Homestay day 2 - Pak Ou Caves

our sleeping quarter, and where we had lunch and dinner yesterday; Taran is not a morning person and she struggled to get up haha. On the wall is a calendar full of impossibly white people, a rarity here. I guess that's what makes them special XD

I had to side-step these gorgeous ducklings on the way to the yard. There's a simple loo, lots of bamboo cages for the ducks, and a 

water tank to the right. Remember there's no running water, and the villagers have to get water from the river, bucket by bucket! There's no sink here so I just brushed my teeth by the water tank, and spat onto the ground.

                i prefer the squat toilet of Laos and Cambodia to the ones you find in Taiwan/Japan etc.
There's no flush system, you just pour water in until it's clean...there's no worry of the flush not working!

breakfast - eggs by Mr Shampoo and last night's leftovers...still yum :)

the novelty of falangs hasn't worn off for some!

After brekkie, we went down to the river once again, to begin our journey to Pak Ou caves.

Mr Shampoo joked that the roan cattle are European ones, and Bram believed him haha

it was a hot and hazy morning, and the ride in our shallow little boat was slow but exhilarating

our katoi friends saying hi from their little boat :)

drying clothes by the riverside

we skirted some rapids, but the trip was mostly calm, and very quiet

We stopped first at Ban Xiang Hai aka 'whisky' village, to learn the process behind the making of laolao, or rice whisky. Many villagers brew their own, and keep the first distillation (supposedly the best), selling the second. We washed rice in a tub, then transferred it into urns. Yeast is added, and the urn covered for a few weeks. Our host showed us how the rice is steamed to produce laolao; the leftover rice are then given to the livestock.

Entrance to Pak Ou caves! Pak Ou means 'river mouth'...very impressive!

Pak Ou Caves is made up of two caves, Tham Ting (lower cave) and Tham Theung (upper cave); together the caves hold over 4,000 Buddha statues in a variety of sizes and postures, accumulated since the 15th century, when the caves became a Buddhist temple.

I'm near the top of the lower cave's vaulted roof, looking down the length of a naga vessel, which is used to channel water during purification ceremonies. During Laos new year, pilgrims come to perform a washing ceremony of their Buddha statues. Previously this was performed by the King and the royal family, but is now done by the governor of Luang Prabang and locals.

Some of these statues were brought by the Pilgrims, and some were brought over from temples, either because the statues and/or the temple were damaged. The first statues were apparently left for travelers who would use this natural cave for shelter on their journey.

The cave was supposedly used in the worship of the river spirit before the advent of Buddhism. Although the Laos state did not officially begin until 1353, Theravada Buddhism arrived in Laos in the 7th-8th centuries CE.

the lower cave is open to the Mekong and the Buddhas are bathed in a beautiful light; i found this cave quite peaceful. There weren't too many visitors, a real advantage of traveling during the low season.

Still in the lower cave; a set of stairs led us up to a smaller cavern partially carpeted in green moss. Small statues dot the 'hills' and meadows, lending an air of tranquility and mystery.

The altar back down in the lower cave

stairs on the side of the side of the limestone cliff, leading to the upper cave

A wooden frieze that once supported big wooden doors guard the upper cave of Tham Theung. There are some interesting drawings on the upper right hand corner, right next to the wooden frieze; they look prehistoric!

The entry was the only part illuminated by the light from outside, so  you need a flashlight (you can rent one near the entrance. Luckily someone gave Bram their flashlight, and he gave it to me after exploring the cave which extends for 54 m

Wooden vessel to the left of the entrance, for washing Buddha statues; the swan sits at the upper end of the trough, and the dragong (naga) sits at the lower end. On the trough are sunflower motifs

these drawings look so prehistoric!

An altar in the back of the cave; there was once a large Buddha statue here, supposedly. I couldn't see much of the upper cave as it was so dark!

back out in the beautiful sunlight, looking down on our little boats moored by the bamboo jetty

I really enjoyed exploring Pak Ou caves, and it was a nice ending to our homestay. On the way back, our driver would stop the car every so often to let the locals soak us poor bastards sitting in the back of the open truck...haha...soon the 3-day chaos that is the Laos New Year will begin!