caves'n'images

Come back in time with me blog mates. Back some 300 years or so, to when an itinerant Laos farmer, fancying bat fricassee for tea, followed the creatures into a cave.
Imagine his surprise on entering to discover it was stuffed full, not with bats, but with Buddhas! And so the wonder that is Buddha Cave was created.
Imagine OUR surprise, then, having stumped up the cash to view this marvel , to discover a family of three sitting in there having their lunch! I'm not sure why they were there, my grasp of the Laos language is shaky at best, and I don't know what they were eating, but it didn't look like bat fricassee.
You're probably wondering about those 300 Buddhas.  Well, photography wasn't allowed inside the cave. (I'm not surprised, given the quality of Buddhas on offer, not to mention the picnickers.)
However, by way of compensation, here's a pic of JB whacking a ceremonial gong.

Appetites whetted by the Buddha Cave experience, we went on to visit Elephant Cave in the afternoon.
This cave WAS stuffed with bats (if only that farmer had known....) and also contained a strange selection of statues that defy even my powers of description.
So here are some pics. ..

While we're talking about shrines, I've seen quite a few around and about that appear to be in honour of Nannas. I wholeheartedly approve of this, and am currently seeking an import license for Werthers Originals....

A question of balance

It has been pointed out to me ( by theLaos tourist board) that I may not have portrayed Tha Khaek in its best possible light.

In order to redress the balance, I offer the following pics of local scenery.

(This is the sort of thing you have to climb on)

Here's one of the Tha Khaek shopping mall....

And finally, in a break with tradition, here's a picture of the mighty Mekong AFTER the sun has set.......
.. ( with a shiny boat thrown in for good measure.)

Foreign pie news

There is no news. This is a desert as far as the baked pastry goods go.

Pitiful.

ooh heck it's Tha Khaek. .....

After a brief overnight stay in the capital, Vientiane, ( a cultured and somewhat  sophisticated city: Needless to say, JB and I fitted in perfectly) where we watched the sun set over the mighty Mekong, again(!!),  (apparently, it's a nightly phenomenon....) We set out on the 6 hour bus journey to Tha Khaek.

Some people might describe Tha Khaek as a one horse town. Those people would would probably be:
a)  overly generous,  and
b) have a strong grudge against horses.

So,  why are we here?


Well, about 13k outside town is the most spectacular scenery. Lots of big limestone karsts, semi hidden in jungle ( some of which I'm told can be climbed.....), deep mysterious caves and underground rivers. ( It's Gollum country and no mistake.....)


Also, our hotel supplies free nightly cocktails.....

Oh, and it's on the Mekong, so we can watch the sun set over the.......(yawn,yawn.....)

Pest watch

Cockroaches  14
Rats (still) 3

Who knows where the pests are in Laos?
Maybe the dust keeps them down.....

Dust and heat

A very warm welcome to Veng Viang, blog mates. It's a lovely place, if a little dusty. It's the kind of place that ambitious dust comes to in order to really learn its trade.

However, it has got some stunning scenery.  Here's the view from our hotel room.

The place is full of bright young things (and quite a few not so bright, if I'm honest)  jamming their rear ends into dusty inner tubes and floating down the river.  It's a shortcut to haemorrhoids and no mistake....

Here's a picture of the river ( mercifully free of tubular youth)

What with all this partying going on, it was inevitable that at some point, even we would be offered drugs for sale. Regular readers will be well aware that I always keep a couple of medicated corn plasters about my person, so I reckoned I had the drugs scene covered, and politely declined.

Did I mention the dust????

Roadside carnage!!

We set off on a minibus over the steep mountain roads to the aforementioned Vang Vieng.  Halfway up one of the steepest sections, we came upon a BeerLao delivery truck that had shed its load!

(BeerLao, for the uninitiated, is Laos finest, well only, if I'm honest, beer....)

There must have been at least thirty crates strewn across the road, their precious cargo lost.

I would have supplied a photo, but JB collapsed when confronted with such senseless waste, and I had to revive him.

A black day indeed....

Onward and Upward

We've decided to move on to Vang Vieng , a place slightly further south, famed for its tubing and allegedly Party Central.(Although I think my invite must still be in the post.....)


I wasn't all that sad to leave Luang Prabang. It's a nice enough place, slightly faded glamour, lots of Buddhist monks, and the Mekong running through it.

A bit like Ulverston, really. But without the Mekong....

Lao'd and clear

Welcome to Laos,  blog mates. Specifically, Luang Prabang, a town in the North of the country.  It's a UNESCO world heritage site, if that means anything to you, (and to be honest, it doesn't mean much to me..........)
It's an exceptionally laid back place, bordered by the Mekong River, with a fair few temples and examples of French architecture that have seen better days.

