As in Myanmar (Burma) and Thailand a temple or Wat (Vat) in Laos have a living quarters for monks. The houses or buildings for the monks are usually at the side or back of the temple or stupa structure. The temple here itself is a building with a large central hall housing Buddha images and paintings of Buddha teaching. However in Myanmar the place where monks and nuns stay is a monastery where teaching and practice of Buddhism and other subjects also take place.
National Museum - former Royal Palace. A large garden compound.
A fruit seller in front of the National Museum. At that point I suddenly remembered the boiled brown bean seller in Yangon, Myanmar. When I was living there I used to buy her boiled brown bean with indian chapati made of wheat flour in a brick oven. She came early in the morning everyday on foot to sell. She had a set of bronze weighing balance in her basket. My relatives told me that that lady was still selling the same thing, now that her weighing balance were paper thin and she probably could not afford to buy a new set. I was wondering whether this lady would follow the foot steps of a Burmese bean seller. Probably not.
An old house building in old Luang Prabang town. There are many old house buildings like this, most of them are of two or three storey design along the beautiful streets. Walking or cycling tour of the town is very much recommended for general tourists as distances are not great.
National Textile house (Museum) in Luang Prabang - an old Lao building with colonial influence. During Indonchina wars and other conflicts; as well as because of its poor economic situation and lack of good standardized management Laos lost a lot of its archives to outside world. In addition much of its history was not properly recorded, rather it was handed down generation to generation orally. It is in fact the same in Burma. My nephew asked me several times to write down my own experiences before, during and after the second world war in Burma and I still don't do it for reasons I don't understand myself.
Lobby of the guesthouse in Luang Prabang where I stayed two nights. The guesthouse was rather like a family house. It was actually smaller than my house. But then you get to know the Lao people life by staying with them. I also visited temples to sit down in the hall with monks and novices for a chat.
Buffet dinner restaurant near the night market. They got rice, sticky rice, fish, pork, vegetable and some greens. A great way to taste the local dishes.
To arrange your travel in Laos, Thailand, etc. check this site: www.trekthailand.net
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