Luang Prabang, Day 2......on the River

On the second day in Luang Prabang I took a 1+ hour boat ride up the Mekong to visit the Pak Ou caves. The 2 caves have thousands of little Buddhas in them and you have to do some serious climbing to get to them. But the real highlight of the trip is the actual cruise up and then back down the Mekong.

In the mornings there is a mist over the river that usually breaks up into a sunny day around 1030am and it is sorta spooky. You can't see the opposite shore of the river and boats on the river early disappear in the mist.

A few river scenes from the trip:

We stopped at a small riverside village on the way to the caves that is "famous" for the whiskey that they make here. Called "Whiskey Village" in the guide books, of course. Here are some photos of some village residents:

Then central plaza was decorated nicely:

And here is a view of the river from the village:

 

After about an hour and 15 minutes of going upstream we reached the cave area and the sun was out:

The caves, just your typical cave strewn with religious objects:

 The entrance/exit:

One of the children of a worker at the entrance of the cave:

After the climb up, cave visit and return down the steps our boat awaited for the return trip downstream which took about 45 minutes:

A scene from the trip back down the river: