We hired a slow longboat for a 2 hour ride up the Mekong to the Tham Ting caves. The river was running fast, but was calm. The riverbanks were primarily quiet and natural with the occasional group of people bathing, doing laundry, gardening and picnicking. We spotted remote villages in the limestone mountains and soaked in the sunshine. It was as relaxing as a trip in Mom and Dad's boat on the Piscatiqua in Maine...only it was the Mekong...in Laos!
We stopped en route at "Whiskey Village"; a village of people dedicated to whiskey making! Jim sampled (and bought) a few rice whiskeys, but we stayed far away from the creepier glass jugs filled with whiskey and pickled creatures- scorpion, lizard, cobra, black bear feet (yep, you read that right), etc.
Back in the boat, we putted for 30 more minutes to the Tham Ting cave which hovers about 25 feet above the water. We climbed the white stone stairs and entered the cavern. There were literally thousands of Buddha statues- large and small, new and old- inside. Something about this place was magical and mystical. We whispered and pointed out our favorite statues. Addi made a love proclamation naming Riley, Aiden, Kaia and Tessa...and added in that all of the Buddhas here were so, so beautiful that she couldn't even believe it.
The peace was disrupted by the booming karaoke of an approaching Thai party boat, so we hopped in our boat for a sunset ride home.
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More great tales of your journey... just wondering, are you going to have a Buddha shrine in your house when you return to CT? It sounds like you have a budding Buddhist and since you've been surrounded by so many statues in the past few months, she might miss them! Miss you. xo
ReplyDeletePooh and I are living vicariously through your blog - we are soaking it up! Pooh wants to spend time imagining that she is there. lots of love Pooh and Baba
ReplyDeleteAaawwwwwww., she named Kai and Tess? :-)
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