Vientiane - 5th to 9th March

After leaving the Kingfisher Eco-lodge we returned to Pakse, where we were due to pick up the overnight bus to Vientiane, which is the capital of Laos; the journey would take some 10 hours.  We were advised to book the VIP bus since this would be far more comfortable, with beds which allowed one to lie down.  When we got to the bus station, there were a number of these very swish looking buses that promised a very comfortable journey.  However, (there is always a 'however' at this point), our bus turned out to be the veteran of the fleet, with beds which were fitted out with timber bunks, which were part flat and part sloping.  On the positive side, the bus was only half full and instead of having to share a rather narrow double, we were able to have one each. Sleep refused to keep us company on this journey, which ended at 7.00am the next morning with both of us having slept for roughly 2 hours at best.

There is always an upside though and despite the early hour, upon arriving at our hotel, we were able to check in and have a shower before setting off to enjoy a hearty breakfast.  The next few days were to be shared with some good friends, Pip and Joe, who were holidaying in Thailand and who had popped over the border to spend some time with us in Laos.  We could post several more photos of temples and wats but we won't because there are some more to come and we don't want you to be 'watted' out.  What was unique was the Garden of The Buddhas or Xieng Khuan, which was rather like a theme park filled with Buddhist and Hindu sculptures created in the mid C20th by an artist monk.

We were extremely fortunate when visiting Wat Sisaket to witness part of a ceremony to mark the promotion of a senior monk. There was a substantial attendance of monks and lay people and no concerns about tourists and photo taking. We had held back from leaning over the canvas screen for some of the photos until we saw that several monks as well as Laos lay people were doing so.

The procession  made several circuits around the Wat (monastery)

Lay people were part of the procession and some carried a small pavilion bearing gifts
 at the back of the procession. Also they had prepared and layed out a celebratory meal  

Two young monks beating the temple drum and gong throughout the procession.

The ceremony culminated in the ritual cleansing of the promoted monk
with water poured through a carved naga that had an internal water channel.
The water  was poured in to the tail section outside the canvas screen.