The Coffin Makers of Luang Prabang

A Lao Coffin Maker

On our journies throughout Southeast Asia, Duang and I in addition to seeing the tourist highlights, we like to break out and break away from the crowds in order to meet local people on their terms.  We both particularly enjoy talking to the people about their life and observe them gong about their life.

On our first day in Luang Prabang on our trip two weeks ago, we spotted an interesting sight on our trip from our hotel out to the sight of the Hmong New Years Festival.  Along side of the road we saw a workshop where men were working on a very elaborate coffin.  The coffin was a tapered pale yellow box unlike the simple rectangular box of the consummable coffins used here in Isaan.  The coffin was also resting on top of a stepped pedestal that ran the length of the coffin.

In addition to the coffin, there were several special spirit houses, "Baan Pii" or "Basahts".  Baan Pii or basahts are special houses constructed for Buddhist funeral rituals typically the "Tamboon Roy Wan" ("Bone Party" or "One Hundred Day Ritual").  As part of the "Bone Party" after the cremation of a Theravada Buddhist, small houses are built and filled with items that are necessary to habitate a small home - woven reed mats (sahts), candles, toiletries, towels, pots, plates, spoons, rice, and pillows (mons).  People offer these items to the spirit of the deceased person.  A ritual is then conducted where the basaht and associated items are offered in the name of the deceased to the Monks.

The next morning on our way to the Hmong New Years Festival, we asked our driver to stop at the workshop.  When we arrived, the ornate coffin was no where to be seen.  Although "just in time delvery" of materials is touted as a modern and efficient manufacturing technique, it has long been practiced out of economic necessity by many cultures.

A Coffin Under Construction

Although we were unable to view a completed coffin at the shop. there was a coffin that was under construction.

Worker Moves A Partially Completed Basaht

The workers were busy working on making basahts.  The basahts are simple structures framed with approximately 2 inch square lumber and sheathed with roughly one-eighth inch plywood.  The two outermost beams of the basaht are extended to serve as handles for transporting the small house.

Cutting Lumber For Basahts

While men were working outside in front of the work shop, measuring, marking, and cutting the plywood - five sheets at a time into components to assemble the basahts, a young man was busy cutting the lumber to be used for the basaht framing.

Installing the Basaht's floor

From the owner of the shop, we learned that it was a family business.  They typically make four coffins and 5 basahts a day.  A coffin typically costs 4,000,000 to 6,000,000 Kip ($500 to $750 USD).  I was surprised at the high cost of the coffin.  I was expecting it to cost more around $50 to $100.

Do you know the easiest and quickest way to become a millionaire?  Go to Lao Peoples Democratic Republic, Laos, and exchange roughly $130 into Lao currency, Kip.  However if you exchange roughly $300 US dollars be prepared to walk around with a bulge in your pants.  I carry my wallet in my front pocket so my fat wallet made quite a bulge in the front of my pants - I don't know if it made any impression on people but I did feel like a multimillionaire.

The owner took some time to show the coffin to me.  I marveled at small the coffin was - built to hold someone around 5'2" and roughly 125 pounds.  I joked with the owner if he could build a coffin for me.  As a good businessman, he said that he could build a bigger for me.  I told him, through Duang, that I was glad to hear that because I would not want to be split in half to fit in the standard coffin.  He laughed.

Acessories to Decorate Coffins

The platform upon which the coffin rests is actually a sort of optical illusion.  Viewed straight on, the coffin appears to be resting on a solid base of a four step platform.  However upon closer inspection from above reveals that the steps are just a facade - hollow frames.

The owner pulled me aside, bent down, lifted up, and showed me a rectangle of soft rubber.  The rubber had several pins in it and had been intricately cut in the shape of reflective decoration on the side of the coffin support structure.  The owner then proceeded to show me how many folded reflective foil was placed on the rubber template and cut to create long chains of reflective intricate shapes to place on the coffin and its support structure.

Next to the coffin was a pile of plastic decorative items.  They were the same items used to decorate coffins in Isaan - thepanom (thep phanom) "angels" and garuda, mythological creatures of the Himmapan Forest.  The plastic sculptures will be spray painted gold before being nailed to the sides of the coffin.

Closer to the center of town, on our way back to the hotel, we passed quite a sight.  In front of a home there were 10 basahts lined along the sidewalk along with the ubiqutous awnings sheltering tables and chairs associated with a funeral ritual.  This was obviously a very important person who had died.  I have seen two basahts before but never ten.

From our visit at the coffin workshop, we went on the the Hmong New Years festival a little further up the road.

Build a better ...

