking back across the Mekong, especially as you scale the hills above the shore. And the hiking in the hills and among the derelict wats can be prime, as even motorbikes dissappear on this side of the river. Wandering about in late afternoon, we encountered this old monk, who upon seeing our potential interest opened a locked wat for us to enter and explore. He seemed to expect nothing beyond our enjoyment in being there, which we quietly offered.
photographie-irie > Bus Terminal, Luang Prabang, Laos This picture presents my major mode of transport around SE Asia - the bus. All manner of tourist vans and buses and trucks are available at premium prices for wary visitors, but local transport is a much cheaper and intimate way to experience the real place you came to see. Sometimes tight, with long winding roads, but always an adventure. For extra passengers little plastic chairs came out to set in the aisle. But while I heard multiple stories of 'lost' items on 'tourist' buses in Thailand, I never experienced anything similar using more local conveyance throughout all of SE Asia. Much less expensive and easy to coordinate once you get the feel for it, and in many cases a much better ride than were one to stick with the tourist facilities and routes, especially in Thailand. In Thailand for instance, public busses I used in the South were cheaper than tourist equivalents, with all the comforts of air conditioning, reclining seats, an under-deck luggage compartment and movies playing, in addition to that peace of mind you get from an elaborate Buddhist shrine up front blocking part of the driver's view. What will happen will happen. The bus shown in this image is probably the most minimal is terms of all the rides taken in my long journey. All you need is time and attitude.
photographie-irie > Thoughtful Lao Boy, Ban Sang Hae, Laos      Among the children I engaged while my friends were shopping was this boy. It seemed to me that serious street sense and lots of experience with funny, rich tourists had made him proficient at checking out all the angles, as he thoughtfully demonstrates here. Kids get very savvy very quickly in these settings. No rush, this is Laos. Hmmmm.
photographie-irie > Cute Lao Girl, Ban Sang Hae, Laos While engaged in serious sampling of fresh lao lao and choosing among the various packaging options, some people I was with were unavoidably distracted by other purchase opportunities among beautiful textiles, handicrafts and jewelry. The little town had been agricutural in nature, but found the tourist business much more rewarding when they specialized into lao lao production. Following that, with visitors coming through in predictable fashion to sample the local spirit, villagers predictably branched out into other wares to sell rich foreigners. And all the while playful kids run around being playful kids, engaging the visitors with conversation and striking poses.
photographie-irie > Pak Ou Grottoes Kids , Mekong River, Laos           About two hours north of Luang Prabang by covered longtail boat on the Mekong River, Pak Ou Grottoes is a series of sacred Buddhist caves filled with Buddhas and statues at the confluence of the Nam Ou River. A short climb from the river brings you to various levels of caves, at one of which where these young girls were selling mangos. The fruit were small and sour, but the girls were sweet and friendly so made the sale. Between here and Luang Prabang is another fine stop on the other side of the Mekong along the way. Ban Sang Hae is a small village dedicated to the production of a local rice whiskey called lao lao. This local specialty firewater is fairly potent stuff, and comes in a variety of handsome bottles. Along the river tubing trip in Vangvieng, competing riverside bars will offer free shots of this fine stuff in trying to attract floaters to their establishment to swing or zip line into the river between Beer Laos. Definitely something to bring home, of course for the handsome local packaging.
photographie-irie > Kuangsi Falls, Luang Prabang, Laos      This is the lower reaches of a series of extensive waterfalls and cascading pools at Kuangsi Falls south of Luang Prabang. In these larger pools local kids and adults have their natural amusement park, swimming, diving, swinging and playing in their beautiful backyard. Visitors and locals play together here as well, although most visitors tend to ascend on either side to the taller waterfalls up above, to reach even more beautiful isolated pools looking down on the valley, some difficult to reach but accessible with careful footing and an eye toward how others did it and then managed to get down. Colorful monks, travelers and locals alike share all the wonders of this great place. One of the nicest such places I have been.
photographie-irie > Hmong Homes, North of Luang Prabang, Laos      The Hmong and other ethnic minorities in Laos tend to live in rural mountain areas, where they would prefer some autonomy from prior and current communist government repression. After the Hmong fought the US government's war in Laos during the Vietnam years, the succeeding Pathet Lao communist government exhibited payback with continuing repression and reported abuses focused upon the Hmong. Many escaped Laos to pick up as refugees in Thailand, the US and elsewhere, but a signifcant population still lives in remote and mountainous settings such as this. As in Vietnam and other partf of Southeast Asia where they are found, the Hmong tend to live off the land in animist harmony with it.
Monk Pair with Umbrella, Luang Prabang, Laos     

Colorful monks everywhere doing all the things you or I might do, with umbrella. Luang Prabang is an upscale jewel of controlled development managed to preserve and heighten the charm of this splendid old capital city. Surrounded by green mountain peaks where the Khan River joins the Mekong, it is a place of natural beauty, more temples and monks than you can find in any similar land area, and UNESCO World Heritage Site status that preserves hope it will retain it's unique and relaxing charm through the inevitable development that is happening. What they are doing in the way of development now seems to be maintaining that optimistic mantra. Wonderful sights, great food, most excellent fruit shakes, and more monks and umbrellas than you can shake a stick at.
photographie-irie > Monk Pair with Umbrella, Luang Prabang, Laos      Colorful monks everywhere doing all the things you or I might do, with umbrella. Luang Prabang is an upscale jewel of controlled development managed to preserve and heighten the charm of this splendid old capital city. Surrounded by green mountain peaks where the Khan River joins the Mekong, it is a place of natural beauty, more temples and monks than you can find in any similar land area, and UNESCO World Heritage Site status that preserves hope it will retain it's unique and relaxing charm through the inevitable development that is happening. What they are doing in the way of development now seems to be maintaining that optimistic mantra. Wonderful sights, great food, most excellent fruit shakes, and more monks and umbrellas than you can shake a stick at.
Monk Pair with Umbrella, Luang Prabang, Laos     

Colorful monks everywhere doing all the things you or I might do, with umbrella. Luang Prabang is an upscale jewel of controlled development managed to preserve and heighten the charm of this splendid old capital city. Surrounded by green mountain peaks where the Khan River joins the Mekong, it is a place of natural beauty, more temples and monks than you can find in any similar land area, and UNESCO World Heritage Site status that preserves hope it will retain it's unique and relaxing charm through the inevitable development that is happening. What they are doing in the way of development now seems to be maintaining that optimistic mantra. Wonderful sights, great food, most excellent fruit shakes, and more monks and umbrellas than you can shake a stick at.
See photo in original gallery.
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