Just upstream from Luang Prabang are the famous Buddha Caves, where the Mekong and Nam Ou rivers meet. Rather than taking a boat upstream, we decided to drive upstream and then kayak to the caves.
Entrance to the Buddha Caves
The Buddha Caves consist of two caves filled with hundreds of statues of the Buddha. We heard several different versions of how the caves became filled with the Buddhas but essentially they were kept their for storage. Each year, the Lao king would visit the caves to make merit and local Lao families would clean the Buddhas. Unfortunately, many of the oldest, most valuable Buddhas have been stolen and sold on the black market but the caves are still impressive and have a beautiful location.
Conveniently located near the Buddha Cave is the village of Ban Xang Hai or the Whisky-making village. Lao whisky, made from rice, can be found all over the country but the best whisky allegedly comes from this village. Our experience with Lao whisky has demonstrated that, while an interesting cultural experience, the whisky could probably best be used for removing paint from industrial surfaces. This being the finest Lao whisky we tasted a few of the different varieties and even bought the red-colored whiskey which was particularly impressive in its berry aroma and the fact that you could drink it without wincing or having tears well up in your eyes.
We purposely stayed away from these bottles of whisky which are strong medicines allegedly able to relieve arthritis, etc.
Buddha statues are amazing, how strange and amazing. No thanks to the snake whiskey though ;-)
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