Khmu man making bird snares

There is a popular saying in the USA that states "Build a better mousetrap, and the world will beat a path to your door"

The saying is actually a misquote of Ralph Waldo Emerson's words "If a man has good corn or wood, or boards, or pigs, to sell, or can make better chairs or knives, crucibles or church organs, than anybody else, you will find a broad hard-beaten road to his house, though it be in the woods."

On our recent trip to Luang Prabang, Lao People's Democratic Republic (Laos), we traveled broad hard beaten and dusty dirt roads not through the woods but rather the jungles of highlands to visit some less visited villages.  What we found was unexpected.  What we found was extremely interesting.  What we found was not a better mousetrap but apparently some pretty darn good rat and bird snares.

Since this trip was our third to the region, we had several places that we wanted to revisit.  However by the third day we had visited most of those places.  I knew that our guide had developed a good sense of what interested us.  On the morning of the third day, he asked us where we wanted to go.  I replied that we would rely upon his judgement as to where we would go.  He said that he knew of some villages, Lao, Khmu, and Hmong that not many tourists visited.  Sounded good to us!

We set off and were soon bouncing along a dirt road that climbed up through the cool highland morning mists.  We drove higher and higher surrounded by verdant peaks.  After a lengthy visit to a traditional Lao village we visited two Khmu villages.

Traditional Khmu Houses

There was a great deal of activity in the villages.  Rice was drying out in the sun along with beans, each on their separate tarps.  An old blacksmith was busy making a large cane knife in his foundry attached to the back of his thatched roofed woven bamboo house.  The sharp metallic staccato of his striking the hot metal with a heavy hammer on his improvised anvil echoed throughout the village.

Children skited about rolling bicycle and motorcycle tires much like children did many years ago in America.  Other children congregated to check out the strangers that had just appeared in their village interrupting the the monotony of a simple life.

Village dogs acknowledged our presence more out curiosity than any sense of duty or sense to intimidate.

Khmu Man Constructing A Rat Snare

Shortly after commencing to explore the village, we encountered a man working.  He was making homemade snares to capture rats.  The snares were to be placed on trails frequented by rats in the nearby jungle.  The snared rats would then be brought back to the village to be eaten,

It was very interesting to watch the man craft the intricate snare out of natural locally available materials other than the braided nylon string.  Tubes, rods, straps, loops, and peg components for the snares were fashioned from the readily available and free of cost bamboo.

Khmu Man Making Bird Snares

Further into the village, we came upon another man building snares.  The snares that this man was constructing were more intricate and, in my opinion, bordered on being works of art - sort of like kinetic sculpture.  Through our driver we learned that these snares were for catching birds.

Just as in the case of the rat snares, other than the nylon braided line, all components of the bird snare were fashioned from local bamboo.  To produce the various components of snare from the bamboo, the craftsman used a handmade large knife and for a vise to secure the raw material to be worked, he used his bare feet.

 

 



The craftsman was very friendly as he continued to fashion his snares next to a smoldering fire that gave some warmth against the early morning chill of the Lao Highlands.  For added warmth he was wearing a large, several sizes too large, jacket.  In addition to us he was soon joined by other people - curious children.  Two young boys interrupted their play to join the snare maker while chewing on a freshly cut sugar cane.

Sugar Cane Chewing Boys Join the Snare Maker

 

With gnarled and weathered fingers bearing testament to a long life of subsistence living, the snare maker expertly fashioned the components into working snares.  One reason that I enjoy visiting the peoples of outlying villages is to see how they live and to photograph how they are able to survive by exploiting local resources and relying upon themselves.  I, with my engineering degree and over 40 years of work experience, could not help but contemplate how long I could survive in similar circumstances.  I am continually amazed at the talents and skills of people that I encounter, people who lack the formal education and experience of living in technically as well as self-perceived "advanced" societies.  Whereas I would expect to survive 3 to 5 days in their situation, the peoples manage to survive, thrive and in many cases remain happy into advanced age.

Our Guide Purchases Some Bird Snares

 "Build a better mousetrap, and the world will beat a path to your door" or rather the proper quote "If a man has good corn or wood, or boards, or pigs, to sell, or can make better chairs or knives, crucibles or church organs, than anybody else, you will find a broad hard-beaten road to his house, though it be in the woods." was confirmed during our visit to the Khmu village.  The craftsman was not producing a better mousetrap but was making bird snares.  I don't know if they were better snares than what other people produce.  They looked fine to me and seemed very fit for purpose.  However our guide was someone who knew of these matters and had experience with those things.  He spoke with the craftsman and closely inspected the bird snares.  After a while he ended up buying five snares from the man.

Our guide said that often his family go off and have picnics.  He said that the snares would be very helpful for those family outings to catch some birds to eat.

Having completed our visit to the village we returned to that broad hard-beaten road through the jungle to go on to the next village and what encounters along with any amazement that could be awaiting us there.

