I grew up in Seattle and was in the army so the rain ain't no thing for me. Especially in a tropical environment. When I was in North Carolina for my job training, I remember it raining, then freezing, and having icicles on my hat, so I now feel this warm rain is refreshing and relaxing.
I find it quite amusing when it starts to rain and everyone runs away for cover like ants. What are they afraid of? If your clothes get wet, just wash them. You get completely wet when you take a shower so why is it so horrible when you have your clothes on?
I also don't have a problem swimming in this dirty brown Mekong River. The only time I won't go in is if I have any open wounds. (I don't want to waste money on antibiotics to kill the cellulitis and not be able to drink for a week.) Everyone always warns it's dangerous and that I'll die. From what? Is there a giant anaconda down there? Crocodiles? Maybe the story of the fire-breathing river monster is true. Most people think I'm weird, but I find their always living in fear and slaving away for fiat weird.
This statue of Buddha appreciated the rain. It helped clean it and look good for this picture. I like the story of the Buddha's enlightenment. One day while he was praying or meditating it started to rain very heavily and a giant king cobra came around him and expanded its hood flared neck to protect him from the rain.
I'm sure that the monks can see me from their rooms but it feels really cool to come to an ancient temple and be all alone.
One of my favorite temples in Luang Prabang is hidden on a hill on this corner. It's not something you can see from the street, so I was living here almost two years before I found this gem.
If you leave the city and go into the jungle, you'll see people using these old American bombs to build their houses. The CIA led a secret war here that saw more bombs dropped than all of WWII. They were made of high-quality metal so are still a threat. Cluster bombs still kill and injure 300 people a year. As an American, I feel very sad that my government did this to these wonderful people and never took responsibility for the damage and death it's still causing today.
On an opposite note, peace. Can you spot the PEACE ☮️ bricks in the center of this picture? All buildings in Laos display their construction year. I've noticed almost every building from the 1970s used these peace bricks.
Even when I ask my friends, who've spent years as monks, what all these paintings mean, they always don't know. There's a meaning and history in each scene. Good luck finding out what they are though.
I do know about the giants though. Almost every temple will have them somewhere to protect it from evil.
I've been broke during this whole pandemic living off my $300 disability check from the Veteran's Affairs, so I haven't been able to afford anything other than food. Even if I posted to HIVE and played Splinterlands every day, I would only earn about $100 a month. The price of HIVE is going up and I have some CUB now thanks to the stimulus check, so I treated myself to a long-overdue massage. It felt so good because I've been wanting one for over a year. It only costs $6 for an hour oil massage that was one of the best I've ever had. I had hurt my back a bit doing wild slides at the water park so the oil massage was just what I needed to end this lovely rainy day.
Thanks for enjoying this rainy Wednesday walk around Luang Prabang with me today. Have a good one!
