It has been one year ago today I was in Laos, actually my last day in Laos.  I didn’t take many pictures, and our flight was scheduled to leave that afternoon so we had time to kill. The streets of Vientiane were not that busy, but I’m sure Vientiane today, the streets are buzzing in comparison to last year, many are there for the upcoming SEA Games hosts by Laos.  This is a SEA Games Lao Pride opening theme.

Only a few days from now, the opening ceremony is December 9th, 2009 and the closing ceremony is December 18th, 2009.

And these are the few photos that I took one year ago today.

Look closely and you’ll see a reflection of me and my dad, it’s hard to take a picture of yourself sometimes.

I’m blogging this post in the US time, the date on my pictures were dated December 3rd and 4th, and my last day in Laos was December 4, 2008 2009.

• Paya Soke

When you’re in the presence of a sacred place, I think you could feel it, I know it happened to me. I’ve been in many holy places before, but the one place that has such a strong force to me was the road to Vang Vieng and heading towards Luang Prabang Laos, and might be that it was the guilt that I feel, we didn’t stop to pay our respect.

This place was nothing fancy, it was a place that lies behind the curvy road, and as we drove up the mountain road of Hwy 13, I saw several cars parked along side of the road, and a group of people paying their respect to a spirit house. The smokes from their incense sticks were forming clouds above them, I asked my cousin what they were doing. He said it was Sarn Jao Pou (The Shrine of a Sacred Spirit), they’re paying their respect and asking him for a safe journey .

Our vehicle climbed up the road slowly and we passed without stopping since we didn’t have any incense stick with us, I was mesmerized by the image in front of me that I forgot to take some pictures. I silently said my prayers as we passed Sarn Jao Pou. The name of the road made me feel uneasy and might be that I grew up in the Western society where number 13 is considered unlucky, but I didn’t have a chance to ask my cousin if Lao People living in Laos feel the same way.

I’m a Buddhist, and why do I worry so much about Animism you might ask because worshiping Sarn Jao Pou is an Animistic belief. If I were raised in Laos, this would have made perfect sense because Buddhism in Laos is often closely tied to animist beliefs and belief in ancestral spirits. And here I was raised in the US, but the feeling and belief is equally as strong as Laotians living in Laos, and I’m not sure why. I often thought that having six senses is a gift, but to some that actually have it might think differently, more like a curse I would say, and at that moment as we traveled on this mountain road, I was glad that I don’t have six senses, Hwy 13 looks so treacherous and I couldn’t imagine what I would see along the way.

A long introduction to my next post, I found an interesting article written in Thai language titled “Be careful If you asked for a child from a Sacred Place.”

• Bouangeun-Kou Lap Paksan (Paksan Rose)

I received a phone call from my cousin yesterday morning, it was a pleasant surprise, all the way from Paksan, Laos. I mailed my Aunt some pictures and my cousin called to tell me that her mom received the package.  This was the second time that I sent her pictures, the postage costs around $30 and it takes about 2-3 weeks to get there.  This time I sent her a photo album so it’s a bit more heavier than the last time, but I think it’s well worth it since my dad can write the description of the photos.  She asked me when will I visit again?  I wish I could, but it doesn’t look like anytime soon, I do miss Laos already.

When I visited them last year, I was hoping to see their rice paddy.  I read about the flood in Vientiane back in August of last year, but didn’t know if it also flooded Paksan or not.  As you can see the two colors river where Nam Xan and Mekong River meet, my Aunt‘s rice paddy is right next to Nam Xan, the clear water side.

My Aunt leases part of her farm to her neighbor, this section was leased out, and their rice paddy survived the flood.

Sadly my Aunt’s rice paddy was flooded, no rice plant in sight.

When we got there in November, part of the rice paddy was still flooded, at first I thought it was a pond but she said that it was from the flood.  The last flood was the worst flood in 100 years, the Mekong river exceeded its highest recorded level of 12.38 meters in 1966 flood, I recalled my mom told me about it, but that was before my time.

My dad walking through the empty rice paddy, such a devastating sight.

It was a place for her neighbor’s cows to roam freely.

I saw colorful dragonflies, red and green.

As for my Aunt, she lost last year’s rice crops that her family had worked so hard for, but that didn’t deter them from this year planting, I’m sure there has been valuable lessons learned. But some of  her neighboring farmers didn’t do too bad, some were busy harvesting their rice crops when we were there.