Wonders and amazement along the back roads of Laos were awaiting us.

Wonders and amazement await all of us along the journey of this life.

The Games That Some People Play ...

A Hmong Young Man Plays Pov Pob

The games that some people play ... is not about deception, cheating, or the manipulation of human emotions or social intercourse.

The games that some people play ... is not about politics or even politicians.

The games that some people play ... is not about international affairs involving Iran, North Korea, the USA, or any other country.

This blog is literally about some of the games that we saw the Hmong people playing during our trip to Laos in early December 2010.

A Hmong Beauty Prepares to Catch A Ball

We had gone up to Luang Prabang to once again witness the Hmong New Years Celebration.  The Hmong people in Laos celebrate New Year after the harvest and in accordance to the stage of the moon in accordance with their lunar calendarr.  It is a time for the people from various clans to get together and socialize when there is a lull in the field work.  During the Hmong New Years celebration there are spiritual rituals and observances that are rather private and mostly limited to family members. During the public aspects of the celebration there is traditional music, traditional dancing, traditional clothing, eating drinking, gambling, and socializing.  The public activities are very interesting events for at least four of the five senses - propriety limits the opportunities for the sense of touch.  Socializing besides involving sharing gossip includes playing games.

Hmong Girls Playing Pov Pob

The most widely known Hmong game is most likely "Pov Pob".  Pov Pob is a ball tossing game.  It is played throughout the year in Laos but it is special during the New Years festival.  Especially in the older times it was difficult for young Hmong men and young Hmong women to find potential mates.  Hmong people are forbidden to marry within their clan.  Since the villages are often made up exclusively of a single clan and the burdens of farming leave little time to go off in search of a potential mate.  It was at the meeting of various clans at the New Year Festival that the young people had an opportunity to meet potential husbands and wives.  This tradition continues today for the Hmong people in the Lao People's Democratic Republic (LPDR).

Pov Pob In Progress at the New Years Festival

Pov Pob is described as an activity for adolescents and akin to a courtship ritual.  That is true just as it is true to describe dancing as a fertility ritual in the United States.  Although it is true in both situations, the description is incomplete and also not completely accurate.  Just as you will see very elderly people in the USA dancing to the tunes of their youth and thoroughly enjoying themselves, you will observe older Hmong people playing Pov Pob.  The older Hmong people participating in Pov Pob like the adolescents are looking for a mate.  They are either divorced or widowed however there are some who are looking for an additional mate.  Polygamy is illegal in Laos but some old cultural practices still remain albeit not commonly.  During our visit last month we found a middle aged man who with the assistance of his middle aged wife was courting an 18 year old girl to be his wife.

Young Boy Holding a Traditional Hmong Ball for Pov Pob

Willing, if not yet capable of playing "Pov Pob"

Along with the adolescents and older  people playing the match game, there are plenty of young children who also participate in their own way in pov pob - sort of like young children dancing back in America - they imitate their older siblings and just because it is FUN.

Hmong Teenaged Men Participating in Pov Pob

Because of the match making possibilities of Pov Pob during the New Year Festival, girls wear the best traditional Hmong clothing.  Their garments are colorful, emblazoned with intricate embroidered designs.  The girls and women also wear their traditional Hmong silver jewelry.  Their ensemble is often topped off with a traditional and colorful hat.  To a lesser extent boys and young men will wear elaborate if not traditional clothing. 

Sometimes a person has to generalize in order to describe or to approach any semblance of effective communication.  The mere fact that it is a generalization means that the description is not 100% accurate for all cases and circumstances.  As is the case for most things in life there are exceptions.  In order to describe Pov Pob I will be generalizing.

A Girl Sings As She Prepares to Catch A Ball

In general girls and boys form two lines facing each other.  A small soft cloth ball, or a tennis ball, or sometimes an orange is lobbed back and forth between the lines.  Girls can throw to girls but boys are not allowed to toss to another boy.  In addition you are not allowed to lob the ball to a member of your own clan.  The person on the receiving end of the toss catches the ball with one hand.  If you are "interested" in someone you toss the ball to them.  If a boy makes a good throw to a girl and she doesn't try to catch it, she is letting him know not too subtly that she is not interested him.

If you make a good lob to someone and they drop the ball or miss catching the ball, the person is supposed to take a piece of their costume, a piece of silver, or  a bell from their costume to the person across from them.  To get the ornament or trinket back, the person has to sing to the person opposite them.  The singing and ball tossing are ice breakers for the people.   For those who are playing the game to find a match, 15 years and older, if they make a love connection they and the person who is also interested in them will leave the game.  The pair go off to get to know each other better.  If they determine that they are right for each other they will publicly announce their intentions three days later and will be married about three weeks later when the moon is right - a new moon.

