Andrew Bulmer

Vientiene

Reached the capital of Laos. Its not really a huge city, seems more like a big town really. There are a few nice Buddhist temples here.

Patuxay (or Victory Gate) is this monument looks a little bit like the Arc de Triumph in Paris. But its definitely got some Lao touches to it. It was started in 1962, but was never really finished because on the Vietnam war.

That Luang is a really cool Buddhist temple. Its painted all gold. Its also the site of a huge celebration every year in December. This celebration is for the end of the Vietnam war when the US finally got out of Laos.

My Monk friend. I promised I'd put him on the Internet.

That Dam, the Black Stupa

Buddhist Tombstones. I'll send a bill to the Joneses for funeral research.

Patuxay from a distance.

Closer up

And with a reflection.

View from the top.

A lot of construction going on in Laos.

The ceiling of Patuxay.

That Luang, the Great Stupa.

Close up.

The grounds around it are nice.

A new building almost done construction on the grounds.

Vang Vien

Vang Vien is this great little town located between Luang Prabang and the capital Vietiane. Its pretty amazing because its really flat with these mountains coming out of nowhere.

In the town there are many bars and guesthouses. The guesthouse I stayed at was really nice and only cost $3 aq night. The bars all have TVs which play either Friends or the Simpsons non-stop.

Did a little hiking and visited some of the caves in the area. The Laotian people lived in these caves when the Amercans bombed Laos in the Vietnam war. The North Vietnamese sent troops and supplies through Laos into South Vietnam. And so the US dropped a lot of bombs on Laos. In fact Laos is the most bombed country in the world. Two million tons of bombs were dropped on Laos, which works out to half a ton per person.

After the caves, we went for a ride down the river in inner tubes. There were bars all down the river so you could just paddle on over and get a drink and then continue on down the river. A nice way to finish a day of hiking and caving.

The next day I rented a bicycle and went up to this really huge cave. It was really impressive how high the ceilings were. And the cave went on and on for quite a distance.

I wish I could have stayed longer in Vang Vien, but I'm running out of time so I have to move on.

The mountains at sunset

The view from my hammock

This rock looks like an elephant, which is why this cave is called the Elephant Cave

This Bell was made from an unexploded bomb dropped by the US

I need my MTV!

Clouds coming in over the mountain

I big rock popping up in the middle of a field

A little underwater cave we went into on innertubes

Innertubing in the cave

A nice little stream

Some rice paddies

A Lao tractor

Bars along the river

The innertuber's best friend

Swinging above the river.

Just going with the flow.

Bicycle Monks.

A really big cave.

A monk dropping into the water hole from the swing.

This cow had to cross the brook to get to her calf

Happy cows.

Water Buffalo

Bomb used to decorate the bridge.

Luang Prabang

Sabaidee from Laos!

Took a little boat ride down the Mekong River down to Luang Prabang.

Luang Prabang was at one time the capital of Laos. Now the entire town has been declared a world heritage site. Now tourism is the big industry there, they are building Hotels and Guesthouses everywhere.

There are a lot of Buddhist temples in Luang Prabang. Especially nice was a temple located at the top of a hill where you could see the entire city.

There was also a spectacular waterfall nearby. They have some Asian Black Bears and a rare Indochinese Tiger at a Sanctuary near the waterfall. These were orphans rescued from poachers.