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Laos { 68 images } Created 19 Nov 2013

Photos from Laos taken in March 2005 and in June 2017.
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  • After one month passed in New Zealand we took the airplane to Bangkok, followed by three or for days in Chiang Mai, where i became sick due to the well working asian air cons. <br />
After my recovery we were driven to Houay Xay, the Lao border where we arranged a two day slow boat journey to Luang Prabang.
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  • In 2005, the two day journey with the longboat from Houay Xai too Luang Prabang, including an overnight at Pak Beng, was pretty uncomfortable: we had the choice between old unfixed wooden seats or inside the boat, lying, near the bad smelling and very noisy engine.
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  • While we arrived in Luang Prabang we were adressed by some funny tuk tuk drivers. We were very tired so we took the first one. The engine run very oddly and a couple of minutes later it was completely out of order. So we took the next tuk tuk driver who drove us to a nice guesthouse owned by a very strange guy who was pasting self-portraits with small price labels on the walls surrounding the reception... <br />
The monastery "Wat Xieng Thong" shown on the photo, is the most important monastery in Luang Prabang.
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  • The next morning i missed the wake up call to see the monks receiving alms. While i took the camera and run out of the guesthouse, the monks were already walking along the street.
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  • The morning collection of food, called "tak bat" is traditionally offered by the locals.
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  • The monks walk in a line, the oldest first.
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  • We made a short stop at Ban Xang Hai before we continued our boat tour to the Pak Ou caves. On the same boat we met a very nice couple, with we stayed together for the next days.
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  • Ban Xang Hai is better known in the travel guides as "Whisky village" where "Lao Lao" rice whisky is produced by the local people.
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  • Ban Xang Hai is located about 29km from Luang Prabang. Most of the tourists make a stop here before continuing their boat ride to the Pak Ou caves.
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  • Tree boys playing with marbles in a street.
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  • The lower Pak Ou caves, seen from the Mekong river. The caves are famous for containing hundreds of buddha statues.
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  • The Mekong river, seen from a step which leads to the lower Pak Ou caves. The Mekong ist the 12th longest river in the world with a length varying between 4300 and 4900 km.
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  • Women selling their wares along a main street in Luang Prabang.
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  • Two girls, one of them is eating sticky rice, posing for the camera in Nong Kiau.
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  • A street scenery in Nong Kiau. Chickens a pig and beach slides.
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  • According to "Wikitravel" - Nong Khiaw (Nong Kiau or Nong Kiew) is a rustic little town on the bank of the Ou River in Laos. It is squeezed in between some of the most fantastic limestone mountains north of Vang Vieng.<br />
Many travellers pass through on the way up river to the even more isolated Muang Ngoi, but Nong Khiaw has a plenty of charm, a decent range of accommodation, plus conveniences suchas 24 hour electricity and a connection to the road network for those interested in exploring the surrounding area.
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  • Portrait of a girl i met in a small grocery shop in Nong Khiaw.
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  • Late in the morning in Nong Kiaw, i saw this children playing with a skipping rope.
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  • Women washing their clothes at a river bank in Muang Ngoi Neua.
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  • I saw this woman washing her child, while i was eating in a restaurant on the other side of the road. So i took the camera, went across the street, and asked her if i could take a photo.
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  • Four young monks posing in front of their monastery in Muang Ngoi Neua.
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  • In 1964 the United States of America started an intensive  nine year bombing campaign against Laos. Muang Ngoi Neua was also heavily bombed, forcing the inhabitants to escape into local caves.
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  • According to "Wikipedia" -  As of 2008, Laos is the most heavily bombed country, per capita, in the world. An average of one B-52 bomb-load was dropped on Laos every eight minutes, 24-hours-a-day, between 1964 and 1973.[22] Due to the particularly heavily impact of cluster bombs during this war, Laos was a strong advocate of the Convention on Cluster Munitions to ban the weapons and assist victims, and hosted the First Meeting of States Parties to the convention in November 2010.
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  • A family sitting beside the path leading from Muang Ngoi Neua to Ban Na.
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  • A water buffalo standing in a rice field located a few minutes away from Ban Na village.
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  • In Ban Na we observed that we were the only tourists in the village. We were offered a glas of rice wine by a very nice man and we regret that we have to leave Ban Na so quickly.
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  • Children posing in Ban Na village.
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  • The photo shows the main street of Muang Ngoi Neua.
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  • I saw this two kids playing in a small wooden trailer charged with Lao beer, just before taking the boat back to Luang Prabang.
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  • "Haw Pha Bang", also known as "Wat Ho Pha Bang" is a temple, located in the royal palace complex. The temple was primarily built to enshrine "Phra Bang" the most famous Buddha image in Laos.