A Private and Personal Pov Pob - Perhaps a Prelude to Much More



A Spinning Top Is Hurled Down Field

During this trip to the Hmong people in Laos, Duang and I watched another Hmong game called "Tujlub" (Spinning Tops) which is played by men and boys.  We watched a spinning top match on our first day in the field that served as a parking lot at one of the two festival sites that we visited throughout our stay in Luang Prabang.

The tops are carved out of very dense hardwood.  They reminded me a great deal of  turnips that were cooked for Thanksgiving dinners back in Connecticut.  A heavy cotton string about 3 or 4 meters (9 to 12 feet) long is wrapped very tightly around the wood top.  The other end of the heavy string is attached to a stick about 4 to 5 cm in diameter (1-1/2 in. to 2 in.) and 60 to 90 cm (2 - 3 feet) long.  The top is held in one hand the stick in the other hand.  The top is thrown down field while at the same time the stick is jerked downwards in a whip like or slashing motion.

The rules for playing Tujlub differ from location to location.  For the match that we watch, this appeared to be how the game was played.  There were two teams of three players each.  The first team went down the hardened dirt pitch about 10 meters (30 feet) and set their tops spinning in a somewhat tight grouping in a slightly recessed area which reminded me of a greatly worn horseshoe pit.  Once the tops were set about spinning the other team members one by one heaved their tops at the spinning stationary tops to strike them; driving them out of the area and stopping their spinning.  Apparently points were awarded for every top that was stopped by the second team.

One of the Target Tops Is Set to Spinning While One Is Already Spinning

The process was repeated again about 20 meters from the starting line and once again about 30 meters from the starting line.  After completing the three distances, the teams swapped positions with the second team setting up their tops spinning at the predetermined distances and the first team attempting to hit the spinning tops by hurling their tops down field.


A Spinning Top About To Escape From Its Line

It was amazing how often a spinning top was hit by a hurled top.  The sound of the colliding wood tops was like the sharp crack of a well hit baseball with a hickory bat.  From my position down field I had a clear and impressive view of how fast and powerful the tops were hurled towards their targets.  I was also impressed and extremely grateful as to how accurate the players were.


A Player Puts All That He Has Into His Hurl

At the other end of the festival site, men - older and appearing to be of a higher social status, were playing petanque.  Petanque is similar to bocce.  It is a French game whose current form was developed in 1907.  It is played with metal balls on a hard compacted dirt or gravel rectangular area.

A Petanque Player In Vientiane, LPDR

A small wood ball is thrown and points are earned by throwing or rolling the larger metal balls closer to it than the other team's attempts similar to bocce and not that much different than horse shoes.  Perhaps the saying of "Close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades" should be modified to "Close only counts in horseshoes, bocce, petanque and hand grenades as well as nuclear weapons".

Part of the game strategy in addition to getting your balls closet to the wood ball called "cochonnet" is also to knock your opponent's ball away from the wood ball so that yours are closer or his are eliminated from the pitch.


Petanque Players Figuring Out Who Is Closest

The penchant for playing petanque is a legacy of French colonialism here in Southeast Asia.  There is a factory that produces petanque balls (boule) in Vientiane, Laos.  Although the French never colonized Thailand, petanque is played here in Isaan.  I suspect the interaction of Thailand's Lao Loum population with their cousins across the Mekong River in Lao People's democratic Republic goes a long ways towards explaining its popularity here.  I have played some with my brother-in-law and the Tahsang Village officials.  It is a nice game to play when the weather is hot and the beer is ice cold.

Playing Petanque Along the Bank of the Mekong River In Laos

It was interesting to see how people in a different culture entertain and amuse themselves.  A common denominator for all three of the games was the fact that people were making do with what was readily and perhaps more importantly what was cheaply available to them.  Their games did not involve a great deal of investment of time, equipment, space, or energy.  The Hmong games were also very social events with participants socializing as much as they were competing.

Luang Prabang - Sala Pha Bang



Altar for Displaying Pra Bang

As I wrote in a previous blog, my top priority for our last day in Luang Prabang, Laos, our stay in town day, was to go to the Royal Palace Museum specifically to check out the Sala Pha Bang.  The Sala Pha Bang, also referred to as Haw Pha Bang, is the Royal Chapel and is located in the northeast corner of the Royal Palace Museum compound.  It is not an ancient building.  In fact it is not a very old building.  It was originally constructed in 1963; Western calendar and not "1963" 0f the Buddhist Era calendar which would make it 453 years older.