• Send Me An Angel by Scorpions

Have you ever wondered why there are so many young novice monks in Laos, especially in Luang Prabang?  Our Buddhist faith in Laos is not as strict as the Myanmar, where it’s their tradition that every Myanmar Buddhist boy average age between 7 and 13 is expected to enter the monastery as a novice for a period of a few weeks to months, it’s considered to be the most important day in the boy’s life.

But in Laos, we don’t have a tradition like that, but yet we see many young novice monks at the local temples.  Back in the olden days, temples were the schools, especially if you’re poor, as there was no formal education system.   This makes sense because the Buddha is a teacher, and monks provide basic lesson in both spiritual and secular subjects, and for some, this might be the only way to get an education, not just in the olden days, but also in today society.

During my visit to Laos and Thailand, after we got stranded at Suvarnabhumi Airport, we went back to Vientiane Laos to catch our flight back home, and we stayed at a hotel that’s not too far from Wat Mixay. I didn’t get to take a picture of the entrance, and this is a borrowed photo from here.

My dad and I passed the temple gate, and saw school children playing in the temple ground and thought that the school must be nearby.  We visited the temple and that’s when I realized that the school is at the temple, kind of surprised me at first because I didn’t expect to see this at all. The children are very happy.

When I was in Ubon Thailand, seeing a daycare at the temple is kind of odd to me also, but makes perfect sense now, this temple is Wat Don Yung.

The monks and novice monks would collect alms every morning, and they’d give some items that they collected to the young children at the daycare, especially juice, milk and snacks.

I thought this was a great idea and I didn’t know before that they have something like this in Thailand.  It’s very much like the daycare in the US, but according to my cousin, they didn’t have to pay for my little cousin to attend, of course in the US, daycare is very expensive and takes precedence over anything else, even your house payment, rent or car payment, and that’s because if you don’t pay, then you can’t bring your child the following week.

A great way to make them smile is to show their picture on the LCD screen afterward, then all I heard was “Take it again…” and a big smile.

The last time I was in Laos, I didn’t get to ride the motorcycle, or even the moped, might be that I didn’t feel comfortable riding since I didn’t have any protective gear. When I was in Paksan, I wanted to visit the internet café and my little cousin was going to take me there on a motorcycle, I didn’t dare go with her since the motorcycle was bigger than her.

Before I went to Laos, I actually had an eye on a Motorcycle shirt that I thought of bringing to Laos with me. It is made by Tuff-N-Lite, and their motorcycle shirt, according to their website is like a road armor, made of Tuff-n-Lite material, which is one of the toughest, lightest cut and abrasion resistant materials known to man. Clothing made with Tuff-n-Lite is as soft as cotton and ounce for ounce 15 times stronger than steel. It’s lightweight, breathable, flexible and washable, and it looks just like the clothing you would normally wear. Unlike products made with aramids like Kevlar® or Twaron®, it won’t lose its strength from getting wet, perspiration, or from the ultraviolet rays of the sun.

I saw this picture at Tuffnlite.blogspot.com, and the shirt actually glows in the dark, people can spot you a mile away, and this is very important in my opinion if you’re out on the dark road. This made me think of the time when we drove back from Boun That Luang, one guy that we passed was riding a moped, and he didn’t even have a tail light on, sort of scary to think what’d happen if we were going real fast.

I think traveling by motorcycle is a great way to see the country side, whether in Laos or anywhere, and it is best to have protective gear because if you go down, you’re protected against the abrasion, and the best thing about their motorcycle shirt is that the air passes right through it.

Check out their website for their Futuristic Body Armor, without the ‘Alien Cyborg’ look.

Below are two great videos by Francis Van Kerckhoven of road trip on a motorcycle.

• USA the West, 19 day’s on a Harley Davidson P A R T 1

Part 1: Los Angeles, Palm Springs, Kingman, Sedona, Grand Canyon, Monument Valley, Capitol Reef, Zion

• USA the West, 19 day’s on a Harley Davidson P A R T 2

Part 2: Las Vegas, Lone Pine, El Portal, Yosemite, San Francisco, Monterey, Santa Barbara, Los Angeles

It is very common to see a spirit house in Laos and Thailand, whether at a temple, in front of a house or place of business.  So who lives in this spirit house, most people might think a ghost perhaps.  Personally I don’t think it’s a ghost, but must be some sort of spirit for them to call it a spirit house, but in Thai and I believed Lao also that it is called Sarn Phra Phum, and the word Phra means monk or equivalent of a high being, and in this case, it is believed that Thape lives in a spirit house, which loosely translated as angel,  guardian angel, or a spirit of higher being.

