Luang Prabang - Wats

Slow start to the day with Mary feeling queasy in the morning after breakfast. Josh wandered around and found us a different hotel with wifi included, which we moved to.

After moving, Josh brought Mary back to the Wat he'd found with a bunch of graphic Buddhist Hell murals on the outside. We didn't know that Buddhism had a concept of Hell, but it seems to involve all kinds of nasty torture. I'm thinking these levels of Hell are somewhat deeper than the ones Dante described.

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After a frustrating lunch (Mary threw away her first sandwich without tasting it after thinking better of the mayo that clearly sits out in the sun everyday without any ice or anything), we climbed the 300-ish steps to the top of the sacred hill in the middle of Luang Prabang, where we enjoyed nice views and nice cool shade inside the wat.

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On our way back down we saw a couple of large "Buddha footprints." Way too big to be human footprints...

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There was also a shrine area that had a bunch of "Days of the Week" Buddhas. Seriously.

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Next we wandered down to Wat Xieng Thong, which is supposed to be the primary wat attraction in Luang Prabang. A lot of the style and condition made me think of the Grand Palace in Bangkok, and what it must have looked like before the massive restoration. (This is one of the smaller, but more interesting buildings.)

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There was a giant funerary procession vehicle.

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And we especially liked some of the mosaics that only filled in the subjects with murals, while leaving the background undecorated.

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Then we walked down to the confluence of the end of the peninsula and Josh put his feet in the river.

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We wandered all over town looking for a not-to-touristy Lao dinner. Didn't find one. We decided to go back to the Bakery associated with the Ancient Hotel and right as we got there found the food in the Night Market. The food in the Night Market is a little hard to find, it is mostly down the side street on the left hand side of the Bakery. We decided against the 10,000 Kip buffets since who knows about prepared food that's been sitting out for a while, and instead got fresh skewers and sticky rice. Josh got a fish that he really really liked, and Mary got some amazing pork. Can't believe we almost walked right by without noticing the side street!