Sala Pha Bang In December Late Afternoon Sunlight

The King of Laos directed that it be renovated in 1973.  With the Communist Pathet Lao taking over control of Laos in 1975, the project was abandoned.  Over the years the Communist government relaxed its restrictions and attitudes towards the Buddhist religion with the project to renovate the Sala Pha Bang recommencing in 1993.  According to my 2005 edition of Lonely Planet guidebook, "Laos", the project was scheduled to be completed at the end of 2004.  During our first visit in February 2008, interior work specifically painting, installing pieces of brightly colored reflective glass, and applying gold leaf on intricately carvings was still ongoing.  I had estimated that the project was about 80% complete at the time.

It is interesting that it appears that no matter the form of government, government projects always seem to have budget and schedule problems.  In all my years of working on private projects, some considered to be Mega-Projects, the projects were seldom late.  Of the very few that were completed late, they were weeks or perhaps a couple of  months late but never a year let alone more than 4 years late!

The purpose of the restoration of the Sala Pha Bang was to prepare it to receive and store a statue of Buddha referred to as "Pra Bang".  The "Pra Bang" is a staue of Buddha in the "Dispelling Fear" position.  The statue is most likely Khmer from the 1300s although legend has it coming from Ceylon in the 1st century.  In 1359 a Khmer King gave the statue to his son-in-law in Laos which gave the monarchy there Buddhist legitimacy.  The statue has been venerated by the Lao people since that time.

We arrived at the Royal Palace Museum at 11:00 A.M. only to discover that it was closed until 1:30 P.M.  We took advantage of the closing to pursue a dream that had come to me in my sleep the night before.  My dream was not a quest for anything spiritual or involving any mysteries of either life or the universe.  In my dream, I was eating a Croque Monsieur sandwich.  Croque Monsieur is a grilled hot ham and cheese sandwich.  Before I left the cultural rich Luang Prabang area, I wanted to eat a Croque Monsieur.  Earlier in the morning we had encountered a French woman at a French cafe near our hotel who told me upon my informing her of my culinary quest that the best Croque Monsieur was served at the the Elephant Restaurant.  We asked around and found out where the Elephant Restaurant was.  It was back close to where our hotel was.  We eventually found the restaurant and sat down in what appeared to be a 1920's French brasserie.  That should have been a tip off.  The second tip off was when I was presented a leather bound wine list - A3 size (8.5 inches x 11 inches) FOR LUNCH.  I looked at the menu and there were some very tasty items described but no Croque Monsieur!  I checked and double checked the menu.  I had Duang explain to the waiter what I was looking for and he brought the maitre d' over.  We were in the wrong place!  But we were not the only ones or I doubt the last ones who had made the same mistake.  It turns out that the Elephant restaurant runs two other restaurants one of them being "Le Cafe Ban Vat Sene" about three blocks away and almost across the street from our hotel which did serve Croque Monsieur.  We made our apologies and left what our 2005 version of Lonely Planet guide book for Laos describes as "One of Luang Prabang's most elegant Western eateries ..."

We found the correct cafe and I enjoyed my fabulous Croque Monsieur and a French fruit tart while Duang enjoyed her Thai food entry for lunch.  With one obsession satisfied we walked back down to the Royal Palace Museum.

A Side Staircase to Sala Pha Bang

After paying the entrance fee, we headed directly over to the Sala Pha Bang.  As was the situation two years ago, people were busy posing for photos in front of the building.  Many of the people were flashing the "V" sign for their portrait - definitely not something or someone that I wanted in my photos.  We wandered off to the side and back of the building to find ourselves completely alone.  This was also the situation two years ago.  People all want to see what everyone else has seen and what everyone else will easily recognized.  After getting their photos which are just like everyone else's photos they scurry off to the next well recognized venue.  However just as there are two sides to every argument, two sides to a story, there are many perspectives to a venue.  By investing more time, sometimes just a little more, and more footsteps, you can better appreciate and experience a location.  For me it is not appearing in a postcard photo but for me it is all about the sights form all angles, sounds, smells and ambiance of a location. Not that I should be complaining; for if more people shared our travel philosophy Allen's World would be much more crowded!  I am fortunate that this philosophy also works for Duang so I always have someone to share the complete experience with. 

Exterior Door At Back of Sala Pha Bang

Main Staircase At Back of Royal Chapel

Handrail Detail of Naga At Back of Royal Palace Chapel

We eventually arrived at the front of the Royal Chapel and entered.  The restoration work had been completed but the venerated Buddha was not on display.  There was a lone female attendant seated in a plastic chair in the corner of the fabulous room.  Duang pulled up a spare plastic chair and started speaking with the attendant while I went about oohing and ahhing as I took photographs.

The interior was filled with intricately carved walls, ceiling, and columns.  In many locations any flat areas were filled with pieces of reflective colorful glass.  Most of the carvings were covered with gold leaf.  We had watched the craftsmen applying some of the gold leaf two years ago.  No adhesive is utilized to apply the gold leaf to base structures.  Static electricity from the super thin gold keeps the small sheets of gold attached.  Craftsmen use very fine brushes to apply the gold leaf in place and to brush out any trapped air between the leaf and the base.