Here are some photos of the spirit house in Laos and Thailand from my recent visit, and my next post will be a translated ghost story of what happens if you don’t respect this higher being.

Updated 2/9/09: The photo below is a spirit house in front of a restaurant in the US.

Spirit House, photo by Dallas Lao

I saw this one along side of the road near the Mekong River in Vientiane, Laos.

In front of a guest house in Luang Prabang, Laos.

At a temple in Ubon, Thailand.

In front of my cousin PV’s house in Paksan, Laos.

In front a place of business in Vientiane, Laos.

In front of my aunt’s house in Paksan, Laos.

At a temple in Ubon, Thailand.

At Wat Chan in Vientiane, Laos.

In front a place of business in Vientiane, Laos.

At Tad E-Tou in Pakse, Laos.

This one below is at a temple in Ubon, Thailand.

A simple design at Mount Phousi, Luang Prabang, Laos.

These three are at Wat That Luang in Luang Prabang, Laos.  It is being used as a monument to house ashes (urns).

This one is big enough for a person to live comfortably in, it belongs to my aunt’s village in Paksan, Laos.

• Photos are from my Laos Trip

Sad to say that this is my last post for my Laos Trip, this would make 43+ posts total.  As for some of you, this might be a call for celebration because you might get tired of seeing, or more like overloading with my pictures from Laos.  I think pictures don’t lie, as you can see I had a great time in Laos and Thailand, and would love to do this again, but just not anytime soon.

I think the best time that I had was at Boun That Luang, it is such a beautiful ceremony and I had never seen anything like this before in my life.

The most beautiful town that I visited is Luang Prabang, such a charming place and I do miss her already.

The most beautiful picture of a Lao boy that I took is one of the students at Dannavieng Elementary School, I think this picture is worth a thousand words.

I didn’t have a place to post this car, but I saw this at the street in Vientiane and thought it looks cool.  It even has a Lao flag painted on its roof.

I wish I had more money, and regret that I didn’t bring (as many of ) these Lao ethnic bags back with me.

The worse time that I had was the bus ride to Pakse, we took the 10:30 AM local bus leaving Vientiane on November 18, 2008, and only cost us 120,000 kips ($14) per person.  There is no bathroom on the bus, and bathroom breaks were along side of the road, look for the best bush if you can find one.  Then when we got to Savannakhet, the young bus driver took a side job and decided to make a detour to drop a few girls and their flea market goods off at TalatSao (Morning Market), which bus are not allowed in this area, it is a Tuk Tuk zone.

We were chased down by a local police officer who would not take bribery, and had to park in the dark alley 3 times just to drop some of the items off.  We must have wasted almost an hour before we got back on the main road again.  Then there were 3 passengers left, a man, my dad and I, and the driver decided that he didn’t want to go all the way to Pakse, so he chased down an express bus that was heading in the same direction, and told us that we had to take that bus.  He woke me up in the middle of the night, I was disoriented, but got off the bus, waited for our stuff, and got on the bus that was parked behind our bus.  We got to Pakse at 2 AM, and there were no Tuk Tuk and we had to call our relative to come and pick us up.

Then the next morning, we were sent on a wild goose chase, I was asked to visit a great-grandfather who is 94 years old that wanted to see a picture of his great-granddaughter.  The lady told me the name of the person that he stays with, and when I called the number given to me, it has been disconnected.  I didn‘t think much of it since I knew her name, but after searching high and low, I realized that asking around for a person is not as easy as it seems because Pakse is not that small, but I’m happy to say, mission accomplished, I delivered the picture.

The best hotel that we stayed was at Novotel Suvarnabhumi Airport Hotel, a bit pricey, and it cost us $170 per night for a standard room, but we thought it’d only be for 1 night, and we would be coming home the next morning.

But as you had already known, they decided my dad needed to see the protest live, and you heard the rest of my story.

Till we meet again on this road.

After we visited Wat Ban Na Muang, we then visited Wat Nong Bua, also known as Wat Prathat Nong Bua located in Ubon Ratchathani. The temple is famous for having the only example in Thailand of a Buddha Gaya-style stupa. The stupa consists of a central stupa with a smaller stupa at each corner of the compound wall. This style of stupa with a small golden chedi on top is named for Maha Bhothi Wiharn at a famous temple in Buddhagaya India,  the holy birth place of the Lord Buddha. Within the central stupa, are several important Buddha images (Source). They are doing some restoration work when I visited.