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  • Children having fun while posing for the camera in Vang Vieng.
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  • Climbing the stairs to the Tham Chang caves in Vang Vieng.
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  • Two men washing in the river water of Nam Song River.
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  • According to "Wikipedia" - The Nam Song River is a small river in Laos that flows through the town of Vang Vieng. It is a popular tourist destination as many people enjoy seeing the Laotian countryside while going down the river in the inner tube of a tractor tyre or in a kayak. The river is surrounded by striking karst rock formations.
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  • That Dam, which means black Stupa, is located in the middle of a roundabout in <br />
Vientiane, the capital of Laos.
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  • A woman selling bamboo baskets in which rice, mainly glutinous rice, can be steamed.
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  • Students walking on the pavement of Pha That Luang area in Vientiane.
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  • The entrance gate to Pha That Luang, the gold-covered stupa of Vientiane.
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  • According to "Wikipedia" - Pha That Luang was destroyed by the Thai invasion in 1828, which left it heavily damaged and left abandoned. It was not until 1900 that the French restored to its original design based on the detailed drawings from 1867 by the French architect and explorer Louis Delaporte.[3] However the first attempt to restore it was unsuccessful and it had to be redesigned and then reconstructed in the 1930s.[3] During the Franco-Thai War, Pha That Luang was heavily damaged during a Thai air raid. After the end of World War II, Pha That Luang was reconstructed.
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  • Boys sitting near a giant pumpkin statue's exit, which ends and the top of the statue. Seen in "Xieng Khouan" Buddha Park.
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  • "Xieng Khouan" best known as Buddha Park is located 25km near Vientiane and <br />
worth a visit alone to admire some of the bizarrely shaped sculptures. The park includes a collection of over 200 Buddhist and Hindu statues of all models and sizes. On the photo you can see a reclining Buddha statue which is 120 m long.
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  • Nam Khan river flows through Luang Prabang and it is a tributary of the Mekong River.
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  • Two monks walking together in Luang Prabang.
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  • A couple leaving Wat Xieng Thong temple in Luang Prabang.
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  • The golden Naga carriage at  Wat Xieng Thong temple in Luang Prabang. According to "Wikipedia" - The Phaya Naga are n ga, mythical serpent-like creatures, believed by locals to live in the Mekong river or estuaries. Common explanations of their sightings have been attributed to oarfish, elongated fish with red crests; however, these are exclusively marine and usually live at great depths. People in both Laos and Thailand attribute the naga fireballs phenomenon to these creatures.
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  • Women carrying heavy baskets in the heat of summer.
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  • A woman crossing a wooden bridge over Nam Khan River in the midday heat. At the same time a fisherboat is cruising at the confluence of Nam Khan River and the Mekong River.
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  • The "3 Nagas" Hotel with its red Citroen from 1952, parked outside in Luang Prabang.
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  • Woman standing near the golden entrance of the funeral chapel of Wat Xieng Thong.
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  • Woman walking on a small bamboo bridge leading to the Pak Ou caves.
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  • The lower Pak Ou cave is filled with thousands of Buddha statues.
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  • Leaving the Pak Ou caves, and cruising back to Luang Prabang on Mekong River.
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  • Boys playing in a rice field in Vang Vieng.
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  • A Girl after jumping in a small river in Vang Vieng.
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  • A woman working in her garden in Vang Vieng.
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  • Early morning view over Vang Vieng, seen from a balloon.
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  • Early morning view over Vang Vieng, seen from a balloon.
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  • Early morning view over Vang Vieng, seen from a balloon.
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  • Early morning view over Vang Vieng, seen from a balloon.
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  • Early morning view over Vang Vieng, seen from a balloon.
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  • Early morning view over Vang Vieng, seen from a balloon.
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  • Early morning view over Vang Vieng, seen from a balloon.
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  • Early morning view over Vang Vieng, seen from a balloon.
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  • Early morning view over Vang Vieng, seen from a balloon.
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  • Monks leaving the large golden Buddhist stuppa, Pha That Luang.
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  • View from the top of Patuxai, also known as "Arc de triomphe" of Vientiane.
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  • According to "Wikipedia" -  The Patuxai was built during a turbulent period Lao history. It was built when Laos was a constitutional monarchy and was originally known simply as the "Anousavali" ("memory"), dedicated memory of the Laotian soldiers who died during World War II and the independence war from France in 1949.<br />
<br />
The monument was built using American funds and cement actually intended to build a new airport. The Royal Laotian Government instead built the monument, which earned it the nickname of the "vertical runway".
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  • Street scene near the center bus station in Vientiane.
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