Perhaps because the Pra Bang was not on display, there were few visitors to the inside of the chapel.  During our one-and one-half visit to the Chapel, there were no more than 15 to 20 other visitors.  This made it very convenient to thoroughly enjoy the beauty and mastery of the building.  I was able to lay flat on the floor and stare up at the ceiling.  The ceiling was dark red with carved gold leafed carvings of life in Laos a long time ago.  Mixed in with the scenes of Lao life were representations of Buddha's many lives.  Some of the scenes reminded me of scenes from the "Ramakian" back in Bangkok.  I suspect that the scenes are actually from the Hindu epic "Ramayana" upon which the Ramakian is based.


One of Several Murals in the Sala Pha Bang

There are also several carved gold leafed murals on the walls that I am certain are based upon the Ramayana.  It was a feast of intricately carved figures, gold leaf, and rich dark red paint.  Inside the chapel there were several ornate columns.

Ornate Interior Columns

Group of Ornate Interior Columns

One group of visitors to the Chapel while we were there was a Buddhist Abbott, two young Monks, and a Maechi; a female who is someone between an ordinary layperson and an ordained Monk - all from Thailand.  They spoke some English so I was able to communicate with them along with Duang's Thai conversation.  The entire atmosphere was very relaxed.

Monks Visiting From Thailand

The Lao attendant convinced that we posed no threat or perhaps just bored, left us alone after awhile.  left us alone to the extent that she left the building.  After  I had been photographing  a while Duang had to go to the bathroom.  Believing that I could not get into any trouble she left me alone while she walked to the far side of the compound where the restrooms are located.  There was no need for me to show her where they were because she had used them two years ago and just prior to entering the Sala Pha Bang.  Well Duang's belief that I would not get into trouble was not justified.  As I was photographing the beauty that surrounded me two small groups of people came in.  In both groups a person touched the intricate gold leafed carvings.  I was polite but I did not suffer in silence.  As in the protection of children, I believe we all need to contribute to the protection of our heritage be it art, or natural wonders.  In the absence of the attendant I decided to take on the roll of guardian of the Lao heritage.  I informed both people in Thai to not touch the carvings that it was not good to do so.  When Duang returned, I told her and she smiled somewhat embarrassed by my activism.  I get upset when people though their ignorance, callousness, or non-thinking endanger works of art or heritage for others.  When the attendant finally returned I informed her of what happened and also pointed out to her to be on guard for others.  I felt better  but I also had the nagging suspicion that she was also like too many other government employees.

Interior Door Detail - Buddha Upon A Lotus Flower

We left to walk back to our hotel where our bag was being held and where our driver was to pick us up to go the airport.  Our flight was scheduled to leave at 5:50 P.M. so we planned on meeting our driver at 4:00 P.M.  When we were about two blocks from our hotel, I saw out of the corner of my eye a Tuk-Tuk slow down which is not uncommon in Luang Prabang.  Tuk-Tuks constantly are hustling about trying to fares.  However when this driver called out he was laughing and smiling - it was our driver.  Since we were so close to the hotel, I waved him on.  Once again he had arrived early!

Duang and I could not believe how quickly our day about town had passed.  It had been a great day for the end of a great visit.  Although we had seen all the major items that we planned on for our second visit to the area, there were still many things that we still have yet to see or do in Luang Prabang.  Many things to see and do; reasons to return for a third visit some day.

School Daze - Luang Prabang

Lao Students Clean Their Classroom Before the Start of Lessons

On our last day in Luang Prabang, we were scheduled to leave at 5:50 P.M. so we had essentially the whole day for sightseeing.  Since we had visited three outlying villages the day before and had visited the two local Hmong New Year festival sights three times, we decided to dedicate our last day to walking about Luang Prabang.  Although we had visited the city before there were several things that we wanted to see and do.

On the top of my list was to go to the Royal Palace Museum and specifically visit the now completed Sala Pha Bang.  In February 2008 during our first visit to the city we spent a great deal of time watching craftsmen applying gold leaf to the walls.  This year we would have the opportunity to enjoy their completed work but that will be subject to a future blog entry.

The second location that I wanted to visit was the Luang Prabang Primary School.  Our hotel was located in the Historical Temple District of Luang Prabang on Th Sakkrin which seamlessly transforms into Th. Sisavangvong.  Th Sisavangvong is where the Royal Palace Museum is located and where the nightly Handicraft Market is set up.  During our stay, it was also where films were screened for the Luang Prabang International Film Festival.  Every evening when we walked downtown we would pass by the Luang Prabang Primary School about two or three blocks from our hotel.  I wanted to see what school was like for Lao children and compare it to the schools that I have visited in other countries.

