Robin's Adventures

Our journey took us through a traditional Laotian Village. The children were beautiful. The living conditions, not so beautiful.

Lots of cleaning was going on during our visit.

On our way to the Kuang Si Waterfall, we passed an elephant preserve. We made a brief stop to check it out. We noticed that the Asian elephants had much smaller ears than the ones we had seen in Africa. After seeing elephants in the wild in Africa, we felt sad as we watched these elephants who were chained and restricted in their movement. We were assured that the animals were well cared for and happy...

The Kuang Si Waterfall is mostly a series of cascades and shallow pools that have formed along a steep hillside. The main waterfall, towards the very top of the hill, is about 200 feet tall. There is a wonderful hiking trail that follows the path of the water as it moves along its course.

There were many pools, perfect for taking a swim, formed by the cascading water from the Kuang Si Waterfall. The water was a beautiful emerald color and the cool spray in the air from the falls was refreshing as we hiked along the trail.

We also found some large interesting spiders along the way with some colorful markings.

We went on a relaxing cruise down the Mekong River. The long narrow riverboat is referred to as a "slow boat." These boats have living quarters in the back for the boat owner and his family. The majority of the boat, however, is set up to take passengers or cargo along the river.

As we cruised, slowly, down the river, we got a taste of what was happening along the Mekong. There were fishermen, bathers, people doing laundry, and small areas of farmland along the shore.

There were many people at work and at play along the river, so our view from the boat never got old. Then, as dusk approached, we saw an amazing sunset over the river.

Tak bat is the morning collection of food ceremony for the Buddhist monks. People get up early to line the streets prior to the 5:30 am start time of the ceremony.

Small rugs are spread out and people sit on very short tiny plastic stools, sometimes with a rug or cushion on top. A prayer shawl is draped across the left shoulder and baskets of warm sticky rice are ready so the rice can be given to the monks as they walk by.

The monks eat only breakfast and lunch and they are not allowed to keep food from one day until the next, so they go out each morning and wind through the streets to receive offerings for their meals.

Each monk, wearing a bright orange robe and no shoes, has a bowl with a lid that hangs by a leather strap over their shoulder. They walk in silent meditation and people place food in their bowls.

There were some very unique foods for sale in the morning market. Our guide told us that in Laos, if it has four legs or flies, people will eat it and after visiting the market, I could see what she meant.