Wat Xieng Thong

Monument to the President

Monk walking along the Mekong

Temple building 

Buddha 

I am on nights tonight and since I couldn't sleep, I decided to explore the town.  Armed with a camelback full of water and some kip (Lao money) I walked with Anna through the morning market, biked around for about an hour, found a coffee shop, visited the Buddhist Temple down the road and walked along the Mekong.  Not bad for a few hours of time.  I took bout 100 pictures but will share a few highlights here.  On a sad note, the GoPro has been lost along with all the pictures of the morning market :(

Mekong looking away from town

The Buddhist temple, Wat Xieng Thong,  happens to be where many of the Monks live.  It was amazing and very peaceful to walk through.  The temple overlooks the Mekong river and is a UNESCO world heritage site.  I found the drum they play in the morning to wake up the monks at 4am which also happens to wake me up every morning as well.  They are currently finishing a restoration on the Wat with a grant from the US.  There was a fire there in 2009 that damaged the monk quarters and the rest of the Wat has sustained wear and tear from time.  

While I didn't sleep much before my night shift, I did manage to have a wonderful day around town.  

Lao man working along the Mekong