Friday morning, or last day in Laos, I was awoken at 4:00 A.M.just like every other morning by the banging of the Wat's bell next door.  The early wake ups didn't bother me because, for me, it was part of the ambiance of the location and culture.  It was just like when I lived in the Muslim countries of Algeria and Malaysia. The calls to prayer from very early morning to night never bothered me.  To the contrary, I actually enjoyed them for they were reminders that I was no longer home and for me they were a connection to a distant past.  Experiencing rituals that are over 1,800 years old is fascinating to me.

Being a practicing Buddhist, the early morning wake-up was not so fascinating for Duang.  Since we did not have offerings for the Monks she was embarrassed to watch the Tak Bat without participating.  The hotel could arrange for food offerings and as I wrote earlier about this trip, roving street peddlers were all too willing to sell you offerings for the Monks.  I told her about this but she still chose to fall back asleep and get up at 7:00 A.M.  It actually worked out well, she was dressed and cleaned up for the day upon my return to the hotel.  After sharing breakfast together, I quickly showered, shaved, and we set off upon our daily trips.

I had heard that the Monks practice meditation and chanting prior to going out on their alms walk each morning.  I interpreted this as they would assemble in one of the Wat buildings to perform their meditation and chanting.  This was a ritual that I had not seen before and definitely wanted to photograph.  Since I was already awake, I got dressed, grabbed my camera bag and headed downstairs.  My hiking boots were underneath the hotel Christmas tree where I had left them next to Duang's shoes.  Each night I had joked with the staff about Santa Claus coming to fill my boots with goodies.  Each morning I feigned disappointment that Santa Claus had not taken care of me - yet.  Actually I was just happy that the boots were still there. I can only imagine how difficult US size 11 (Lao 44) boots would be to find in Luang Prabang or any other place in Laos.

I walked over to the Wat next door and found all the front gates to be locked shut.  I tried the side gates and soon found one that was not locked.  I entered the Wat compound and located a building that seemed appropriate for Monks to assemble in for meditating as well as chanting.  There was a stone bench outside of the building so I sat down and made myself comfortable to wait for the Monks. I waited and waited and then I waited some more.  It was interesting to hear the sounds coming from the street on the other side of the Wat's perimeter wall.  People were setting up sahts on the sidewalk and laying out the containers of sticky rice for the tourists.  I could hear the shuffling sound of flip flops on the asphalt as the street vendors went about their business.  Other sounds were from local residents setting up their little restaurants on the sidewalk in front of their home to prepare, cook, and serve hungry people their first meal of the day.  What I did not hear was anything of interest coming from inside of the Wat compound.  Once in a while I heard a cough or saw a door crack open as a Monk left his quarters to go the bathroom building.  I did not see any meditation.  I did not hear any chanting.  I suspect that the Monks must do both the chanting and meditating silently in the privacy of their room alone or with only the Monk that they share their room with.  Oh well just as in sports ... you may not play in every game but you dress to play every game.  I didn't get any photographs but I had tried and I was ready.

A Food Vendor In Luang Prabang

Around 6:00 A.M. the Monks came out of their quarters and started to assemble outside to begin their Tak Bat.  I joined the other tourists outside on the street. literally and figuratively.  For some shots, I actually sat in the street to get a better perspective of the scene.

An Elderly Woman Makes Early Morning Offerings In Laos

After the Tak Bat, I walked down to the Nam Khan River and watched men fishing with nets for awhile and then I walked to the primary school.  I arrived at the school at 7:30 A.M. for the scheduled 8:00 A.M. start of the day.  Some students were brought to school on motorbikes by a parent or older sibling.  Some students arrived on Tuk-Tuks.  Most of the children walked from their nearby homes to the school.

Main Building of Luang Prabang Primary School, LPDR

The school yard was a beehive of activity.  Many of the students were occupied cleaning up the school yard.  Many of the students, typically the boys, were busy avoiding work and chores.  Groups of young girls gathered to prepare for the day and get caught up on whatever is important for young Lao girls to talk about.  Some boys were busy playing a game that involved a soccer ball and a line pulled taut between two posts - it wasn't volleyball; it wasn't soccer; and the ball was too big and heavy to be kataw - it may have been just a game that they invented with what is available to them.

School Boy Cleaning the Canopy Roof of His School



School Boys Playing Before the Start of Lessons



A Teacher Supervises Some of His Students Outside of the School Yard

I entered the school yard and started to take photographs.  There were no security guards.  There were no Police.  The school yard reminded me a great deal of my elementary school days at Colonel Ledyard Elementary School in Groton, Connecticut - no play ground equipment, no rubber mats or astro turf - just dirt and rocks.  There were no security concerns just a bunch of kids burning up energy and excited about the start of the day if not about a stranger that walked amongst them.