The stupa also features local Isan arts. On the four corners of the pagoda base are garuda sculptures below a seven-headed naga.

There are also Mara figures below eight monk figures, these motifs are repeated on all four sides.

Nagas are placed at four corners of Prathat Nong Bua.

And below is a figure that made me think of the national symbol of Thailand and royal symbol, which is the Garuda, a mythical half bird, half human figure, a steed of the Hindu god Vishnu.

The temple hall is built with a three-sided gable style with a beautifully decorated arc-shaped roof and houses a Reclining Buddha image.

I believed that I’ve seen Bodhi tree at every temple that I visited, whether in Laos or Thailand.

I’m not surprised to see white elephants here (in this case, painted pink) because the term derives from the sacred white elephants of the Southeast Asian monarchs in Thailand, Burma, Laos and Cambodia. It is believed that to possess a white elephant was regarded, and is still regarded in Thailand and Burma as a sign that the monarch was ruling with justice and the kingdom was blessed with peace and prosperity.

Ubon Ratchathani is known for their elaborate traditional parading of candles to the temple.  It’s called the Haetian, or Candle Festival that often held around the days of Asanha Puja which commemorates the Buddha’s first sermon, and Wan Kao Pansa, which marks the beginning of Vassa or the Rains Retreat where monks would stay at their temple during the rain season from July to October.

The photos below were taken from the International Wax Sculpture Parade 2007 at Ubon Ratchathani by tum-TAT at Flickr.

Candle Festival Ubon Ratchathani, photo by tum-TAT

Candle Festival Ubon Ratchathani, photo by tum-TAT

Candle Festival Ubon Ratchathani, photo by tum-TAT

Candle Festival Ubon Ratchathani, photo by tum-TAT

We left Laos the morning of November 21, 2008 on an 8:30 AM bus and arrived in Ubon, Thailand around 10:00 AM.  We stayed in Ubon a bit longer than expected because my dad decided that he wanted to move his step mom’s ashes closer to his step brother’s temple.

We had some free time in between the ceremonies, so my cousins took us to visit Wat Ban Na Muang or Wat Sa Prasan Suk, a temple in the city of Ubon Ratchathani, Thailand.  It is known for having both the Ubosot and the Viharn built atop replicas of river barges.

The Ubosot barge is completed with rowers and finished with brown lacquer that represents a dragon barge.  It is located in a paved lot.

The Viharn barge is painted concrete that represents a Naga barge, it‘s situated in a small lake.

Wat Ban Na Muang has a very beautiful ordination hall built of ceramics in the shape of the Suphannahong Royal Barge.

There are many kinds of fish that live in this lake, my dad purchased fish food to feed the fish.

This part is not completed, and it’s situated towards the back of the temple ground.

A monk watering a tree.

A boy that at met at the temple, he is showing his respect by wai.

A local vendor that sells grilled rice.

Sometimes I get confused of what I am, but when it comes to a celebration, I always take part when there is food involved, so the next celebration is January 26, 2009, a Chinese New Year, as Chinese people would say their new year wishes, Gung Hay Fat Choy.

I’m not celebrating Chinese New Year just because of the food, but my dad is half Chinese, and we’ve been celebrating Chinese New Year as long as I could remember.  As for this coming new year, I am sure I’m like many others that hope to see a calmer market this coming year than last year, which according to Hong Kong feng shui master Raymond Lo,  “This year of the Ox is an ‘earth’ year, when people will take a breather and reflect on what they should do after a turbulent 2008…Earth is the calmest of the elements and this year is a “yin earth” year as well as an Ox year, symbolizing a more feminine energy…The Year of the Ox, which starts on January 26, will be the most peaceful year globally since 2000.” Read the rest of the article Feng shui masters see calmer markets in Year of the Ox.

Something to look forward to, as for the year of the Ox, I have some photos to share, I’m hoping that someone could tell me what kind it is.  After asking around, a friend told me that it is a Brahma, this bovine species came from India to the rest of the world. Brahman are mainly used for breeding and meat and is crossbred often for great results. The Brahman has a very distinct hump extending over the shoulder and neck and large floppy ears. Another distinction is the loose flap of skin which hangs form the neck, called a dewlap. The hump, skin flap and huge ears all serve to withstand hot Texas summers better than other cattle. Brahman are a smart, yet stubborn breed. Typical bulls weigh from 1600 to 2100lbs. (Source)

So, this would be a perfect breed to crossbreed with Lao cow, and if it can stands the hot Texas summers, than it can definitely withstand the hot tropical weather in Laos. These oxen Brahman belong to my relatives that live in Pakse, they seem to be bigger than your average Lao ox (cow), and they’re male breeder, imported from oversea, I think they’re beautiful.

