Champasak

We hired a motorbike and stopped at various points for photos.  

These ladies saw us taking pictures and were so excited that we stopped to take pictures of them. We resisted their calls to join them in the muddy field.... that and the fact that after 18 months we are not sure if we have developed allergies to working!

To get to Wat Phu Champasak, we had to put our bike on a boat and travel across the river for 15 minutes.

The bike is balanced on a wooden platform between these two canoe boats that are actually quite stable despite needing constant bailing-out.

Wat Phu Champasak was really interesting and much better than any of the write ups and brochure-ware that we found.  The complex is split into three main parts, and is unusual because it represents pre- Angkor, Angkor and post Angkor remains.

A local selling beautiful flowers and joss sticks with small flowers wrapped around them as offerings to the deities

Claire posing, so bad, on the buckled remains of the steps to the sanctuary.

This is the front of the main sanctuary. Inside you can see a number of Buddhas.

All along our bike ride locals waved and welcomed us.

... which was nice of them considering we looked like total flids wearing these beautiful stack-hats.

Typical Laos village homes right next to highway 13 which is the only main road in Laos.