Young Girl Cleans Up the School Yard

Some of the children reminded me of some of the people, perhaps characters, that I attended elementary school with.  It was amazing that after 50 years I could easily recognize the people that I went to school with or rather the character traits and behaviors common to my former classmates half a word and half a century away.  It reinforced a theme to my photography - "to show extraordinary people doing ordinary things. In so doing, I wish to show how different people appear, to provide a glimpse of other cultures, to celebrate the diversity of mankind, and to demonstrate that despite our appearances we are so much alike."

Student's Shoes Outside of Their Class Room

The Luang Prabang Primary School is an old building in the French Colonial style.  I suspect that it was built when most of the colonial buildings were constructed in Luang Prabang from 1920 to 1925.  The classrooms have extremely high ceilings. There is no air conditioning or screens on the windows.  In fact there is no glass in the windows.  Heavy wood shutters are open during the day and closed over the window openings at the end of the day.  The window trim exhibited many layers of paint.


Students In the Class Room Window, Luang Prabang

A wide porch on the school building in conjunction with a cantilevered overhanging roof provides protection from rain and most likely just as important - the sun.  Floors of the classrooms are tile and the walls are stucco cement.  The walls were painted many years ago and at the risk of hyperbole not washed recently.  The class rooms are mostly natural lighted with just a minimum of florescent fixtures for the darkest times.  I used high ISO settings and a flash on my camera to photograph the rooms which are much darker than they appear in the pictures. 



The Teacher's Lounge - I Think

 Some of the posters such as the "Times Tables" 2x2, 2x3, ... 11x11 ... 12x12. are printed on cloth rather than paper; much more durable.  I was very impressed with the neatness of the Lao writing on the blackboards.  The desks look they very well could have been the originals form 1925.  They were heavy and obviously capable of lasting several generations rather than mere years.


Two Boys Finishing Their "Home"work Before Class Starts



Lao Anatomy Poster



Waiting For the Last Minute to Complete His Homework

I introduced myself to a couple of the teachers and showed them the photographs that I had taken in case they were concerned or cared.  I suspect that the teachers were not concerned and didn't care.  It appeared that they had given me the benefit of the doubt and trusted me - very much like the times when I went to elementary school.  It was a much more relaxed and happier time that still exits for the most part here in Southeast Asia even in a Communist state.  I really appreciate the freedom here to photograph people, and to interact with them without suspicion and accusations by them.  To the contrary, I find that the more that interact with the people the more opportunities that I have for photographs and the more that I learn about their life as well as culture.

Lao Primary School Teacher - 5th Grade

I had expected some type of formal flag raising and quasi-military "start of the day" ceremony prior to the beginning of class room work. The start of the formal class day was actually very informal. A middle aged man dressed in dark slacks and a cotton long sleeved shirt that had the sleeves rolled up to his elbows walked on to the school yard. I got the impression that he was the man that all the children kept an eye out all the time - the PRINCIPAL. He said some things in a normal voice to a couple groups of students and all the students from throughout the playground ran off to their appropriate class rooms - just like we did when Mr. Fitzgerald appeared and spoke back during the 1950's in Groton.


I realized it was time for me to go in that I did not want to disrupt the children's formal education time but I was not done causing trouble yet. As I exited the schoolyard on to Th Sikkarin or was it Th. Sisavangvong, I encountered a class and their teacher finishing up their task of cleaning the sidewalk in front of the school. The young girls of the class were busy with brooms and large woven baskets picking up trash and debris. The two boys of the class who reminded me of two of my former classmates were busy either watching or goofing off. The boys were rather large and apparently had not missed many meals. The girls by comparison were slender and slight. The girls struggled with the basket of debris. Seizing the moment to have some fun and to teach a lesson, I motioned to the teacher that I was going to get involved. I stopped the girls who were struggling with the basket and motioned the two boys (Gary and Larry?) to come over. I admonished them in rudimentary Lao and pantomime that the girls were working very hard which made me happy but they were not working which made the foreigner sad and angry. I told them that they should be carrying the basket because they were big and strong. I then showed them the difference between the size of their biceps and the girl's biceps; which definitely got my point across. The boys each grabbed one side of the basket and virtually flew as they ran back to the schoolyard as the teacher laughed, the girls giggled, and I smiled. The teacher and girls said goodbye to me and I was on my way back to the hotel.

I suspect that my lesson to the boys will not be forgotten soon but I also am not sure that they learned anything from the lesson. Such is life everywhere - lessons may be remembered but not necessarily learned.

I was just pleased for the opportunity and freedom to learn a little about the schools in Laos.