I have recently returned from a two-week trip to Laos, where I travelled with my father and step-mother. We started in the North, at Huay Xai, then travelled by boat down the Mekong to Luang Prabang, and finally spent a couple of days in Vientiane. Although I had spent almost three years as a monk living by the Mekong River, in Ubon Rajathani, and had looked over each morning at the forested hills of Laos, this was my first visit there. I was especially interested in getting a sense of how Buddhism is surviving in this ‘communist single-party socialist republic.’ On the whole I was delighted by my visit—by the encounters with Laotian people, by the beauty of the landscape, and by the apparent vitality of Buddhism in this land. Following are a few photos I took, which provide a feeling of this unique country.
Monk's Robe at Wat Pah Phai, Luang Prabang
