17
November 2016
First
we went to the morning market where the local people were selling all sorts of
local products, mainly vegetables which were farmed by themselves, and many of
the buyers were also locals. However as it was already late morning, the crowd
had already begun to dwindle – the market starts at 4.30 am! The weather here
is quite hot, and I of course forgot to bring my sunglasses.
Then we
went on a local bus (about USD0.60 for about 25 km away from the city) to the Beer
Lao brewery. This is their local beer which comes in 3 flavours – regular, dark
and gold (premium).
Next,
to the Buddha Park. This park is home to more than 200 Buddha statues and an
enormous reclining Buddha image which is 40 m in length. The best spot for photography here is on top of the giant
dome structure standing about three stories high. The entrance is crafted to
look like a demon’s mouth (about three metres high) with a stone ladder inside
leading to a bird's eye view of the entire park. The dome is divided into 3
parts – earth when you enter, hell down a flight of really narrow stairs, and
heaven up a flight of equally narrow stairs. But the view from the top is
mesmerizing.
The park was built in 1958 by Luang Pu Bunleua Sulilat, a
monk who studied both Buddhism and Hinduism. This explains why the park is full
not only of Buddha images but also of Hindu gods as well as demons and animals
from both beliefs. His statue is also in the park.
Some that I remember are Indra, the king of Hindu gods riding
the three-headed elephant, a crocodile, a god or demon of the sun and moon, and
my favourite was of a 4 faced god/buddha/demon with 8 hands stretching out to
the ground. There was also Hanuman and Ganesha at the edge of the park, by the
Mekong river where he is apparently covered up to the waist when the river
floods.
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