I think they stood at least 5 feet 5 inches tall, see in comparison to the back of a pickup truck, a Toyota Hilux Vigo.

Below is a photo of your typical Lao/Thai cow that is a lot small than the Brahman, but after they breed these 2 together, then they should get a decent size cow.

Happy Chinese New Year…May Prosperity Be With You.

Tad E-Tou is not too far from Tad Yuang, by the time we got there, it was late in the afternoon.

The path to the Tad (waterfall) is very narrowed, going down was not so bad, but coming back up made me break a sweat.

A spirit house along the walking trial.

By the time we got to the car, it was dust.

We’ve seen Engrish writing before, one of my all time favorites is Chinglish, but I don’t know if this would qualify as Laogrish, or they just write English with a Lao Pakse accent…Tai Tai Engrish.

We visited Tad Yuang on November 20, 2008 and it’s located about 40 kms from Pakse and 8 kms from Paksong.

This picture below is right at the face of the fall, the waterfall mist is very much like a drizzle and I would imagine that you could see rainbows on a clear day.

The place is very serene with beautiful landscape, and many romantic little gazebos to sit and relax.

I spotted a small damselfly sitting on top of a stick.

Since this is not too far from Paksong, the Lao coffee capital, I’m not surprised to see coffee crops planting as part of their landscape.  I was hoping to visit Paksong because my cousin has a small coffee farm there, but due to our short stay at Pakse, we didn’t have time but seeing the coffee trees at Tad Yuang and Tad E-Tou more than made up for it.

Souvenir shop is nothing like the one in the US, here you’d find dried beef (deer) jerky hanging on rings of bamboo robes, peppers dried in the open, and much more.

Read article: From earning six figures to hoping for $7 an hour

With today’s economy, I think many of us find ourselves living according to our means whether we like it or not.  I don’t think I’ve seen anything this bad, many businesses, stores and restaurants in our area are shutting down, and the latest shocking news/rumors is that the mall might be shutting down also.  I think it’s very scary out there,  people don’t know what to expect, and many don’t know how to go back to living the simple life and might be that they’ve never lived that kind of lifestyle before.

This made me think of my cousin in Thailand, they’re older couple, and they don’t have a lot but they seems happy, and they have plenty of fruits and vegetables in their backyard.  Seeing this inspires me to plant a garden this year.

If I’ve this in my backyard, I’d have a spicy papaya salad everyday.

Still very common for the elder Lao/Thai generation to practice betel chewing, my cousin is preparing one for herself, and she gets the betel leaf from her garden (above photo).  She used to sell them at the market, but now only sells to her neighbors that would stop by to buy every now and then.

This flower is called Dok Kem, commonly seen in Laos and Thailand and Kem means needle for both Lao and Thai word.  The flower is often used during Wai Kru Ceremony (Teacher’s Day) where the students would give flowers to their teachers to give thanks, and by giving Dok Kem, the students in return will be sharp-witted and brainy.

Primary 1 student, Balley photo by jbruntthailand

My family is from Muang Kao, right across the Mekong River from Pakse.  When I was little, there was no bridge here, and we had to take the boat to get across, but I don‘t recall ever visit Pakse with my mom.  Today, Pakse is the capital of Champasak province in Laos, one of the biggest towns and a major transportation hub for southern Laos.

We stayed not too far from Talot Dao Heuang, Pakse New Market and visited this place on November 19, 2008.

Remember her?  She is here.  She kept telling me to take a picture of the other person, and I told her that I’d make her famous by posting her picture on the Internet. I don’t think she believes me, see still laughing.

Long strings sausage.

This is a mobile food vendor, she carries this around until she finds a customer, a hard way to make a living but I admire those that do this…they are living life, might not be the luxury life style but at least it’s an honest way of making a living.

I went by the water fountain on December 2, 2008.  It’s also known as Nam Phu, and I was lucky that the water fountain was turned on because most of the time when I walked passed, there was no water.   I believed I’m not the only one that feel this way, look at this little boy, I’m sure he wants to take a swim… and thinking to self “How do I get up there?”

Can you tell that he is not Lao, look at his ‘handsome’ pose.