the city is a UNESCO heritage site on the river since it has the oldest Buddhist temple left standing in Laos and was the palace of the king for generations. It’s a cute little city with most everything in walking distance and there are some interesting attractions in the vicinity including an extremely beautiful waterfall and some scenery. It’s best to go during the rainy season since the “high season” between December through March has extensive air pollution due to farm burnings throughout Southeast Asia. Many of the hotels and restaurants now are being bought by Vietnamese and Chinese, most of whom do not even speak Lao, so try to find those places that are owned and operated by Lao people if you want to experience Lao culture. Read more about this area at the link below.
There are several very nice classic cars in the city The Sunset view from the hill This was someone’s idea of a lion which looks more like a cat. Who’s driving? Maybe the kids should have helmets also? Bocce (petanque) is very popular in Laos. There are many excellent professional players as well.Crossing a temporary bridge to get to a very nice restaurant restaurant on the other side of the river Phousi Hill photo enthusiasts waiting for the sunsetHere is the sunset view
life in Vientiane, Laos is always an interesting place to see some things you would not see in many other countries. It’s a very peaceful place but you have to make sure you lock your motorcycle onto something that will not move. If not, the motorcycle will not be there in the morning. I recently saw a video of some lady who went to talk to a teacher at the school with her daughter, maybe 6 m away from her motorcycle in which she left the key. Someone who look like a student looked around to see who was there and then just jumped on the motorcycle and drove away.
This is what you do if a motorcycle is the only mode of transport In executive suites you might want to teach people how to use the sitting area Are you selling durian on the street The only real Vietnamese made car (vinfast) is actually fairly nice for a low end entry model. Someone decided to highlight these electric cars and use them for inexpensive taxi services like an Uber service. The cars are nice and clean and the app works very well. The drivers get paid a monthly salary of about $150 a month.
you can click on the link to see some information about these Vietnamese cars. They have goals to export to the US and Europe to compete with Chinese manufactured cars.
in the 1970s Laos was the most bombed country in history. We visited a coffee shop which was partly destroyed by something and highlighted some of the weaponry was used against the objects of the bombing some of which included innocent civilians.
The cappuccino and sweets were very nice You can see the bullet holes in the walls This pizza in this small town of Pakse was amazingly delicious Selling frogs at the local market for lunch or dinner Nice spicy salads in the nice sunny weather Picking out avocados at $.70 a kilo Red ants have created a nest of leaves filled with eggs which are a delicacy It really wonderful avocado and mango smoothie made in a bistro owned by a German fellow who was from a small town near Munich where we happen to be going in the next week Avocados growing everywhere And of course we have to have some Korean food to spice up our life
Local monks helping fix the walkway by the river A beautiful sunset in Pakse Waiting with the family tractor for the rain to stop Tad fang waterfall in PoksongDo you wanna do the zip line across the canyon? Pretty scary You can have a table sent along on the zip line so you can drink your coffee suspended over the canyon. They have another option so you can sleep in a hammock on the zip line over the canyon. Is that on your bucket list? The dogs don’t care who’s doing the zip line training Parallel zip lines. The guy in Orange on the right is getting his phone ready to video the person on the left as they go across the canyon Avocados are available in this area for about $.70 per kilo and they are delicious. Most people have avocado trees in their yard and then they put up a little stand in front of their house on the road to sell their avocados There was quite an accident with these trucks and trailers A captured American army Jeep with the wrong force identifier under the windshield. It obviously it’s still running but has been extensively used This very aggressive Vietnamese electric vehicle manufacturer is using 3M for some parts of their manufacturing and probably display the company symbol. This was on a local taxi, part of a new, inexpensive, taxi service in Vientiane The new Lao development bank in Pakse. The architecture is a little bewildering. It is very white. The kid on the back really wanted to wave to me but he is following the strict orders from his younger brother who is driving to hang on tight and not let go
Pakse is a city in south of Laos which is fairly small but a very nice city to enjoy some relaxation and very close to Paksong, a center for coffee growing and tea plantations in Laos. You may not know this but Laos is very famous for coffee production and this area is famous For that since it has very productive volcanic soil. And this Monk from this temple is very famous for having certain magical powers which, according to one story, helped him evade captured by the French who occupied louse as a colony. Of course this month died over 100 years ago.
Pakse is a beautiful small town in the southern part of Laos and right next to the entrance to the Paksong Highlands where they grow a lot of very delicious coffee and have some very beautiful waterfalls. It’s a really great place to visit and I recommend renting a motorcycle or car to go up into the Highlands and look around. There are also some beautiful temples to visit so just spend about four or five days there and enjoy.
how many languages?future dinners nice viewvegetable marketsome like it hot!lots of bread and sandwich makers in Laos (PATE)some beautiful waterfalls have lost their supportcoffee areas are HIGHbeautiful Nagas welcome and protect templesWat PU, UNESCO site, old hindu temple unfinishedcooks scrambling to meet this restaurant’s demandstay right by the view and have a beer. morning is beautifuljust don’t fall backwardszipline across the canyon? hell NO!beautiful place to view the top of the waterfallTad Yeung waterfalla little scarya nearby botanical hot house areanever saw this one beforebeautiful butterflyvery red! going to DAO HUEANG market, biggest market in Pakse district
To “disrobe” is the process for a monk to leave monastic/temple life. In Laos a friend who was until recently a monk left temple life at the age of 25 after 10 years as a novice and 4 years as a monk. In some blog I will comment on why young men in Laos and Thailand become monks but this blog will focus on the “disrobing”.