The currency in Laos is the kip. ( which rather puts a different slant on saying you're going upstairs for a kip, I can tell you..... )

Anyway, here's a picture of the sun seeing over the mighty Mekong....

 

I know that you're probably fed up with temple stuff, but hear me out, mates, this is interesting.

Every day at around 4pm, 2 or 3 of the more musical monks gather together to wallop seven shades out of a ceremonial drum like this one...

I've witnessed it, mates, and I must admit, the lads in saffron have rhythm. ....


That's about it for now, blog mates , my water buffalo burger has just arrived and requires my full attention....


Until next time...

Foreign pie news

I bring tidings of great joy!!! There has been a breakthrough in the Thai pie deadlock . Discovered at Chaing Mai airport, moments before our departure, I found the following:

Chicken pie:  quite  substantial filling,  curry oriented,  not a bad effort, although let down by greasy pastry.

Spinach pie:  A treat that would certainly please Popeye.   Lots of filling, a reasonable effort, although again, pastry not quite up to scratch.


NB. Both of the above were basically flavoured sausage rolls. But they are a starting point for what was until now bthought to be a pie free zone.
 Stand down, Greggs  pie missionaries..

Pestwatch update

 Cockroaches  13
Rats 3

There have been two sightings of a strange squirrel/rat hybrid creature (imagine a small possum with a dilapidated bog brush for a tail).
As to what it is and where it comes from, even the scientist is baffled.....

I'd like to thank JB for his untiring assistance in compiling pest watch Every night, without consideration for his own safety , he valiantly boots bags of rubbish in the hope of dislodging a rat or two.

Never has so much been owed by so many to so few......

Jungle capers

Today we went trekking in the jungle.(We're not celebrities, so we had to get ourselves out).
The day started with a visit to a market in the enchantingly named town of Mae Rim.....
Here's a picture of some really hot chillis on sale at the market, I'll leave you to supply the punchline.....

And while we're mining this rich seam of sophisticated humour, here's a bucket of crabs from the same market.....

Anyway,  returning  to the trek.  It was quite good, all told. Plenty of banana trees, bamboo fronds, waterfalls and the odd bit of shed snakeskin. Oh, and a few  random dogs that felt compelled to join us.
As I say, it was a good day out,and, more importantly there was beer at the end of it.
Here's a couple of jungle type pics, including one of JB , casually swinging on a liana, whilst looking out for a beer.

Foreign pie news

It's come to my attention, blog mates, that I've been somewhat slow on the pie news front.
There's a reason for that, (and I advise you to brace yourselves here pie lovers), there are NO pies to be had in Chang Mai!
Those of you with more than a passing acquaintance with me will know that I can sniff out a pie at over a hundred yards. so please believe me when I tell you that these people here are strangers to the baked pastry product.
How do they manage?
And, could we get Greggs to send out pie missionaries?
We leave for Chang Rai in a couple of  days. The search continues.........

pest update

I almost forgot
cockroaches 3
Rats still 1 (they're not really entering into the spirit of things...)

Wat time is now.....

Well, the rain has finally stopped and the trenchfoot is showing signs of improvement.  That can mean only one thing..... it's Wat time!!!!

Seasoned readers of this blog will probably already have logged off now, fearful of what's to come. Their loss.

For new readers, Wat time involved visiting as many temples (wats),  shrines and foreign places of worship as possible. And that's quite a lot believe me. And then showing you the pictures. That way, you don't have to do it.

Anyhow, here's today's selection....
More to follow later....

A rainy night in Chiang Mai

Welcome to Thailand, blogmates. We're in Chiang Mai, in the north of the country. Famed for its cuisine, mountains and now apparently, rain.
The rain is coming down in a fairly steady way. Think Manchester, but more exotic. I'm fairly certain that the animals are preparing to team up two by two........
Are we downhearted? No.
Are we wet? Certainly.
Are we about to take shelter in a hostelry? Why yes, yes we are. A bientot mates........

Oh, incidentally, I've decided to run a pest count.
Cockroaches seen so far: 1
Rats seen so far: 1

It's too close to call.....

Time and Thai wait for no Nan.....

Ahoy  blogmates!!  After a long spell of radio silence, I'm back!!! (Gagging orders don't last forever, you know...)

I've not been idle in the time I've been away. There have been a couple of European road trips and a fair bit of pie sampling. (Nothing really of note, although an ill advised pasty still haunts my lower intestines....)
Anyway, enough of looking back. It's time to turn our faces Eastward, assume the brace position and prepare to enter South East Asia!
We fly tomorrow, so expect the first pie news in a couple of days.
Until then, blogmates. ...