The guidebook says “you’ll be reaching for your camera at every turn.” That is no understatement. This place was so charming (I never use that word- but that’s the best way to describe it.) Luang Prabang is home to the Buddha Footprint, Royal Palace car collection, tons of cute little used book stores and an awesome hangout called Utopia where you over look the Mekong River and where we played lots of UNO.
While we were at Utopia – a few kids were swimming in the river, some were fishing and one woman was washing her clothes on some rocks.
Jesse is loving the temples. He takes tons of pictures. It’s hard to figure out which photos to use since they are all so beautiful.
Monthly Archives: March 2013
Luang Prabang
Restoration Station
These photos were taken at a photo exhibition titled ‘The Floating Buddha.’ Some monks can actually meditate with their legs straight out in front of them while their back is at a 45 degree angle. It appears as though they are hovering/floating above the ground. Some monks meditate while walking (either alone or in groups.)
The photos on display were pretty amazing. Some were of five or six year old boys in a seated meditation (they can stay like this for hours.) What are we doing to our kids in the western world? Sometimes our kids can’t sit for five minutes!
The man is restoring a Buddha’s head that was cracked at the neck. There were other people soldering on fingers, hands, etc. People were painting and cleaning- they take much pride in the care and display of their artifacts.
My posts are a bit out of order, but I had to post this one today
These rings are worn by the women of the Kayan Lahwi tribe. They give the appearance of a lengthened neck, but it is just an illusion. After many years the brass coils push down on the the collar bone compressing the rib age and deforming the clavicle making it appear that the neck itself has gotten longer. Girls start wearing the rings at age five.
Because of military issues in Burma in the 1980s and 1990s, many of the people from this tribe became refugees in Northern Thailand.
When asked, the women say that the rings are a sign of beauty. Some younger women have taken theirs off or abstained from wearing them because they want to get an education and/or live in a more modern way. Even the government has discouraged this practice so their country can appear more developed.
If taken off, women feel discomfort since it has become a part of their body. There is also discoloration that doesn’t seem to go away.
The woman in this photograph was posing for money. There are tourist villages where you can go to see these women that some people call “giraffe women.” It seems sad and strange for me to want to go someplace like that. Many from the tribe say that they are doing well economically from the sale of tickets to see these women and some say they do not want this type of tourism to be banned. It sounds “zoo-ish” to me- like a human zoo and that freaks me out. But desperate times call for desperate measures and many of these people live in extreme poverty so who am I to judge?
She did seem happy sitting there. I watched her from a distance for quite some time and I thought she looked very proud which made her appear beautiful to me.
Did I already post this? Well, it’s cute enough to post again if I did!
Going Nowhere Fast

Sometimes when you’re on muddy, steep climbs- it is better to go quickly. By the time you get to the top, you feel like you’ve had a killer workout (or that you’re getting old!)
Temple Visiting in Luang Prabang
Check out the painter taking a break. No need to find a coffee shop or take a siesta at home- just plop down at the job site so there’s no time wasted in transit! Brilliant!
Just some random thoughts…
~Have you ever seen a rubber tree? On our hike through the jungle in Laos, our guide showed us the sap sticking all over the side of the tree. It feels and looks exactly like rubber. We thought the sap would have to be processed to get to the actual final product. An hour after we saw the trees, Jesse was still talking about how amazing it was.
~I forgot what market we were at where they were selling little hats for babies that had a curly wig attached. They had pictures of three month old babies wearing these things and they looked hilarious.
~Many Asian women love colored contacts and contacts that make you look like you have cat eyes or big doll eyes. I bought bright purple doll eye contacts and one of the baby hats with curly hair just so I can scare the kids in the morning. Just kidding, but when you see someone wearing these- it takes you by surprise.
~Electricity- sometimes you have it, sometimes you don’t. While in Bangkok on an elevator, the power went out. You could just see the whites of people’s eyes looking around. I am not a fan of tight spaces where I feel trapped (who is) but we all handled our business and no one freaked out. We had taken the elevator to avoid a cockroach on the stairs. After that, we took our chances on the steps. We did take the elevator a few times just to face our fears!
~On an overnight train, the boys were shocked to discover that the toilet hole led directly to the train track. I guess that saves money on plumbing!
~While in Myanmar at a temple, we came across an escalator. It was weird to see an escalator in the middle of incredibly old Buddhas. There was a person standing at the top helping people get on because it was the first time some of them had ever been on one. They were so excited, some went up again to ride back down.
~ATMs are relatively new in Mayanmar (in the last three months or so.) People stand behind us to watch money ‘magically’ appear.




