I must explain there is a difference between the two ranks of those in temple life. Firstly someone joins the temple as a novice from the age of 12 onward. At the age of 20 or 21 a novice can be “ordained” as a MONK if he so chooses.
You might think it is a simple thing to just “leave” the temple and join the rest of society but in Laos the process is somewhat complicated.
This file photo taken in the town of Luang Prabang on February 21, 2007 shows women along a street in the early morning (around 6 am) offering food as alms to monks for merit and “compassion” since, traditionally, monks did not cook or prepare food). Receiving alms is the centrepiece of the strict daily routine undertaken by monks drawn to the ancient temples which fleck the UNESCO-listed town. / AFP PHOTO / Frank Zeller (this explanation came with the photo and i edited out the mistakes.)
First the monk must make up his own mind to “disrobe”. Normally he then consults with the family and discusses his decision. It could be the family persuades him to continue as a monk but in the end it is the monk’s decision to leave temple live.
Once the monk has made the final decision he will go to the Abbot of the temple and ask when the best day is for him to “disrobe”. Once the date is set the monk will fill out the document declaring his decision to “disrobe” and it will be “stamped” by the Abbot and the head of the temple district. This document is very important as I will explain.
A Monk’s activities
In Laos everyone is required to get an ID card. Monks can have a national ID card with a photo of them in robes or an ID issued by the temple. These documents are used to apply for a Passport which identifies the person as a monk. When the monk disrobes the document stamped by the Abbot and temple office is required to apply for a “layman” (regular citizen) ID card and passport. Once that ID card is issued the ID card and the family book indicating the name and address of the people in the family are used to apply for a passport. The monk is registered in the temple “family book”. Once he leaves the temple he needs to be re-registered with the family in the family book as the next step.
The application for the passport needs to be filled out with a photo of the applicant as well as a color copy of the ID card. That application form is then stamped by the village head to verify the details of the application form. The person then goes to the “Consular Office” to line up to get an appointment for an interview which only confirms the details in the application.
If the monk opens a bank account the name on the account has “monk” printed after the family name and is the account name. When the monk disrobes he needs to change the name on his bank accounts to delete “monk” in the name on the account. The disrobing document is necessary to make this change.
In short a monk is identified throughout society as a monk and receives sometimes special treatment while they are restricted by their rules and regulations regarding their monk-hood and vows. In Laos and Thailand, if a monk is not in their required monk’s robes (required at all times) and stopped by police, the police will normally ask to see the ID card. Seeing the ID card identifying the person as a “monk” the police will turn the person over to the temple for discipline which often results in banishment from temple life. So there is a strong relationship between the monk’s social requirements and the documents they have identifying them.
In Laos, as in Thailand, the prefixes before the names are often used in spoken language. “Tao” is generally used for men younger than 40 or so. If a man is named SOMPONE, he is addressed as “Tao Sompone”. If Sompone disrobes as a novice he is addressed as Xieng Sompone while a monk who disrobes is addressed as “Tid Sompone”. This change in prefix will go on for a certain period of time by those who know him as a former monk.
By the way, you can recognize a monk who has recently disrobed; short hair and shaved eyebrows.
did you know that Laos was at one time a colony of France? Laos is on the east side of Thailand and the British colony of Burma was on the west side of Thailand. Did you know that Thailand played off the British and the French to get more territory? Did you know that the Lao and Thai cultures are very much the same? Did you know that many of the streets in Vientiane are called “Rue”, french for “street”? Did you know that the Lao and Thai languages, written and spoken, are very similar?
This is about the age to start teaching kids to drive a motorcycleA village streetA local temple. This isn’t a wealthy community our transport to the hotel from the bus stationDelicious food everywhere looking pregnant inexpensive smoothies. We had avocado mixesZurich Cafe. Good bread. Make sure it is freshly baked.Jerky drying on the streetPeople buy these cages with birds in them and then let them go. By the way, new shoes. Aren’t they nice?A map of the town attractionsA view from the topPhousi OverlookKids on the playground most of the official building signage is in French as well as Lao. And of course you can understand this much French, right? After all, half of English is French.Making sugarcane juiceMany monks in this town and a great many of them have either orange or black umbrellas to keep the sun and rain off themWhat would a photo blog of a colonial town be like without the photo of an old car?!A Hill tribe restaurant an old stupah mostly due to Covid, no business for two years, you see the signs everywhere. People just could not afford to stay in business and yet they have to continue paying property taxes so they need to do something with the propertyThe attractions around the cityAt the Zurich Café we had an avocado salad and a ciabatta sandwich
