Pak Ou Caves and the Villages of the countryside

I set an alarm this morning on my phone so I could get up and see the monks taking alms. The reason I had to use the alarm on my phone was because none of the four hotels we stayed at, in three different countries, had any kind of a clock in the room, which seemed normal for Southeast Asia. The monks would come down the street in front of our hotel so I did not have to go far. At first the streets were empty and silent, then one by one, local residents would come out and set up, some still trying to wake up.




As more residents came out we started to see a few specks of orange.


And then the flood gates opened and they seemed to come in waves, a group here, a group there.


Each day they pick a monastery and all the other monasteries come to that one to gather together and start the parade.




It felt a little weird and I think it was because it was the low season, but I was the only person out there that was not either a monk or a resident handing out rice. So the camera felt very out of place and I did my best to keep a distance and not be a distraction.




In a way once you have seen one monk you have seen them all, and then I saw this little guy and I felt like Riley did on his first monk encounter. Awe… Can we take a monk home with us.




They kept coming and coming and I started to wonder if they weren’t just circling the block in order to come back for seconds.










Kim and Riley slept in today but would catch the monks tomorrow as this was a daily showing. I decided to give Riley some advice on monk viewing so he was fully prepared for tomorrow. First, I told him not to look directly in to their eyes and you’ll be surprised how close you can get without spooking them. And Second, while they seem docile and at peace the heat can get to them, and sometimes they burst in to flames. So bring your iPad along to try and capture it on video.








Apparently monks have pet dogs and they come with them for a morning walk.






This lady would then bat cleanup and collect what the monks left behind. Much like the kids who trick-or-treat later in the evening get more candy as people are trying to shut things down, except she did not even have one of those little orange robes.


My thoughts quickly turned to bacon and sausage (yay!), so I hurried back to see if Kim and Riley were ready for breakfast. We would be visiting a weaving village, whisky village (yay!), and then heading up to the Pak Ou Caves, which contain thousands of Buddha(s). We were going to catch a tuk tuk, but for some reason this one did not feel right. I kind of knew that in general Asia(s) were smaller then Caucasian(s) but I was not expecting this. Crazy thing is that later on that day I swear I saw TLC (the ghetto U.S. TV network) signing this guy to an 11 episode deal.


Our first stop was the paper and weaving village.


A tense game of checkers was going on in the background.


Riley tried his hand (or I should say hands) at making paper by spreading out the pulp of the mulberry bush, and no we did not have to all go around the mulberry bush first, just Riley.


Once spread out, leaves and flowers can be added for decoration.


We moved on to find the source of the silk they used in creating yarn.


They would use various things such as bark, flowers, bugs, and grass in order to get the various colors.


Boiling the yarn and the selected color ingredients together in order to permanently dye the yarn.


Once complete it will take a full day in order to setup the loom.




We had plenty of scarf(s) but I was in the market for a new pair of underwear so I took a stroll through their shop and found nothing acceptable. So we moved on to the whisky village.




We walked through the village in search of the master distiller.






This monk was in charge of the dinner bell.


We then found our distiller and his rig producing a batch as we speak. Looks cool, can we try? The rules are quite relaxed here and there is no food and drug administration to ensure a consistent and clean product. Which is fine because this firewater would kill any bacteria that may have found its way in to the batch. In fact this would do a better job sanitizing then the stuff the doctor puts on you before you get a shot.


And now it was time for Riley’s first shot.


Taking the shot like it’s his second year in college.


The post shot reaction. Now, how many of us can say we took our first shot of whisky at the age of 12 in a remote village in the northern jungle of Laos that was distilled in less than sanitary conditions. Now that’s something for the "What I did this summer” paper he would have to write when school starts up again.


For extra flavor they like to add things like snake and bear feet.




We picked up a small bottle for Grandpa that would survive a flight from Luang Prabang to Bangkok, another flight from Bangkok to Krabi, a ferry from Railay Beach to Koh Phi Phi and back again, then three more flights, Krabi to Bangkok, Bangkok to Seoul, and finally Seoul to Seattle. All foreign airlines who handled our luggage with care and respect. It took a U.S. airline to carelessly toss our luggage around and break the bottle on a flight from Seattle to Chicago, thanks United Airlines, keep up the great work. At least it was in a zip lock bag so Dad could try a little and get the idea.


When you have to go in the villages, you have to use the village facilities. As long as it is number one it’s no big deal for guys, however this would be one of two bathroom adventures for Kim, and she always carried toilet paper with her after this.


It did not take too much guessing to know this village produced whisky. It was not yet lunch time and many of its residents were already down for the count.


We then headed to the village dock where we would catch a boat to the caves.


I remember doing something similar to this when I was that age, pretending it was some kind of crazy roller coaster. No video games here, in fact the iPad had yet to make an appearance and it was cool to see Riley really taking it all in, or maybe he was just buzzed from the homemade whisky.




We continued to work our way though the village towards the dock.






It was hot and Riley wanted some ice cream from the local convenience store, but we played it extra safe now that he had a little whisky on board, and passed.


We finally got to the "dock” and boarded our "boat”.


On our way to the caves.


It seems Laos was one of the poorer countries in the region, their temples were not as grand as others, their looms were quite primitive even to their repressed neighbors in Myanmar, and their Buddha cave was less impressive then others I have seen in the area. But you work with what you have and the spirit of the Lao people came through strong and proud, and your early comparisons fade away opening up to a better understanding of where you currently are and what you are seeing, what you are experiencing.


I saw this monk praying while our guide climbed up the stairs and was struck with inspiration. Once the monk finished I took off my shoes, kneeled before the Buddha shrine, and began to pray. "No long stories from our guide”, "No long stories from our guide”. It didn’t work, probably because I was not wearing one of those little orange robes.


Anyway, 20 minutes later, after some story that I have zero recollection of, we got to explore the small cave.


We had lunch and then headed back to town. We walked around town and found a local soccer/football game going on. It always amazes me how big soccer is in the world and how we, the U.S. people, are not a part of this world community. Many people asked us if we were watching the world cup and many places would stay open until 3am so that people could watch.


We then walked through the night market. Riley found some swords he wanted but there was no chance of us getting them back through customs so we made no purchases.


We got some luck today as the clouds cleared and we would get to see a sunset. So we started up Mount Phousi to take in the views.














You may think that once the sun goes down so does the temperature, this is incorrect and really the only difference is that once the sun goes down the mosquitos come out. But they can easily be ignored as you are captivated in this amazing landscape, and we didn’t even have to worry about hearing a long drawn out story about nothing.








Yeah, it was great to be in Laos, and in 12 short hours I would be again enjoying bacon and Luang Prabang sausage for breakfast.










We almost stopped for the late night buffet.


But that would have been too much food so we instead stopped for a late night appetizer before walking back to the hotel. And this was when we stumbled upon a great little establishment called Tangor, which had killer dried and cured sausage and nice outdoor seating. It was so good that we would return tomorrow for more. There is something about Laos and sausage, they have totally figured this one out.


Wow, another amazing day filled with new adventures and new stories. I can’t wait to get to bed so I can get up for bacon and sausage for breakfast tomorrow. Oh and add more stories and adventures to this trip. I only wish the maid would stop leaving these flowers all over the place each night.

VIDEO: Laos Day 2