SABAI DEE !
When traveling to Laos, there are many places and sights to see. But one of the most unique and interesting destinations has to be the Pak Ou caves. These caves are one of the most sacred sights in the country. They are still being used as a place of worship. Every New Year, people from Luang Prabang make a pilgrimage to the caves containing over 4000 Buddha images and statues. These underground sanctuaries have been venerated for centuries where thousands of Buddha statues are housed. The caves can be reached either by a short trip on the Mekong River or by road to Ban Shang Hai Village.
Today ---- let me take you to the PAK OU CAVES. These caves are found 25 kms. outside the city of Luang Prabang. We decided to go by tuk tuk rather than taking a boat on the Mekong river... The roads to the caves were not paved.. so it was a bit dusty on our way to there. Half way to the caves--- we asked the tuk tuk driver to stop for a while so we could take some photos of the Mekong River.
When we reached our destination---- we still had to hike some 350 meters to the boat landing where we would be taking a small boat to bring us to the caves.
It was nearly lunch so Oskie and I decided to have our lunch at the restaurant near the boat landing. The name of the restaurant was MANIVANH. Here is what we had for lunch...
Deep fried srping rolls..
Fried Fish ( caught in the Mekong River ) with pineapples...
Stir fried ginger with chicken....
After lunch, we met a boatman by the river bank and we haggled with him on the price he was going to charge us just to take us across the river. He charged us 20,000 Kip ( which was roughly $ 3.00 ) to take us across... It was a good price, so we agreed. The boatman helped me get in the boat... the chairs were like the kind you would find in a little girl's tea set ---- small , wooden and very uncomfortable. Then the boatman pushed his oar off the dock and we slowly slipped into the current. The rattle of the motor drowned the sounds of life along the Mekong .... but we had a beautiful view.
The Pak Ou caves hosts thousands of interesting small and bigger Buddha images, mostly donated by the local people. There are 2 caves.... the upper and the lower cave. The lower cave is clearly visible from the river and is accessible by boat, while the higher level can be reached by climbing some stairs.... ( I counted almost 120 steps going up ).
