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 Laos bicycle tour 2001 download/offline version. Copyright 2002: René Maassen rene_maassen@zonnet.nl
01). From November 7th till November 19th 2001 we bicycle through Laos, on our way to Singapore.
02). We will ride through the North West of this 7th poorest country on the globe. This is the so called 'Golden Triangle'. The reputation in 'the west' of this region is one of poverty, missery and (drugs)crime. But alle people here are....teriible friendly , nice and cheerful! A few prejudices are shattered again.
03). These people are all Boeddhist. Everywhere are monasteries and temples. The atmosphere is peaceful all over.
04). These temples are all old en well maintained. The villagers do it themselves. Boedhhda teachings take a central place in all people's lives here.
05). Most people here live in 'nature houses'. Next to most houses is a storage house like this.
06). All houses are build on pillars,
because it rains heavy in the rain season. Now it's
November and it's dry. Under most houses is a weaving
machine. Many woman (grandma's and children) are weaving.
All are cheerful and friendly. 07). Nature homes along the road, that is quite good here.
08). View on the Mekong river from the road, that is not so good here. On the other side (in the cliff) are the 'Ban Pak Ou' caves, that we want to visit the next day. We sleep in the village on this side. There is no lodge. Folks from the village store clear two beds for us.
09). On November 12th we visit the caves on the other side. A local fisherman brings us there. There are thousends of Boeddha images in the cave, to protect the boats on the river.
10). It is pretty. Thanks to our smart move to sleep in this village we arive early and are alone. When we leave at 10:00 the crowds come on their expensive rented large boats.
11). The village wat (=temple) from Ban Pak Ou. Old, pretty and quiet. No tourists. These are the best wats.
12). Entrance door to the wat [wat=temple].
13). The Boeddha image.
14). We bicycle over the mud road along the Mekong river to Louang Prabang. This is the local roof tiles factory. By hand.
15). Louang Prabang as a whole stands on the World herritage list of UNESCO. Therfore the whole western tourist circus is here again. It is pretty, but too bussy. We enjoy all the other non-UNESCO places more.
16). One of the uncountable Boeddha images.
17). Most young man are monk at least a few weeks in their lives.
18). November 14th 2001. After some bicycle repair, we make a test ride through the fields.
19). During this ride we find another village wat. All wats have many wall paintings. Often about heaven and hell (Boeddists have this concept too). Here is a juicey detail from hell.
20). The 'Phou-sie' waterfalls outside Louang Prabang. We walk throug the waterfall: cold but spectaculair!
21). With the boat upstream the Mekong (there's no road here). It's 2 days sailing to the border town with Thailand: Houey Xai. The bicycles are on the roof.
22). The sailing goes nice and slow through pristine jungle. We see 2 elephants and I play chess.
23). Grandma takes a nap.
24). This is the village wat in Houey Xai. Across the Mekong river lays Thailand. We where only 12 days in Laos, but what a experiance! Laos shows a few truths nicely: Material prosperity and daily hapines are not the same. The happiest people we often meet in the poorest country's! Boeddhism is everywhere and that produces peacefull people. This is the most bombed country on the planet (by withe's: no joke), yet these people can recieve every withe man as a new man without prejudices. We can all learn from this. Thank you Laos.
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