Andy's Asia - Life in the Village

After the excellent banana pancakes, our guide, Vue Lee arrived with the minibus and driver. As we began the drive, the day was cool and hazy. It looked to be a good day for photos and wandering. We drove for a good bit, maybe an hour before we passed through the first village, Kokran, a Lao village. We walked around briefly. This is one of the busy seasons for growing rice. It is harvest time, so most of the villages we were to see were quiet. Only the children too small to work, the women who were needed to watch them and those too old to work remained for the most part in the villages. The first few villages were along a medium size river and the surrounding areas were covered in dense foliage. Have I asked just what makes a jungle before? According to the Merriam-Webster online dictionary, a jungle is: 1 a : an impenetrable thicket or tangled mass of tropical vegetation b : a tract overgrown with thickets or masses of vegetation So I guess I can say these villages were m

Four women of different ages in the Lao village of Kokran. 

Hiding behind her mother. 

She's up to something! 

She had a big smile for her mother who was watching. Her friend was too shy to come out from behind the post. 

This young woman had a huge smile for me. 

This old hog is just about ready to be somebody's dinner. 

A typical house in the Lao village of Kokran. 

This girl is grinding the rice next to her house. You can see her in the previous picture. 

Everybody loves to show off for the camera. 

This mother was taking care of her children and another woman's children. The other woman was off working in the rice paddy. 

This girl wasn't too shy. 

Two young girls in the village. They weren't at school for some reason. 

This young mother was about to give her baby a bath. 

This man was doing some work at the local temple. He lost his arm during the Vietnam war in an American bombing attack. 

This guy was hanging around. What a HUGE watch!!! 

I'm here in Thailand on a type "O" multiple entry visa which essentially means I get to stay here for one year but I have to leave once every 90 days. With the end of the 90 day period rapidly approaching, it was lucky there was a long school holiday. I had six days free! Last year I'd been to Luang Prabang and had a fantastic time. If you look back at the December archives for this blog, you can read about it. With the memory of that trip in mind, I sat down to arrange a return visit. I was able to get a cheap and convenient round trip ticket on Bangkok Airways and found a place to stay right on the Mekong. Luang Prabang is in the northern part of Laos nestled in a mountainous region. The approach on our prop plane afforded me a great view of the Mekong and 'suburban' Luang Prabang. Upon arrival on Thursday, I took a cheap tuk-tuk to the Sala Prabang hotel. As advertised it was just across the street from the muddy Mekong. I knew I didn't have a Mekong vi

I enjoyed this view of the Mekong at breakfast on the first two days of my visit.

In this picture of a boat on the Mekong, you can see better how brown it is at this time of the year. The rainy season is just concluding and all the rivers are quite muddy.

Two small children sleeping at the night market where their parents are selling some beautiful bedspreads and pillow cases. 

The beautifully carved door of one of the local temples. 

Detail from the temple door. 

A large seated buddha. 

All the temples were decked out with all kinds of fancy stuff. 

I just missed the Ock Pan Sa and Lai Heua Fai festivals in October. This is a float leftover from the celebrations.  

A temple in Luang Prabang. There are lots of decorations left over from the big celebration. 

Three monks were sitting at a table, this is the first one.